Topic: Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 - thoughts

[dkaz]

So I've had these tires on the car since brand new and they've been run on the car for maybe 40,000km. They're pretty good for fuel economy, that's why Mazda chose them as stock tires for the 3. Handling is ok, I've taken some highway corners at good speed with just a bit of tire whine but I did manage to get it to understeer at the right turn curve coming off one highway offramp.

They're have about 6-7/32nds left so not terrible, but driving on the highway today they were hydroplaning in anything resembling a puddle above 90km/h. I'm going to throw winter tires on stat and get new tires next year. These Turanzas are pretty cheap at Costco with a supposed 115,000km warranty but if they only last 40,000km before developing terrible hydroplaning resistance despite having what should be a season worth of tread left, I wouldn't buy them again.

Competitors for the same price:
-Continental Extreme Contact DWS (or DW, since i'm not looking for snow traction)
-Michelin Premier (advertised to retain excellent wet traction even when 50% worn)
-Hankook EVO V12 (may only last 40-50,000km, but way better performance than the Turanzas and should retain good wet traction to the last (legal) 32nd.

[HeliDriver]

Interesting range of choices there. Personally, I'd first decide whether I wanted an all-season or summer performance tire and go from there.

[Angry Chicken]

So I've had these tires on the car since brand new and they've been run on the car for maybe 40,000km. They're pretty good for fuel economy, that's why Mazda chose them as stock tires for the 3. Handling is ok, I've taken some highway corners at good speed with just a bit of tire whine but I did manage to get it to understeer at the right turn curve coming off one highway offramp.

They're have about 6-7/32nds left so not terrible, but driving on the highway today they were hydroplaning in anything resembling a puddle above 90km/h. I'm going to throw winter tires on stat and get new tires next year. These Turanzas are pretty cheap at Costco with a supposed 115,000km warranty but if they only last 40,000km before developing terrible hydroplaning resistance despite having what should be a season worth of tread left, I wouldn't buy them again.

Competitors for the same price:
-Continental Extreme Contact DWS (or DW, since i'm not looking for snow traction)
-Michelin Premier (advertised to retain excellent wet traction even when 50% worn)
-Hankook EVO V12 (may only last 40-50,000km, but way better performance than the Turanzas and should retain good wet traction to the last (legal) 32nd.

Conti DWs (haven't tried the DWS's) !  Track day late last month @CMP and I was driving around everyone in the wet and I wasn't exactly being easy on the gas.  Get 'em!  You won't be disappointed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8YPYhVg-SI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-91RkcFt6LQ

Only part of my grip relative to the others is explained by the permanent AWD.  I've driven the much more expensive Michelin Pilot Super Sports on the same car and in the same conditions and the DWs are probably a cut over even them.  Wet weather meisters.

[dkaz]

Nice. It's weird, the tread doesn't look very complicated on the DWs. Just four grooves

My only gripe with summer tires is the lower UTQG rating for tread wear. But if I'm chucking all season tires at 40,000km anyway, then it's probably the same in the end.

I'm also adding BF Goodrich G-Force SuperSport A/S on the list. I had these on my Mazda 5, they were really good and had excellent wet traction down to the legal minimum tread. The only gripe with these tires is that they had a tendency to cup and got pretty noisy when they did, so they need to be rotated often.

[Slow_lane]

The Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 are worst rated tire in it category on tire rakc.

I'm also adding BF Goodrich G-Force SuperSport A/S on the list. I had these on my Mazda 5, they were really good and had excellent wet traction down to the legal minimum tread. The only gripe with these tires is that they had a tendency to cup and got pretty noisy when they did, so they need to be rotated often.

Funny I had BF Goodrich G-Force SuperSports on my Mazda 3 and hated them from day one. Really hard riding and became noisy. They drove me crazy.

Just this summer I changed them for Cinturato P7 All Season Plus. Wow I love them. They transformed my car. OK that might be a bit over the top but they are really smooth, quiet seem to handle well. They have a really great tread wear rating and are rated #1 by tire rack in their category. They made me love my Mazda again. I would highly recommend them.

[quadzilla]

My only gripe with summer tires is the lower UTQG rating for tread wear.

If you want more grip/traction, that is the trade off.