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Hatchbacks Mazda3 Mazda 3 Tire & Wheel Questions
267 messages, Last post on Nov 13, 2009 at 3:04 PM
You are in the Mazda3 Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Came with 205/55r16 How big can I go with out modifying ex: 205/70r16 etc.
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Replying to: pfcv (Oct 04, 2008 11:37 am) Why in the world would you want to go from a 55 aspect ratio to a 70 aspect ratio? In any event, the techs at Tire Rack will be able to answer your questions. |
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| I need to replace the tires on my 2006 mazda 3 and they are very expensive... i was hoping someone knew any other tire names and makes that can be put on this car that are not too expensive OR other rims that could be put on this car.. | |
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Replying to: grace10 (Oct 06, 2008 12:52 pm) What does your car currently have? I would not recommend switching rims if you want to save money. If your driving is not "sporty" then you can choose a lower speed rating; the speed rating is often indicated by the letter (other than R which stands for radial) shown in the tire coding. For example,. 205/50/16 V is a faster tire than a 205/50/16 H tire; generally, faster tires are more expensive than slower tires.
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Replying to: autonomous (Oct 06, 2008 1:11 pm)
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Replying to: grace10 (Oct 06, 2008 1:37 pm) These are performance tires (note the "V)" and not intended to be driven in the snow. Is it in my best interest to look into switching rims because the snow handling on the ones i have now are terrible. What many of us do is buy a separate set of winter tires with rims. The advantages of doing this are: - you save your regular alloy rims from winter damage, - the switch from summer to winter tires is quicker and cheaper - you can downsize your tires as well as your rims to save money. By buying the tires and rims at the same time, you can get a package deal which should be lower than if you bought them separately. Your winter package can be downsized by at least 1 step; meaning that you can go from a 17" rim down to a 16" rim. Any reputable tire dealer should be able to advise you. Some good choices for winter tires come from the usual suspects: Bridgestone, Michelin, Yokohama, and Toyo. Personally, I have been using BF Goodrich Winter Slalom. Some rate them as a lower rank of winter tire but I have had no problems with them for the last 5 winters. They come in a variety of sizes, are widely distributed and are cheaper than the first tier of tires. Also, don't wait too long before buying winter tires as they run out of sizes by late Novermber. Good luck! |
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| I have an '04 3s with AEM CAI and Magnaflow exhaust. Driving style is 'spirited' My latest tire choice is Dunlop Signature 205 50R17 93V and paid $160ea. Downshifting to 3rd, this car will easily pass several vehicles at once and you can find yourself near 90 mph when you pull back in without trying for it. 30-32 MPG is consistent. The Dunlops feel great and respond to all demands and situations this side of abuse. I don't know about mileage yet, but research indicates a decent life expectancy on the tire comparison websites. Live to zoom, zoom to live! | |
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Replying to: grace10 (Oct 06, 2008 12:52 pm) I had them on my last car, an 02 Lancer OZ Rally, and went up one size with them too. Many people on Tirerack have done this upgrade and it seems the size of the original tires is very hard to find and V rating makes them expensive with little tread life. I would go up one size in width rather than buy expensive tires twice. The best you can expect on the current tires is 30K, my tires are starting to look bad now, so I expect at around 20-25K I will switch them. I would not go down on the speed rating because of the suspension, lowering the speed rating on the tires would defeat the purpose of the vehicle. V rated tires are stiffer and more responsive.
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Replying to: 06mazda3s (Oct 13, 2008 8:55 pm) Your reply: I would not go down on the speed rating because of the suspension, lowering the speed rating on the tires would defeat the purpose of the vehicle. V rated tires are stiffer and more responsive. Could you explain what you mean by saying "I would not go down on the speed rating because of the suspension"?
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Replying to: blanca58 (Jul 09, 2008 12:57 pm) I took my car to Tires Plus in Port St. Lucie Fl and they called me into the garage to explain that the alignment computer is showing "factory specs" on all four wheels. They said there must be a factory defect in the car and to take it to the dealer and demand correction and a new set of tires or threaten Lemon Law !. I took it to the Mazda dealer in Stuart Fl and they said the car was fine and that I just had not rotated the tires each oil change. I went home not convinced and started searching on line finding all the forum write ups on the problem being extreme negative camber on the rear of most Mazda 3s. One forum explained how you could personally try to make your own corrections to the rear camber by turning the two hatchmarked adjustment bolts in or out on both rear wheels. This made sense seeing my problem started exactly at the same mileage a lot of the other forum writers stated. 17k on factory tires. I rotated my tires once since new at 14k moving the rear tires with the worn inner ridge to the front of my car. That is when I started noticing unusual tire/road noise. It threw me off because most tire wear is usually caused from front end misalignment. My front tires were fine and then they started wearing right away when I moved them to the rear. I noticed the wear was a little more extreme on one side than the other so I adjusted the rear camber on that side one and a half hatch marks and the other side only one hatch mark correction using two large 17mm box end wrenches with the car jacked up and with safety jack stands in place. You can actually see the correction to the negative camber when you turn the camber bolt in or out after loostening the threaded lock nut on the outside. You can notice the tops and bottoms of the tires moving in or out a little with each turn. Negative camber is when your wheels are tilting in at the top and out at the bottom. As you add weight to the car such as heavy passengers you will get even more negative camber on the rear wheels. The front wheels do not need camber adjustment and don't have an adjustment as far as I could see. After making the minor adjustments to my car I took my best tires and moved them up to the front hoping that I could get a little more out of them. I figure 30 to 40K would be fair. We'll see. I still have the road noise because of the previous wear damage. I haven't noticed any oversteer as a result of the minor adjustment which I considered an easy fix/job as car repairs go. Now I'm driving around behind every Mazda 3 I can catch up to in traffic and in parking lots observing the rear camber. It is amazing. Some are very easy to detect visually that the rear tires are tilting in at the top as compared to other cars . I stood behind a Mazda 3 five door the other day and couldn't believe how obvious the negative camber looked. Why the dealers are so misinformed or underhanded I don't know. It sure isn't ethical. Withl the problems they fix and diagnose, I wonder if the service managers ever read the forums to find out stuff that is affecting their customer's confidence. It probably has to do with them having to own up to a new set of tires for every complaint. That could be a lot more expensive than a routine alignment. On the other hand their reputation is at stake trying to hide stuff. Who would want a car that wears out a good set of very expensive tires every 15000 miles?
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