Ask the Car People.SM


Mazda CX-7 Tires and Wheels

209 messages,  Last post on Sep 12, 2012 at 7:39 PM

You are in the Mazda CX-7 Forum.

What is this discussion about? Mazda CX-7, Tires, Wheels, SUV

Messages Page 1 of 21

#1 of 209 Mazda CX-7 Tires, Wheels by Sylvia

Jul 12, 2006 (12:19 pm)

Mazda CX-7 Tires, Wheels

#2 of 209 Tires and Car Locations by afishionada

May 25, 2006 (4:44 am)

Hi All,
 
Can someone please help out. I've been sorting thru the tire discussion, but I don't really understand it too well. Which tires should I ask for for the FWD version? I do not use my cars for any rough driving, but I do like a car that handles well. I am giving up my Integra for a wagon (reluctantly) and am trying to get as close to that drive as possible.
 
Also - WHERE ARE THE CARS? If someone knows of any around the NYC area, please let me know. All the dealers I have called are clueless so I called headquarters and they said sometime in June.
 
Thanks!

#3 of 209 Re: Tires and Car Locations [afishionada] by dave90

May 25, 2006 (7:48 am)

Replying to: afishionada (May 25, 2006 4:44 am)
If I were you, I would try both tires on my own roads and see if I like one better (handling, noise, whatever).
 
I have found that the combination of tire, car and road makes all the difference in the world. A "great tire" based on tire-rack or other reviews, might be noisy and have poor grip on your tire and in your neighborhood.
 
I think a lot of the comments hear are driven by a few people with an anti-Bridgestone bias. Bridgestone makes the OEM tire for the Ferrari Enzo, so I think they are perfectly capable of making tires, so I wouldn't let someone elses bias sway you.

#4 of 209 Re: Tires and Car Locations [afishionada] by fowler3

May 25, 2006 (6:51 pm)

Replying to: afishionada (May 25, 2006 4:44 am)
First, it should not cost $1000 to swap tires. The CX-7 uses the same ally wheels on all models whether AWD or FWD. The problem may be in availability -- 18" tires are not made by all companies in the size required.
 
The OEM tires are not worthless, the Mazda dealer or the tire dealer should give you an allowance on the OEM tires. The sooner you swap the better.
 
The difference between tires can be substancial in road holding wet or dry and ride smoothness.
 
And, yes, many Mazda Protegé owners found Bridgestone OEM tires to be the worst they had ever had on a car. For the Protegés they were prone to hydroplaning, were harsh riding, and bad in snow.
 
I drive less than they did so I learned from their experiences with various brands and series replacements. Then I consulted TireRack's reviews before buying. The best tire recommended by the reviewers I bought and was amazed how great they are -- Kuhmos, they are everything the Bridgestones were not and much cheaper.
 
If you read other Mazda forums here you can learn a great deal and when a CX-7 Forum opens log-on regularly.
 
fowler3

#5 of 209 Re: Tires and Car Locations [fowler3] by afishionada

May 26, 2006 (9:08 am)

Replying to: fowler3 (May 25, 2006 6:51 pm)
Thanks fowler3 and others - this is all good to know. I'll check the other boards too. I don't mind putting out a few extra dollars to get the right tires, but I don't want to overpay either. I hope the cars are in soon - otherwise this will be a moot issue for me since I need to buy in the next week. The local dealers here in NY are telling me that no one gets a car until every dealer in the USA has one - crazy logistics.

#6 of 209 Tire Swapping by lilarry

May 22, 2006 (10:11 am)

With all the back and forth on tires, I'm thinking I'd want the very best tires available for my CX-7. My Jeep Grand Cherokee came with Goodyear Wranglers on it, a firm truck/SUV tire. I wanted something that would give a gentler but sportier ride and decided to switch the tires to Goodyear Forteras. Our local Goodyear dealer was happy to swap the Wranglers for Forteras (as long as there were less than 500 miles on them). I am now on my second set of Fortera's and absolutely love them - on the Jeep.
 
If I can get a CX-7 with Eagles on it, I'm sure the local Goodyear dealer would swap them for the tire of my choice (only charging me the difference). I'm wondering how a CX-7 would perform with these Goodyear Fortera light truck/SUV tires.
 
Better yet, do Bridgestone/Firestone dealers do new car tire swaps? If so, I might consider swapping the Turanza EL42's for Turanza LS's. Unlike the EL42's, the LS's are supposed to be excellent tires - extremely quiet with exceptional handling and traction characteristics. In addition to being a far superior tire, they might also help ease the highway road noise problem.
 
Any thoughts?

#7 of 209 Re: Tire Swapping [lilarry] by satchmo

May 22, 2006 (1:11 pm)

Replying to: lilarry (May 22, 2006 10:11 am)
First, I don't think the EL 42s are all that bad. I have owned a 2002 Accord LX coupe (V6) shod with these tires for the first 30K miles (my wife the primary driver): they were very smooth and fairly quiet on good, dry roads (which constitutes maybe 90% of my driving)and were good handling (notably quite sticky in corners). The down side was that traction in heavy rain and (even light) snow was mediocre at best --especially after the tires had more than 10K of wear. They were also quite noisy on concrete surfaces and over rain-grooves. So why did they fare so badly in Tirerack's survey (I ascertained that only 22% of respondents said they would buy again)? I can't answer for sure, but I conjecture that Tirerack's constituency are mostly a very sporty and demanding bunch --I notice that very few OE (original equipment) tires, especially on a sporty/upscale models, meet with their(Tirerack's client's) general approval. So for cars like the Camry Solara Convertible, the Acura TL, or the BMW 745 Li, all of which carried OE Turanza EL 42 tires, the minority of owners for whom handling is THE priority are not going to be happy & will order more performance oriented tires as replacements (presumably from Tirerack). Typically these upscale or premium but sporty cars (though not pure sporty or sports cars)are shod with tires that are a compromise between quietness, smoothness, performance on good roads, reliability and durability: typical of such tires are the Continental ContiTouring Contact CV95, the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4, Goodyear Eagle RS-A (but not LS), and, yes, the Bridgestone Turanza EL 42 (and the presumably similar Turanza EL 41 as well as the recent Turanza EL 400).
(Incidently, I recently replaced my EL 42's with Goodrich Traction T/A V tires, highly touted in the same surveys: I did not find much, if any, difference in dry handling and braking. Admittedly, handling in snow and rain was considerably better.)
My point is that the Turanza El 42's are not bad as touring tires go --significantly better on favorable surfaces than the Goodyear Eagle LS tires (based on Consumer Reports tests). You could easily live with them unless you did a lot of driving in snow or heavy rain. The Eagle RS-A's are about the same in many respects (I have them on my Mazda Mazda3). And, yes, I do agree that replacing them with Bridgestone's Turanza LS-H or LS-V would be an improvement, but mainly in wet conditions. Finally, I'm not sure that true performance tires (say, the Michelin Pilot Sport) are a good idea for cars that are not really designed for very high speeds, and at-the-limit handling: until proven otherwise, I assume the Mazda CX-7, is, after all, an SUV (albeit sportier than most).

#8 of 209 Re: Tire Swapping [satchmo] by lilarry

May 23, 2006 (5:31 am)

Replying to: satchmo (May 22, 2006 1:11 pm)
Thanks for your post, Satchmo, and for sharing your experience with the Bridgestone tires. You made several good points. I noticed you mentioned rain and snow handling a couple of times, and how the EL42's didn't perform as well in those conditions. But isn't at least one of the purposes of a CUV/SUV with AWD/4WD their increased traction in snow and rain? I don't need to go off-road, but my business requires me to be mobile regardless of the weather - one of the reasons I drive an SUV. I don't want that ability hampered by tires that have lower snow/rain capabilities. I suppose that's why I am so concerned about this issue and am looking for solutions.

#9 of 209 Re: Tire Swapping [lilarry] by satchmo

May 23, 2006 (11:41 am)

Replying to: lilarry (May 23, 2006 5:31 am)
Agreed, if you're going to need to optimize handling under adverse road/weather conditions, then the Eagle RS-A edges out the EL 42. I suspect there are even better alternatives: I've not driven the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4, but friends report that it's pretty decent all-around and holds up longer than some (it's OE in many Mazda6's). Likewise, while I've not driven the Pirelli Scorpion Zero, various surveys suggest it performs well, especially for AWD and 4WD vehicles.
Just out of curiosity, have you considered the AWD Toyota RAV 4, say, with the powerful V6, as an alternative to the CX-7? To me, the less powerful CX-7 would seem like the better vehicle for driving and handling in its lighter, road-oriented 2WD version. But with the additional weight and friction of an AWD transmission, and used for more heavy duty driving in rough weather and on rough roads, I might opt for the stronger RAV4 V6.
Anyhow, thanks for your input.

#10 of 209 Re: Tire Swapping [satchmo] by lilarry

May 23, 2006 (8:25 pm)

Replying to: satchmo (May 23, 2006 11:41 am)
"Just out of curiosity, have you considered the AWD Toyota RAV 4, say, with the powerful V6, as an alternative to the CX-7? To me, the less powerful CX-7 would seem like the better vehicle for driving and handling in its lighter, road-oriented 2WD version. But with the additional weight and friction of an AWD transmission, and used for more heavy duty driving in rough weather and on rough roads, I might opt for the stronger RAV4 V6."
 
I've given the matter some consideration and am also considering just hanging on to my Jeep or even getting another one. There are many factors in play:
 
1. I hate scheister auto dealers and won't do business with them. I walk out when I start getting double-teamed or I can sense a rip-off or high pressure or a scam. Sadly, all of the local Toyota and Nissan dealerships around here are part of the same scheister family chain of some 16 or 18 dealerships of various makes. I will NEVER, EVER do business with them. That factor alone has sadly disqualified Nissan and Toyota despite the fact that the Murano, the Highlander and the Rav-4 are all possible options for me.
 
2. My family and I like our Mazda dealer. We've bought 2 cars from them. They are sincere genuinely good people - perhaps among the last human beings in the auto business. As long as they have a model that fills my needs I'm happy to give them my business.
 
3. My family and I like our Mazdas. We have a 3 and a 6 and used to have a Miata.
 
4. I've been driving Jeeps for the last 10 years. They're great for what they are, but they're boring. I chomp at the bit for every opportunity to drive my wife's "6". Now that decent CUV's are coming out it's time for a vehicle that has has more of a fun factor while still fulfilling my SUV requirements. The CX-7 will probably fit that bill. The Rav-4 (and the Highlander) will probably not.
 
5. The Jeep is in great shape and isn't that old. The "common sense" part of me is telling me to just keep it. But the "little boy" in me is drooling over the CX-7.
 
This will all be easier to decide after a long test drive.

Messages Page 1 of 21

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement