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Comments
Dinu
I had only gotten 21,000 miles out of the Dunlops, which had a treadlife warranty of 50,000 miles and a UTQG of 420. Dunlop and Goodyear (which owns Dunlop), however, said the uneven wear on the tires was caused by an alignment problem and refused to honor the warranty. Goodyear even put my car up on a lift and the guy showed me the highly apparent uneven wear -- and I believed his assertion that it was due to an alignment problem. I kept fighting, though, but after a few phone calls that got nowhere, I decided to cut my losses and chalk it up to experience -- and a decision never to purchase Dunlops again.
After having my new tires installed last week, I immediately made an appointment to have a four-wheel alignment so the new tires wouldn't suffer the same early death. I was off Friday and took the car in. An hour later the technician came out into the waiting area with a computer printout in hand.
After 54,600 miles, my car was in perfect alignment. Every parameter was in spec. I took a copy of the printout and paid him a small amount for an alignment "check."
Guys, don't buy SP Sport A2s. If you don't want to take one person's word for it, then go read the customer reviews at TireRack. You'll see a pattern of extreme initial satisfaction followed by angry complaints of uneven wear and short-lived tread, despite alignment checks and regular rotation, after about 15,000 miles. Dunlop has a dud on their hands and they'd better do something about it.
Meade
Drove to work yesterday and everything was normal. Left work around 4 p.m. and started down the interstate when I noticed it starting ...
By the time I got home I had a foot-long crack running from the top of the windshield on the passenger side and curving toward the center of the windshield. @$%@^##!!!
Three good things about this:
(1) I get a new windshield. After 55,000 miles, the OEM one has its share of pockmarks and sandblasting.
(2) Virginia requires two new windshield decals every year, and it's one of my lesser-enjoyable experiences removing the old ones and putting on the new ones. This crack happens to have occurred about three weeks before I need to replace decals.
(3) My car is up for state inspection this month. Had it occurred a month later, I would've put off replacing the windshield almost a year and fumed all year at the ugly crack. This way, I've got to get it done now so it'll pass inspection.
Two things I'm scared of:
(1) Windshield-replacement horror stories shared by some of you. I'm gonna do a LOT of research on the company and the product used prior to letting anyone perform Lasik on Zoomster.
(2) With the way insurance companies are running scared, dropping folks like flies and raising rates for the tiniest claims these days, I'm gonna make DAMN SURE this won't affect my insurance "claims frequency" or anything else. If so, I'll go it without using my insurance company. (Bad state of affairs when you have insurance but are scared to use it, eh?)
So I guess the good outweighs the bad. In the very least Zoomster will have a nice, clear windshield in the next week or so.
I just hope it's a good one.
Meade
I plan to change the oil at 10k and 15k, and then every 7,500 from there on out. I use Mobil 1 for a long drain interval. If I put on a lot of highway miles, would feel more comfortable doing the 7,500 mile interval with dino oil, but about half of our miles are city driving, so synthetic it is. At BJs Mobil 1 costs only a little more than the dino oil anyway.
And remember ... you're only as old as you let yourself be.
Reminds me of something a dear friend of mine said in a toast at my wedding; something I'll never forget:
"May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live."
Meade
Use the 626 V6 oil filter. It has more capacity than the standard filter. You'll need to change the filter before the oil needs changing, just more frequently with the standard filter.
Meade
I now have 50,500 on my ES.
I tried Castrol syntec once, Amsoil once, Mobil1 twice(last 2 times)
One of these days, I'll get a creeper so I won't have to keep dirtying up my t-shirts on the floor.
On a seperate note, the Bridgestone Potenza RE930i tires are still doing wonderfully and we've had a lot of wet weather driving to contend with recently. The only bad thing is my wife ran over a nail during a storm we had here the other day. She didn't realize it and the car was sitting there in the parking lot withn a nice flat rear right tire when we were trying to leave from work. The rain was pouring and it was cold so i didn't want to change the tire. I used a can of sealent that pumps the tire up and took it to Costco's. They fixed the tire, rebalanced it and remounted it at no charge. No hassles at all.
Meade, enjoying the BFG's? Let me be the second to echo Meade's sentiments regarding Dunlop Sport A2 tires. Do not buy them at any cost!
P.S.- Meade, are you going to take a copy of that perfect alignment back to Goodyear/Dunlop with you???
I could take the printout to Goodyear/Dunlop, but since they required an alignment check "at a Dunlop-Authorized Facility" and this was not, they wouldn't pay any attention to it anyway.
Besides, do you think they'd really care?
Meade
As for the use of the 5W-50, it was actually my Mazda dealer that recommended it and i had Castrol confirm it as well for use in the Protege. The 5W-50 is the synthetic my Mazda dealer uses for anyone who wants the dealer to provide syn oil in their cars.
I will try and find the email that I received from Castrol. I know I have posted it here before many moons ago.
The Mazda techs I speak too recommend the 5W-50 particularly for manual tranny's where the drivers are likely to hold the gear longer and rev higher up the tach causing the engine to work harder and run hotter.
-----Original Message-----
From: PowerCenter, Feedback [mailto:powercenter.feedback@cnacm.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2001 10:50 AM
To:
Subject: Response from Castrol your case number is
Thank you for contacting Castrol. We appreciate your interest in our products.
In response to your inquiry, Syntec 5W-50 provides the widest range of protection available. The 5W provides rapid oil circulation at start-up when most actual engine wear occurs and the 50 delivers a thicker high temperature oil film for ultimate wear and heat protection. Due to its wide range of protection, we at Castrol feel that this is the best grade for all vehicles. However, manufacturers recommend SAE 5W-30 motor oil to assist them in meeting Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements. By encouraging the use of this grade, manufacturers can utilize 5W-30 in their testing to qualify vehicles for CAFE. A lower viscosity oil like 5W-30 will provide an incremental improvement in fuel economy (approximately 2%) during vehicle qualification.
Given this fact, if your Protégé is still under warranty, we recommend that you use Syntec 5W-30 year-round to avoid any potential issues with the dealership. If your Protégé is not under warranty, we recommend Syntec 5W-50 year-round for the best protection available. Once again, thank you for contacting us. We trust that the information provided is to your satisfaction. Please contact us if we can help again in the future.
Genevieve Hendrix
Reference:
For anyone else who signed up: YOU'RE GOING TO GET SMOKED!!!! (Just a little trash-talk'n from a fellow Mazda driver!!!)
On the lighter side of the news, the Protege just passed over 85,500kms (53,000 miles) and according to the dealer, the original brakes are only showing 50% wear on the front pads, now that's longevity (especially for a car that traverses Miami's brutal stop and go traffic.)
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=27&article- _id=3631&page_number=1
Encouraged by the replies, I will switch this week to Mobil 1. I change oil at the dealer and service told me it would be quicker if I bought the oil. Wouldn't I be sticking with the same viscosity (5W-30). I mean it doesn't make a difference if it is synthetic, does it?
Newcar answered the question about Castrol with the Car and driver article, I think . BTW, PAO stands for PolyAlphaOlefins. Mobil is totally syn. and Castrol partly uses crude oil stock to make theirs. I believe Mobil took them to court on this. If Newcar's article is the one by Pat Bedard, Bedard asks why Castrol should charge just as much for an oil that is not truly synthetic.
**I'd like to add that it was a great selfless act to do what you did for your friend. If only everyone had such a devoted kindred spirit.**
It wasn't unexpected and more of a duty. A fine man with a wonderful family, whom I greatly admired. Being there near the end and the previous six weeks wasn't a sacrifice.
Meade, you have me confused now, I thought the Dumbflops were suppose to be great tires. And others are now saying the BFG's are bumpy around town! I have bumpy tires, looking for something smooth riding.
fowler3
As far as the MAPP thing, don't blame people because of their ages. It's their maturity level that makes them morons.
Because of my weekend trip to PA, my one-week-old BFGs already have nearly 1,000 miles on them. I need to take them in to have the front ones' balance checked again, because I've found a verrrry slight vibration in my steering wheel above 70 mph or so. Even so, they're smoother than the Dunlops were, and even with that slight vibration I enjoyed them at speeds reaching 80 during the trip. No complaints about around-town ride quality though.
Meade
That's kinda what I meant when I got my head chewed off -- I equated age with maturity level.
And argue as some will, I still believe it. After all, I do remember being that age and doing some pretty dumb things. I think that's part of being young, immature, inexperienced, headstrong -- whatever you want to call it.
But all said, I never went around nude in public, defaced others' property or vandalized police cars.
But I do still have copies of a few summonses ("trophies of foolhardy youth," if you will) for such things as throwing beer bottles onto a public highway, trespassing and doing 69 in a 55 (the cop was gracious, I was doing 74) ...
Meade
I also keep them at 34psi v. 32psi. That may keep them stiffer, helping to even wear. I also weave around potholes, manhole covers etc., which probably sometimes concerns drivers around me.
I also think concrete pavement wears tires more quickly and less evenly than asphalt, depending on how rough and uniform they groomed the surface. I hate driving over concrete highways. So much more noise.
I kept mine at 34 to 15 psi.
Meade
Gee, neither did I or any of my friends. I just hate it when people say things like, "the kids these days, I never did that kind of stuff when I was a kid, bla bla bla".
Whatever. What about the counter-culture revolution that was supposed to bring about world peace? The only thing that revolution did was kill millions of brain cells and create thousands of illegitimate children. You're generations and older generations are the ones who RAISED THE KIDS YOU ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT. Did you ever think about that?
As Meade has noticed, initial impressions of a new tire can be misleading, so I will try to give updates as the miles increase.
My wife and I left the car at the tire place to have the tires mounted and also the brake pads replaced and the rotors resurfaced. In a refreshing act of honesty the tire place guy called and asked me if I really wanted to replace the pads because they still had 20% left. I asked him in his opinion how long did he think I could safely drive with those pads without any danger of damaging the rotors. He said probably about 10 - 15 thousand miles. He said he would be glad to change them anyways if I just wanted to feel safe about it. But, I told him I will probably just bring the car back to him next year. I wonder if he realizes that his honesty just earned him a repeat customer for life? The tire place was called Purcell Tire.
I can vouch for the BFG as COMFORTABLE and SMOOTH, way comfortable than the stock Bridgestone poortenzas. Whoever called it bumpy, needs to define bumpy.
The BFG with a slighly softer and taller sidewall actually soaks up bumps and cracks on the road very nicely.
It actually makes the car feel like a luxo-sedan compared to the harsh ride of the poortenzas.
and I have 18,000 miles on them to prove it.
Now, that said, our Pro has been running Castrol Syntec 5W-50 for the last 70,000km and as I said, she still runs wonderfully. Even if someone showed me Mobil 1 was a little better and longer lasting, I would not change the oil in our Pro at this point because the engine has been running on the 5W-50 for 3 years now. I also perform very regular maintenance and oil changes so the fact that that Mobil 1 may not breakdown as quickly, is kind of a non-factor for me. These oils have next to no chance of breaking down anyway under ever 8,000km of normal and spirited driving. Maybe racing for 8,000km, but even then the oil viscosity would not break down to any level that would be damaging to an engine. Moreover, the 5W-50 does meet and exceed the highest European performance testing on oil which is the A3 equivalent. The 5W-30 and 10W-30 Syntec only exceed the A1 equivalent. The minimum I have ever used on my cars, synthetic or otherwise, has been 10W-40 which affords an A2 performance protection rating.
Now, the article made me think and compare a little more so I did some research of Mobil 1 vs. Castrol Syntec. Now, the main aim of oil is to provide protection and at the end of the day, very few of us know the difference of the varying compounds used and what might be the advantage/disadvantage of each. I want protection and I want to see the empirical data to support the testing standards.
What i found is this: The Castrol Syntec 5W-50, regardless of it's base compounds, still affords higher protection amongst various international tests than both the Mobil 1 SuperSyn 5W-30 and 10W-30 oils. Only the Mobil 1 15W-50 meets the same protection performance as Castrol Syntec 5W-50.
Here is the info on Castrol Syntec SAE 5W-50 :
SAE 5W-50: provides the widest range of protection available. SAE 5W-50 delivers exceptional cold temperature pumpability for rapid oil circulation at start-up and provides a thick oil film for ultimate wear protection. Exceeds all car and light truck manufacturer's warranty requirements for the protection of gasoline, diesel and turbocharged engines where API SL, SJ, SH, CF or CD is recommended. Exceeds European ACEA: A3, ACEA B3, meets Japanese valve train wear and the engine protection requirements of ILSAC GF-3 for API Certified Gasoline Engine Oils, as well as Porsche, Volvo, BMW and Mercedes Benz.
Here is the info for Mobil 1 Supersyn 10W-30 which is their most popular selling motor oil. The protection performance is basically the same for both the 5W-30 and 10W-30.
Benefits of Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 10W-30:
The best-selling grade of Mobil 1.
Outstanding engine cleanliness and sludge protection.
Outstanding wear protection, even under the most extreme conditions.
Protects against wear by getting to engine parts fast.
Exceeds API SL/CF and ILSAC GF-3.
Exceeds ACEA A1/B1 and A5/B5.
Applications:
Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 10W-30 is designed for passenger cars and light trucks with gasoline or diesel engines. It also exceeds "Energy Conserving" ratings.
Here is the info on Mobil 1 15W-50 :
Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 15W-50 is a performance-driving formula that provides superior high-temperature protection for high-performance cars. It keeps protecting your engine, guarding against wear, even during hard driving.
Benefits of Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 15W-50:
Excellent for supercharged and turbocharged engines, muscle cars and amateur racers.
The highest viscosity Mobil 1 available.
Race proven.
Superior high-temperature protection for high-performance and high-revving cars. Contains extra SuperSyn™ anti-wear system.
Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 15W-50 is factory fill in Ford Mustang Cobra R.
Exceeds API SL/CF.
Exceeds ACEA A3/B3/B4-02.
Applications:
Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 15W-50 is perfect for hot-running or heavily loaded vehicles and high-tech imported cars. It offers an extra level of protection, even under extreme use.
Anyway, thanks again for the article and I'm glad it made me think and compare a little more. Personally I'm still very happy with the Castrol Syntec. I hope you find the info above useful too. Sorry for the long post.
But I confirm that they are VERY comfortable and I like them very much; on highway, I'm also have the feeling to drive a luxo-sedan. In fact, I call my car a 'Procedes' now (ok, sort of ...).
P.S. My mother tongue is french, sorry if some of my comments cause misunderstanding ...
I do it every 4000kms w/regular. Just wondering how the cost plays in this one.
Dinu
http://www.acea.be/ACEA/20020618PublicationsOilSequences.pdf
I base this on both the description and classifications of A1, A2 and A3 for "Gasoline Sequences" on page 4, as well as the minimum quality level metrics and levels defined on page 5 and 6. Essentially what it is saying and also showing empirically is that an A3 oil has higher tolerances and much greater viscosity than grade A1 and A2 oils. It also indicates that an A3 graded oil is more suitable than an A1 and A2 oil to leave in your engine for a longer duration and drain interval.
There is a significant difference between the A1 and A3 graded oils, but much less so between A2 and A3 rated oils.
Anyway, I'm not trying to make this into some sort of Mobil 1 vs. Castrol Syntec debate. I am just relaying my experience and now commenting on some of the info that you are posting here. The info is great stuff and I never knew this before. However, I will add that it makes me feel more assured of using the 5W-50 in the Pro and Rex.
Kidding aside, it isn't really that bad a ride. I just wish it was smoother at times. One thing I have noticed is the Poortenzsa get out of balance more often than I would expect. When tires were bias-ply I don't recall having to get them balanced every 3000 miles. But when they were out of balance you definately knew it -- very bumpy ride.
Like meade said, that slight vibration in the steering wheel is the tip-off.
fowler3
They seem to be wearing faster than I'd think from the wear rating, but not unacceptably fast for a high-performance all-season tire. Again, my tire size is different, so that may be why. Then again, maybe I lucked out and got 4 good ones. They seem to be working for me, but I may try the Bridgestone RE910 or Yokohama Avid T4 next time (I like the quick response of these types of tires...the Michelin X-Ones on my 323 are great touring tires, but don't offer as much fun in s-curves and corners...but the 323 can use as much help soaking up bumps as it can).
I've had good luck with Yokohamas in the past, except the compound gets hard after 4-5 years and grip goes down while squeal goes up. My wife seemed to like the RE910s on her Saturn. Then again, she like the Dunlop D60A2s on it as well (until the blister on one blew, but geez, those tires were getting on 7 years...I'd told her she was overdue for new tires...still plenty of tread left on those BTW).
A friend with a BMW 328i has Dunlop SP5000 tires and says they hydroplane easily. I don't notice that issue on my wife's P5 on wet roads. Then again, it's FWD v. RWD and different tire sizes.
You can likely acquire the RE930i's at Costco's for less than what you will pay for the RE910's and the RE930 are superior tires. Good luck.
Take care.
Another thing I find curious is the fact that the Mobil 1 site gives you specs and the Castrol site does not. What's up with that?
thanks
If you use bosch platinum tip plugs, they will stay within specs for 30k miles easily.