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Comments
Yes, I know
To drive the point in, when I prices rims/snows for my 5 back in Oct/Nov, 16s were $650 and 17s were almost $1000.
btw, there are quite a few low-profile snow tires out there, as BMWs and such are still quite popular in the Nordic in Europe, not to mention snow country like Switzerland.
I am considering doing this, but I am concerned about the tires hitting the fenders.
I just bought my 5 used, and the previous owner obviously bashed a few curbs and I would like to avoid doing more damage to the rims.
they still have loads of tread I put then on my self so they only go on just before the first snow storm and off in the spring. I love the tires the OEM toyo tires are crap in good weather. I have been through many a snow storm with my hakka's I have never been stuck once. One great thing is that you can visually see how much tread is still on them with see the link. The also have one of the lowest rolling resistance ratings at only .9. this means you will get about 6% better gas mileage at 90km/h for a size 16 inch tire as compared to its next closest rival. So all around you get a fantastic tire that gets better gas milage (saves money and more environmentally better lesser co2) http://www.nokiantyres.com/release?id=10442824. I am a bit anal about picking stuff and at the time they were the best 'value' tire out their for my needs. They may not be the cheapest but for the few dollars more when you are skidding into on coming trafic with the family screaming i bet you will think hmm maybe i should have paid the extra $100 for the good ones lol
Regardless, I'm so looking forward for them to wear down to change them
As for the number of weights it is not always the tire or the rim that needs the weights many tire guys just want to get the job done and figure ruffley(on the first spin) where they go then re-spin it to get it more accurate - an experienced balancer is usually much better at this, also many of the newer machines are auto stop and say where to put them - all I am saying is that are many reasons for a lot of weights) I balance my tires once a year just before I change the winters to the normal (all season). I of course when these run out will not get all season tires as I have the winters already. I blame a lot of the issues of the tires on the dealerships - they honestly do not care as they are not warranteed and so if they go they just say buy new ones. I have seen many of the dealers just drop the tires on to the ground and as we all know the rims protrude outside the rubber and aluminum does not bend it cracks and chips. You are not likely to see any issues for years if this has been done. The dealer do not care which side the tires go on either. I like coolmazda5 watch my air pressure. I personally keep the pressure up a bit for the gas mileage. But I feel for the $5 cost of balancing the tires is worth it for me.
Make sure you read the reviews on the tires before buying and yes when you have to buy tires the cost of the tires is usually related to the amount of safety.
I have the exact same problem here in Houston texas and the Mazda dealer keeps telling me this is normal and that there were no recalls. Do you have more details on the recall so that I may present my case.?
MZ6 wheels will fit your 5, that is what I have on my MZ5. MZ3 wheels will also fit but make sure you stay with 16" or higher(I don't think Mazda has 15" anyway), any smaller will not clear your brake calipers. I bought my MZ5 used and one of the wheels was scratch and another one was slightly bent, so the dealer swapped and gave me a fresh set of wheels and tires from a MZ6 and my set went to the MZ6, although I like the MZ5 wheel design better than the MZ6 wheel design. Anyone in SoCal wanting to swap???? Anyway hope this info helps you.
Just how terrible are these OEM tires on my '09 Five to drive in snow?
I figured I'd patronize one of the local tire stores instead of just ordering on-line and, before adding the cost of 4 tire pressure sensors they said they have to put on, I've passed $1k bucks for 16" tires and a set of wheels for them! (Although I understand blizzaks are REALLY good.) Preliminary reports indicate another ~65$ each for sensors. (Why, oh why, couldn't those Explorered/Firestoned drivers have paid attention to their tire pressure and averted this mandate silliness?)
Maybe I need to peruse the selection of used wheels hereabouts. Or maybe take my chances and, if these toyos prove totally unacceptable, hit the shoppes next summer? If I survive, snow tires gotta' be cheap in May right?
Then if you wait long enough, as the inside section wears deeper, the outside rubber will wear more and catch up with the insde. When it's ready to replace the tires, they will look 'even'.
Happened to my M5. now I have 4 sets of toyos that are 'evenly' worn. lolz.
I'm still trying to figure what caused this 'mystery'.
Just had mine in for tire wear on it but I noticed a slight blip on the alloy when i was checking the tires.
It seems to be round the center of the wheel where the mazda logo is. I noticed slight blips and mazda have taken some photos of it and I have a complete set of new alloys on order (which mazda are paying for) they said it was probably a fault in the manufacturing of the wheels so I just wanted to let you know of my problem in case there are anymore with this fault!
My dealer installed new dealer recommended Goodyear RS-A tires on my Mazda5 Aug 08 at the outrageous price of $185 each + weights, valves, and labour. Now at just under 37,000KM's the tires are almost bald. My driving is 90% highway. The other day I had the brakes serviced and the mechanic showed me that on the outside of the tire is a notice on the sidewall that says "this side inward", the inside says"this side outside". So all this time the tires have been installed inside-out.
Could this be why the tire is recessed past the rim on the outside, the tires are almost bald, and the outside of the tire is rounded? I run 34PSI as indicated in the manual.
Ideas anyone? Thanks in advance for your help.
Unfortunately I hit a curb when merging at 50-60 MPH. Both right wheels got scratched. The alignment is a tad out of whack, which means something got bent.
The description of the part (wheel rim) says “painted aluminum”. Can it be polished and painted? Who does this kind of job, a body shop?
A new rim is $170 (US). Is it worth fixing?
Thank you!
Here is a repair guide I found sometime ago, or any decent car paint shop can do the job:
http://bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/wheel-repair/wheel-scuff-repair.htm
Weird thing.... the wheel did not get bent. I expected a flat tire right away and I was paying, and still am, attention for vibration or some kind of wobbling. Nothing.
However, I have to sadly report that probably the lower control arm got bent. So I am puzzled, as I would expect the wheel to get bent out of shape, before something else does.
Nothing got bent. I took the car to a body shop and asked to lift it up to check for whatever is bent. Instead they lifted with a jack and began to wonder and told me that the whole suspension has to be changed, lower arm, tie rod end, strut and knuckle. About 2000. I should let the insurance talk to them directly. They'll take care of it.
A mechanic told me that IF everything needs to be changed it's going to be close to 1000. I lifted my car on two jacks and inspected it myself. Nothing is bent! SOB's! The sub frame is mounted on rubber bushings and it shifted slightly. It is also coming back.
I can't believe the dishonesty of these guys!
The steering is a little too responsive for me on the freeway. I find that just a few degrees of turning the wheel, the car behaves as expected. A little more produces an unexpected sharp response. It feels like it's going to jump in the other lane. That was at least my first impression. I am getting used to it.
The best test for steering problems is turning in a parking structure with shiny floors. Most of them have floors like that to make it easy to clean and repel oil stains.
You'll see that most used cars (old) will squeal when turning in tight radius. Both my new Mazdas did not (I used to lease a CX-7). I just realized that I parked this morning in such a situation and it was quiet. Hurray!
The Megan racing links have neoprene bushings which would last longer and in theory be "harsher". How one would notice that harshness is beyond me and I am certainly not noticing it. Most of the other adjustables use the same OEM rubber.
With two people it CAN be a do it yourself job however, on the driver side the one bolt comes out DIRECTLY into an exhaust mount. The "easy" solution is to drop the suspension entirely. The real world soultion is to take the bolts out (3) on that side and pry the suspension down far enough for the bolt to go past the mount. If I had had the correct die (or a couple of nuts) I would have cut the bolt length to make it easier to go back in. The bolt is significantly too long.
Larry
I'm heading back there today because I can already hear a little noise out of my new $125 (each) Tires.
I love the car, but this is going to drive me NUTS. I wonder if this is covered under my state's lemon law?
Of course, I had to go to my favorite service center that specializes in tires (MIC Tire Pros in LIC, NY - they're great!) and see if they had matching tires in stock and if they could take me in. They did. However, to drive myself there, I first had to change the front tire and put on the 5's OBNOXIOUSLY YELLOW donut. It was embarrassing having everyone stare at the thing as if it were an alien. As a side note, however, I like the 5 even MORE now. Changing the tire was SO easy to do and so organized! I loved how the 5 neatly arranges everything you need to change your tire - esp. the jack in the secret compartment - and how the back storage compartment smartly houses your tire and rim, and how they even provide a strap to hold your tire in place. Genius!
Point is, I got two Bridgestone Potenzas G019 Grid Tires (205/50 R17 89V) put in the front of my 5 ($140 ea. incl. mounting and balancing - not bad!), and the 2 remaining OEM tires in the rear. Even with only TWO new tires, I already feel a difference! It's great! I haven't noticed a drastic change in road noise reduction - only slightly quieter - but I have noticed one in ride comfort. The new tires make the car ride even better! I already was enamored with the 5's ride/handling balance, and now I like it even more. My rear rims have had slight dents on them that when rotated to the front would make you feel a very slight tremor as you drove. Mistakenly, my tire place put one of the rear rims in the front along with the new tires (they were supposed to change the tire and not the actual rim). But the new tires cushion so much better, that I don't even feel the slight tremor at ALL! Can't wait to change the rear tires to the new Potenzas ASAP!
The new tires are also really good looking tires (I mean, for tires.). They make the 5 look more butch - lol. The tread on them looks really good and like they would improve the traction on wet pavement significantly, which would address my main complaint with the OEM tires and how they lack any traction on any even slightly moist pavement. Reviews of the Potenzas confirm this and I'm looking forward to confirming it myself.
Just wanted to share this with you guys and to put in my recommendation for the Bridgestone Potenzas G019 Grid (205/50 R17 89V) tires. I'll report back when I get the other two Potenzas installed in the rear. :shades:
They look great, feel great (the handling seems even stickier now, and the ride is slightly smoother) and they sound a tad quieter. Not a bad combo, indeed. Still recommending them. Here's to hoping they last more than two years!
I went to Bell Tire and replaced the wheels and tires for about $1000. I downsized to 16 inch wheels and taller tires. The vibration and noise is gone, and the ride seems more forgiving.
I hope it lasts, but I purchased economical tires in the event that frequent replacements are required.
Other than this issue, we really enjoy the vehicle.
Now they want to switch the tires from another vehicle to make sure that the problem is with the tires. I'm not sure how many more trips I will have to make to get this problem fixed.
Has any one encountered this problem. Please provide any suggestions/solutions.
Appreciate your help!
Hopefully your issue is caused by something else.
Please give me your voice!
Shaking may be caused by your tires going out of balance, not related to wear.
The problems with the Mazda 5 are the tires and wheels combination. :lemon:
The OME wheels do not have any support on the inner side. The smallest pothole deforms the wheel on the inside. All of you who witness vibrations while driving, have the wheels checked and you’ll find out that at least one or two of them are not a perfect circle anymore. The tires are as crappy as they come. :sick: I made mine last 30,000 miles. When it was time to change them, I decided to try a 16inch steely with a 225/50R-16. I ordered 4 of them from tirerack.com. The ones suggested were General Altimax X. They cost $685 delivered. I put them on as soon as I got them and, let me tell you, the car has never been as quiet. There is no more pavement noise and no more vibrations. It now runs better than the day I first took it out of the dealership.
When the time comes that I have to put new ones on because of wear, I won’t have to fork $150 per wheel.
nahag1, "Mazda5 Owners MPG-Real World Numbers" #241, 6 Mar 2008 2:11 pm
The vibrations I was experiencing were at low speed (about 15000 RPM) and at around 65 MPH. When I took it back to the dealer, the mechanic test drove it, got it on the lift than called me to show me that the inner rim of 2 of the wheels was bent ever so slightly, you almost couldn't see it. He said " that is your problem ". Of course I didn't believe him, I was convinced that it was something with the engine or at least the mounts, but having seen the bent rims, I could only prove him wrong when I come back with perfect circular rims. It costs a lot of money to fix the OME rims and even more to buy new ones. Since I do not mind the look of the steelees, ( I actually think that they give the car some character ) I decided that the cost of the rims plus the tires would still keep me under $700, I would not have to deal with the Mazda rims, and the bonus, the new tire size would always be cheaper than the OME size.
The new wheels have been on the car for 5000 miles now. I couldn't go back to the dealer and prove him wrong because the vibrations disappeared, the pavement noise disappeared and the car became a pleasure to drive in the suburbs, on the highway and in town. It made a huge difference.
Mazda should wake up an realize that low profile tires are a curse on this car.
Appreciate your help.