Not happy with my tyre life....
 

After starting to notice an audible 'whirring' noise between 80 - 100 km/h, I took my car into Mazda today to get a full wheel inspection.

After 38,400 kms the report card is bad.

The stock two rear tyres have 2 mm and the front have about 3mm before the tread wear indicator kicks in. To make matters worse they are starting to scallop, and I've always looked after them with care....WTF???? :rant:

So I decided to put it all behind me and do some research on some newbies. I was given the following quotes today...

Bob Jane

1. Pirelli Dragons = $320 a corner fitted
2. Pirelli Z Neros = $345 a corner fitted
3. Maxxis = $199....

Goodyear

Eagle F1 225/45/18 = $310 a corner fitted
Dunlop Sports = $319 a corner fitted
Good year 'Excellence' (German made) = $289 a corner fitted

Goodyear quoted me a disposal fee of $2.50 a tyre, $12 insurance per tyre for 12 months full repair and replacement and a W/A x 4 of $69.00.

They swear by the F1s and I've got to admit they look pretty mean, being German made the Excellence look good for all round comfort and the Pirellis have a newly designed wide tread pattern.

Anyway things have surely got to get better, and I'm thinking of getting the new ones right now and using my old ones for the track???

Your 2c worth would be greatly appreciated.......

I will again add that you should look into the Toyo Proxies 4. While not as rigid a sidewall (Not many can claim as good a sidewall as the RE040).

That said, That price on the F1's sounds amazing (btw what size are we talking). Kall can vouch for them as a tyre.

I had the Nero's (asymetrico) for a short time (stolen with my rims) and the only complaint I had was that they took some warming up.

Also, I would say that 40,000k's isnt to bad on a set of tyres.

Cheers

Andrew

Thanks Andrew....with some telling me they are getting 50,000kms + for their stocks it made me wonder if I got a dud set of tyres.

Anyhow, I figure there must others out there who have only got 40,000 kms as well.

On the replacement option, the F1s look tempting and it would be good to hear from Kal her thoughts re; noise factor, grip in wet etc....

I got about 40k out of the stocks too. There is still some tread left but I didnt want to risk it.

F1s are ok.I now about 15000km on them. I still got plenty of tread left on them, there is heaps of grip. They are not quiet but I think they are quieter then stock.
Im not that good at tyre reviews... Perhaps Nate chime in now and give his view on my tyres as hes driven my car fair bit in dry and wet.

I got 40000km out of each set of tyres on my car.

Kall's tyres in a nutshell: noise is ok, grip in wet is very good, grip in dry not so good, cornering stability average.

What sort of driving you doing Trev?

the ratings with mine were mainly better in wet

trev im more concerned about how low ur tread was, when was ur last service, dealers should tell u how much tread u have left.

Scalloping huh? That means your alignment's been out if you've been driving on them nicely. You may be able to make your dealer pay for your next set of tyres if you complain hard enough.

3mm before thread indicator kicks in is lots of tread!

Nate, without pussing footing around I drive the car to the speed limit in a good time.

I take it up to 7K (in 2nd) every second week or so and I always drive the car within my limitations...but having said that I don't spin the wheels or manourvre around a corner to the point of maximum G force.

In a nutshell, having a relatively quiet tyre and the ability to hang onto a corner when needed is what I am really looking for........

....and as for my wife all she wants is a really safe tyre. So, do you think the F1 would fit the mould?

I think the Michilan pilots falls into that mould

Good thought Nate. I'll look at my 30K service report but combined with having low k's and having the tyres on them since 2004 means I'd have buckleys chance.

I figure I should have at least another 5,000Ks tread left but the scalloping has killed me.

It sucks...!

Interesting fact someone mentioned the other day. Apparently the RE040's are made in more than one factory (Malaysia and somewhere else). I would hazzard a guess that one factories tyres are of a lesser quality than the others.

Andrew I dont think the guys are talking about the quality of the tyres, I think it has to do with the poor alignment the car came with when purchased.

Andrew, as quoted by 'Kane' from Good Year Caboolture, this is what I've got in front of me...

Eagle F1 225/45/18 91W = $310 per tyre fitted.

I forgot to mention, Good Year are throwing in an MP4 player (value $150) with the deal....

That's are pretty harsh statement. It only takes one pot hole to screw a wheel alignment. Abnormal tye wear can be attributed to many things i.e.: tyre pressures, suspension problems, driving style etc. It may well be caused by wheel alignment, we just shouldn't assume it was bad from teh date of vehicle purchase.

Cheers... Otto

Keep in mind that the softer the compound of the tire you are purchasing before you buy it. If you want it to last look for something that not as highly performance orientated.
For EX. My Falkens grip like crazy, but in exchange for a max of 13k lifespan.
Potenza RE040s, Azenis RT-615s, Toyo RA1, etc.... are all in the same category of below 15k miles of driving.

Bridgestone Adrenalin?

Taka...from those two words I found this....

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/...r/selector.asp

Which in turn told me this.....

You have selected:

MAZDA RX8

Width 225
Aspect Ratio 45
Rim Diameter 18"
Speed Rating W
Load Rating 91

Bridestone Adrenalin.

Perfect match. Now all I've got to do is get a price...I suspect it will around the $400 mark.

Wind dance...thanks for the heads up. I was considering Falkens and whilst I have learnt they have excellent grip and handling, I suspected they have a poor treadlife. The decision is to choose what suits my driving and budget best, but as in most things in life it appears to be a trade off....

The harder the tyre = the longer it will last, but have less grip.

The softer the tyre = the shorter it will last, but have more grip.

Reason I say it is because I know of someone whos 8 was pretty badly aligned and in the end mazda ended up replacing a lot of things including new set of tyres.

I suppose when you think about it Otto, one pot hole is all it takes to throw it out, but in my case all four tyres are out of wack.

It won't hurt for me to raise the issue, after all my last front and rear W/A was in March. I suspect however they'll shut the door in my face.....:banghead:

if 1 pot hole can throw the entire car out then wtf u pay all that money for?

They're what I got ... I wouldn't recommend them for $400 a tyre, but if you get them for under $300 a tyre they're worth it.

BTW Cromax got less than $300 a corner.

Thanks Taka - I just got back from Bridgestone in Caboolture and they quoted me $375.00 per tyre.

I then rang another 'contact' and Bridgestone at Burpengary came back at $390 per tyre.:Eyecrazy:

Nate, without burning any bridges, can you steer me in the right direction to get the Adrenalin tyre closer to your price?

No problem, and good luck :)