Topic: Tire wear

[blur911]

I just replaced the OE Goodyear Eagle RS-As on my 2007 Mazda3.  They were smoothly and evenly worn but right down to their treadwear indicators at about 20k of mileage. 

Several years ago we bought a new Vibe with OE Eagle RS-A tires.  They still had plenty of life left when it was totalled, probably had about 50k on them.
I would say there are many factors to take into account, my Vibe's OE RS-A was probably tuned more for high wear and fuel mileage than the one for your Mazda 3, as were suspension geometry and alignment.  Perhaps you drove it around corners faster and the Mazda must have had more power than the Vibe, (what didn't), oh, and the Vibe was AWD.

Does Mazda pass on any wearout warranty on the OE tires? 
It might be worth going to them for a pro-rated warranty, but knowing how those can work, probably not.

[Angry Chicken]

Hadn't occurred to me that there might be a wearout warranty on those tires I'm ashamed to admit.  I bought replacement tires (Bridgestone G-Force Sports) just last month.  I don't take corners too fast on the 3, since it's mostly a grocery getter and commuting machine.  I think the speed of wear *was* excessive though my central point is that they wore evenly so the suspension setup isn't an issue.

[Rupert]

Is the 07 the latest design or the same body as the 05.

[Angry Chicken]

Is the 07 the latest design or the same body as the 05.

The '07 is the same as yours.  The new design came out in 2009 for the 2010 model year.

[maritime_storm]

We see this daily at work, person has bought a new vehicle and comes shopping for snow tires only to find out what small fortune tires are worth on some of todays grocery getters. A couple of ones that stand out are the Focus SE models(P205/50R16) and up, Mazda 3, 5 & 6, Impala LT & up(18 & 20" wheels), and the Dodge Journey(yes and SUV NEEDS 19" perfomance tires on it). I remember a few years ago when the Uplander came out with P225/60R17's, at the time they were a special order tire in the $250-300 range. You want to see a shocked look on someone's face. Dodge decided they were missing out on this boat, price a P225/65R16 for the new Caravan. I chalk all this up to auto desingers reading Motor Trend too much, leases, and people not researching what they buy first. Last years Chev(fill in the blank) out cornered Ford's(fill the blank) so this year Ford HAS to go to a stiffer, lower profile performance tire on Grandma's Grocery getter to keep Motor Trend happy. The half-ton market is another example of this nonsense. Price a set of 18" tires for an F150 or 20" tires for a Ram 1500, make sure your sitting down first.

[tpl]

My GTI came with 225/40-18 but being a Golf under the skin it can live with 205/55-16 winters which are a reasonable price..and they are quieter as well.

35 years back my Lotus Elan was on 165-13  Michelin XAS and it was not short of handling or grip in any way.

These huge Tonka toy wheels a just a fad one hopes.

[ktm525]

My GTI came with 225/40-18 but being a Golf under the skin it can live with 205/55-16 winters which are a reasonable price..and they are quieter as well.

35 years back my Lotus Elan was on 165-13  Michelin XAS and it was not short of handling or grip in any way.

These huge Tonka toy wheels a just a fad one hopes.

Perhaps. Larger wheels were first used so larger brakes could be fitted, then everyone wanted that "sporty" look. Now we are stuck with rubber bands stretched over 20" rims on grocery getters whose brakes are never used in anger... When I got my Volvo V70R 4 years ago I thought 17" was pushing it. I actually like Volvos approach on this one. They used the smallest wheel they could that would clear the big Brembo calipers (16" won't clear) and oversized rotors. This minimizes the wheel weight. I always chuckle when I see a car with 18,19,20" and beyond wheels with tiny little brakes peeking out from behind. Thats worse than a big wing in my books.

[tpl]

Yep.  My 330xi had 17" minimum size wheels and all you could see behind them was brake disk

[blur911]

Perhaps. Larger wheels were first used so larger brakes could be fitted, then everyone wanted that "sporty" look. Now we are stuck with rubber bands stretched over 20" rims on grocery getters whose brakes are never used in anger... When I got my Volvo V70R 4 years ago I thought 17" was pushing it. I actually like Volvos approach on this one. They used the smallest wheel they could that would clear the big Brembo calipers (16" won't clear) and oversized rotors. This minimizes the wheel weight. I always chuckle when I see a car with 18,19,20" and beyond wheels with tiny little brakes peeking out from behind. Thats worse than a big wing in my books.

Audi went for smaller diameter wheels and more sidewall in the late 80's early 90's, they had what was referred to as UFO brakes with the caliper on the inside so they could run 15" wheels on the luxo sedans.  The brakes were more trouble and cost than they were worth and Audi gave in and went to 16" and eventually bigger.

[ktm525]

Perhaps. Larger wheels were first used so larger brakes could be fitted, then everyone wanted that "sporty" look. Now we are stuck with rubber bands stretched over 20" rims on grocery getters whose brakes are never used in anger... When I got my Volvo V70R 4 years ago I thought 17" was pushing it. I actually like Volvos approach on this one. They used the smallest wheel they could that would clear the big Brembo calipers (16" won't clear) and oversized rotors. This minimizes the wheel weight. I always chuckle when I see a car with 18,19,20" and beyond wheels with tiny little brakes peeking out from behind. Thats worse than a big wing in my books.

Audi went for smaller diameter wheels and more sidewall in the late 80's early 90's, they had what was referred to as UFO brakes with the caliper on the inside so they could run 15" wheels on the luxo sedans.  The brakes were more trouble and cost than they were worth and Audi gave in and went to 16" and eventually bigger.

Cool. I would like to read up on that design . I can't recall ever seeing one. I can't see cars needing to go beyond 17". The  Volvo has 330mm rotors stuffed in there. More than most drivers will ever need.

SUVS are another matter.The LR3's brakes are huge. Probably 18" wheel need to clear them.

[maritime_storm]

This is the issue with alot of the newer vehicles, you can't switch to a smaller size because of brake clearance. As a result you must pay for these ridiculously absorbidant performance tires that don't last. In the case of the Uplander I used earlier, GM went to the P225/60R17 in late 2004(2005 model year), only last year did decent affordable tires become available for these vans.

[Nathan@1010tires]

The Mazda 3's most definately have negative camber in the rear, but it has been my experience with normal rotations the OE Goodyear RS-A's last between 55 - 60k kms almost like clockwork.

A lot of it just boils down to the tire. I got about 50% more mileage out of my 19" Bridgestones than I am getting out of my 16" Yokohamas on the same vehicle.

[Leviathan]

A lot of it just boils down to the tire. I got about 50% more mileage out of my 19" Bridgestones than I am getting out of my 16" Yokohamas on the same vehicle.

Yep. The 323GT I had came with Bridgestone Potenzas and at 20K they were done. I put Goodyear Eagle GT+4s on for the next 60K and they were barely showing wear when I traded the car in. Same car, same driver, same driving style but much longer life.

[Angry Chicken]

Can't agree with the wear on OE RS-As. At least not *all* of them.  I rotated mine regularly, and (as I said) they were worn evenly but right down to their tread wear indicators after about 20 to 25K.  I've seen the same tire on the Toyota Matrix (for example) last a lot longer.  I think that while ostensibly the same model of tire, the spec as an OE tire varies widely.  Mine were clearly fast wearers and no, I don't habitually corner fast or race my car.  In fact, my Nokian RSi *winter* tires will easily last their 4th winter this coming winter which will see them go to 65K.  They're the same 205/50/17 size as the OE Goodyear rim protectors.

[blur911]

Can't agree with the wear on OE RS-As. At least not *all* of them.  I rotated mine regularly, and (as I said) they were worn evenly but right down to their tread wear indicators after about 20 to 25K.  I've seen the same tire on the Toyota Matrix (for example) last a lot longer.  I think that while ostensibly the same model of tire, the spec as an OE tire varies widely.  Mine were clearly fast wearers and no, I don't habitually corner fast or race my car.  In fact, my Nokian RSi *winter* tires will easily last their 4th winter this coming winter which will see them go to 65K.  They're the same 205/50/17 size as the OE Goodyear rim protectors.

You're probably right about the OE RS-A being different on a Mazda 3 vs a Vibe.  The compounds and construction could be fairly different depending upon what the auto manufacturer wanted, OE tires are made to order.
That said, the RS-A you had seemed to wear out prematurely and you probably could have gotten some pro-rated warranty out of them.

[Angry Chicken]

Can't agree with the wear on OE RS-As. At least not *all* of them.  I rotated mine regularly, and (as I said) they were worn evenly but right down to their tread wear indicators after about 20 to 25K.  I've seen the same tire on the Toyota Matrix (for example) last a lot longer.  I think that while ostensibly the same model of tire, the spec as an OE tire varies widely.  Mine were clearly fast wearers and no, I don't habitually corner fast or race my car.  In fact, my Nokian RSi *winter* tires will easily last their 4th winter this coming winter which will see them go to 65K.  They're the same 205/50/17 size as the OE Goodyear rim protectors.

You're probably right about the OE RS-A being different on a Mazda 3 vs a Vibe.  The compounds and construction could be fairly different depending upon what the auto manufacturer wanted, OE tires are made to order.
That said, the RS-A you had seemed to wear out prematurely and you probably could have gotten some pro-rated warranty out of them.

Yeah, rub it in!  ;-)  Hear that sucking sound?  That's my hard-earned $$ flushing down the toilet because I didn't think to check the tires' treadlife warranty before I got rid of them!