Mazda Protege/Protege5 Tires and Wheels
lacebugboy
Member Posts: 1
Hi gang,
I'm considering buying an '02 Protege5 with 78K miles on it. It's a nice car but I was shocked by how loud the tires are at speeds between 15-45 mph. The owner says the tires are newish and they looked it to me. I think they were Dunlop "high performance" tires but I don't recall the model. The noise could be a deal-killer for us so I was wondering (hoping!) that someone could suggest some low-noise tires for this vehicle. Thanks a lot.
I'm considering buying an '02 Protege5 with 78K miles on it. It's a nice car but I was shocked by how loud the tires are at speeds between 15-45 mph. The owner says the tires are newish and they looked it to me. I think they were Dunlop "high performance" tires but I don't recall the model. The noise could be a deal-killer for us so I was wondering (hoping!) that someone could suggest some low-noise tires for this vehicle. Thanks a lot.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Being performance Dunlops they will likely wear fairly quickly and become quieter.
If you're looking for a set of good inexpensive replacements, you might want to look for the BF Goodrich Traction T/A 205-50 V-rated tires. I found the original Dunlops and the BFG tires equally non-noisy (but this is personal).
Try Tire Trends for other suggestions.
Good luck!
I had Kumho's. Quieter, but they wore badly and pretty quickly. Not a lot of choices in this tire size.
Most tires get noisier as they wear.
You can also install sound insulation under the carpeting - not a quick job, though.
Thanks
I have an '03 P5. Looking to see if my 1yr. old Dunlop Graphipcs (sp?) 205/55/R15 will mount ok if I can find some cheap steel or alloy 15" wheels. Tire Rack has some for $50, but that's more than I wanna pay. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
JW
1. Steel wheels would be cheaper than alloy wheels.
2. Smaller sized wheels (15") would be cheaper than larger (16") ones.
3. Buying a package (i.e. tires & wheels) is cheaper than buying them separately.
4. Buying a well-known brand allows cross-shopping.
5. Many tire brands are owned by the same company.
Personally, I have found BF Goodrich to be a great value as my summer "performance" (Traction T/A) tires and my winter (Winter Slalom) tires.
All were all-season performance or touring tires:
Avoid:
General XP2000 - all went out of round after only a few thousand miles. Ditto for the second set I was given as replacements. Size was 175/70R13, on the 323. I'll never buy another set of General tires again.
BF Goodrich Traction T/A H (185/65R14 size on Pro) - very weak sidewalls; I have to inflate them to at least 36psi to avoid unstable cornering, plus they are wearing unevenly and are very noisy at only 5,000 miles on them. I will be replacing these soon with a set of Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus tires. Others seem to be happy with these, but based upon my own experience and that of a few friends and co-workers, I will be avoiding this brand in the future.
Firestone FR680 (stock on '99 ProLX) - slippery on wet roads, snow, ice. Good wear, decent on dry roads. Avoid unless you will drive only under dry conditions.
Good:
Falken Ziex ZE-512 (Pro) - Decent on dry roads (not as good as the Dunlop SP Sport A2 or SP5000), but a little slippery on wet roads. Wore faster than the Dunlops (all of them), lasting only about 25,000 miles.
Dunlop D65A (Saturn) - Great tire wear. The rubber compound on the sidewalls cracked (after 7 years) before the tread wore out. Decent handling and noise. Wore very evenly. I'm not sure this is made any more though. I think these were replaced by the SP Sport A2 model.
Dunlop SP5000 (P5) - Costly. Wife got over 45,000 miles on them, but others have gotten much less tread life. Very good dry handling. OK wet and snow handling. Just very expensive.
Bridgestone/Firestone RE910 (Saturn) - Decent tire. Better in dry handling than the Dunlop D65A they replaced, but a little less traction on wet roads. Noisier than the Dunlops too.
Kumho Ecsta (P5) - sorry, forgot the model name, but it's one of few that match the stock size and are all-season performance tires. They are noiser than the Dunlop SP5000 tires they replaced. Wear seems even. Handling is not as good as the Dunlops, but are still a good match for the P5.
Excellent:
Michelin X-One - (323) Best tire I've had for wet traction and cornering, w/o being a dedicated rain tire like Aquatreds. Very comfortable and quiet, with decent handling for a touring-type tire. Tire wear was incredible. Last set of tires I installed on my 323 before I sold it (had put 20,000 miles on them by then, and wear was negligible).
Dunlop SP Sport A2 (Pro) - Excellent dry handling and predictable, progressive cornering, best hydroplaning resistance (even better than the Michelin X-One tires) out of all the above. OK in terms of comfort and noise. Though they wore quickly, I got 35,000 miles out of them with frequent fast corners (occasional 4-wheel drifts when road conditions were right - fun, fun fun!) but moderate straight-line speeds and accelerations. Sufficient traction on snow and ice to climb hills w/o tire cables installed, but you'll need to temper your driving to be safe.
Interesting. The 205/50/R16 BF Goodrich Traction T/A tires I use on my Protege5 are V rated (similar to the stock Dunlops, 195/50/R16 V). The V rating means they not only handle higher speeds but are pricier than the H rated. I wonder if the tire construction is substantially better with a higher speed tire. I have no issues with the sidewalls to date. I routinely overinflate my tires as I like the crisp feel and the handling.
Out of the tires I've had on my '99 ProLX, which uses 185/65R14 tires, the Firestone FR680 (stock) and BF Goodrich Traction T/A H (also comes in T speed rating) are unacceptable, in my opinion. And yes, they are spinning in the correct direction (the Traction T/A has a unidirectional tread design). Too bad; I thought they were decent when they were new, but I thought the same of the General XP2000 tires too, and I went through 2 bad sets (they tried to tell me my '89 323LX overloaded the tires - that was a laugh!) of those before switching to the Michelin X-Ones.
Any other recommendations for future winter or all season tires?
Try Frisby's or another independent tire distributor. You can also search the net under TireTrends or Tire Rack or the manufacturers site (e.g. BF Goodrich). My 14" Winter Slalom tires are from BF Goodrich and the wheels are generic steel wheels with 5 bolts. Check also your car manual (in the appendix) for the precise numbers for 15" tires.
On my wheels the weights sit on the outer circumference of the rim and are clearly visible. You might want to post your question to the Tires forum for general information about these weights.
Aesthetics, you know.
ZoomOH
Do any of you owners have some take off's for sale?
TDS.
Thx, Ron
TireRack has new alloy wheels for $81 each and other vendors should have similar offers.
Used wheels are about $65 each in my quick check of prices so I'd recommend buying a set of brand new alloys.
Exactly!
Hope we can help!
Likely not. I switched to 205/50R16 V-rated without a problem.
Steve
Going with the standard 195/50/16 V rated tires could be cheaper and is also what the manufacturer recommended for that model. It used to be difficult finding this size so you may want to check the driver's manual for other options (including 15 inch tires) that Mazda recommends but this would mean not only replacing the tires but also the wheels, which could be pricy. By the way, V and Z rated tires are considered performance tires, so they tend to wear quickly; get ready to replace them after a few years.
I have been driving on 205/50/16 V rated Bridgestone Traction T/A and find them very good tires.
If you got a good 8 winters out of your current tires, and have no complaints, I'd stick with your BFG's.
Thanks! I'll check them out.
If so, are they worthwhile in deeper snow?