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 :)

Mention you're part of a car club and that a lot of you are coming up for new tyres soon ... if they can do a good deal they may very well be able to honour that price.

Doing the ring around, there was only one place which would bring their price down under $300 and that was a tyre shop at Cheltenham. The others ... even my regular (who's made a lot of money out of my family) didn't want to budge.

I reckon if you're paying $390 a corner it'd be better to go Michelin Pilot Preceedas.

Trev, do yourself a favour and ring around interstate. Get them to include shipping to you in their quote. Melb seems a lot cheaper to get tyres. I know payless tyres in Sydney are quite cheap and it costs between 10 and 20$/tyre to ship to melb.

Also, look at 235/40/R18 instead of 225/45/18. The 235 size is a lot more common and so you will get better pricing.

Cheers

Andrew

I can vouch for the goodyear eagle F1, holds well in both dry and wet. I got them on my previous car. I can also vouch for pirelli dragon as I have a friend who has them on, good grip, and lasts longer than eagle F1 (harder compound). so depends on your need, if you want grip, go eagle f1, if you want tyre that will last, go pirelli dragon. Sorry I can't comment on the other tyres as I have no experience with them.

My stance is against the Eagle F1s based on (1) Trev wants a quiet tyre that's stable for straight line driving but good in corners which will last at least 40000km and (2) the fact that there are now tyres out there that will grip just as well in the wet and outperform them by far in the dry (hard sidewall technologies and advances in silica compounds have directly impacted on this).

This topic is just one of those which seems to generate the most debate and opinion on this forum, but I'm leaning towards the Adrenalin, the Proxies and the Pirellis. The fact that these tyres have a superior grip in the wet and a relatively long life is my rationale.

I've always had Pirellis on my Moto Guzzi California 1100, and they have never let me down, but having said that we are talking about a completely different motor vehicle. I've got to admit the tread on the new Adrenalin looks very sharp, and I like the idea of the Proxies getting a huge life...

One thing I've learnt about the tyres here is they all have a trade off, but I also know if I spend $300 - $350 I'll get a good tyre.

I'm pretty certain I'll also be going with the 235/40/R18's....

The Bridgestones are very quiet and they don't smoke up as easily as the RE040's :P

Sorry but you cant have sidewall strength and quiete. You either have sidewall strength/stability which will give you the cornering stability or you have quiet...you cant have your cake and eat it too.

Also, as much as I like my Proxies, if cornering is your passion then there are much better. I would say the pirelli's are a better choice as the only down side was the warm up required whcih probably isnt such an issue up there (I had them in the -2c temps in winter last year).

I've been pleasantly surprised at the long life I'm getting out of my Michelin PS2's, which has included a number of track days and a lot of hard street driving.

It's a bit like power to weight - cost to longevity is important when choosing a tyre.

Yes but longevity to the performance/handling is also key, I mean if you want pure longevity, ask Drewman...get some nankangs (I was going to but there isnt anything legal for the 8 in Victoria).

Was just having a look around, forgot that federal have the SS595 here http://www.federaltyres.com.au/ss595.

They are a fairly well rated tyre. Not sure on price.
http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=177164
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/arch.../t-132094.html
http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/for...hp/t10850.html

I have found them for $220/tyre in 235/40/18.

Interesting thread Andrew. I heard of Federal years ago and didn't think they were still around....this comment was interesting...

I had a friend of mine give me a half worn out set of these tires back in august. He abused them on his mustang before the car was stolen.
My biggest complaint with the tires is the road noise. I get a low end grumble that is easily confused with the center diff going out.
Other than that, these tires are awesome. They can handles a rain flooded road better than the advans, I don't feel any hydroplaning until I hit standing water around 65mph (keep in mind I am almost to the wear indicators)
The cornering is nice and surprizingly good considering the treadwear is set to something like 240
They don't handle mud that well, but considering that it's a dry weather performance tire, you can't really complain.
I have seen them for as little as $85 / tire for a 245/40/17 which is the size I am running now.
Great tires for the street.

For the purpose of this exercise, I'll talk to the dealership and find out some more including costs in Queensland.

Most of the "issues" I read people had with them sounded more like alignment and abuse problems unrelated to the tyres. I am spewing now that I didnt remember about them when I bought my proxies.

I had assumed we were talking performance tyres, not crappy ones.

Handling v longevity is always in tension as you know because (to generalise) the grippier the tyre the softer the compound and hence the faster it wears.

I was just trying to make the point that if a higher price well-performing tyre lasts longer, the higher price can become competitive with a lower cost well-performing tyre that wears out quicker.

Yep understood I wasn't saying you weren't saying...was just "trying" to compliment your post.

I expect about 20000km out of the standard Bridgestones if I am lucky.

At 16000km I am getting very close to the tread wear indicators already.

Country driving on coarse chip roads is obviously hell on tyres.

I have never done a burnout, I have only got it sideways in the wet once (a scandinavian flick to see how good the DSC was ) and never even heard the tyres squeal in the dry.

I am surprised that I am getting half the wear of you city drivers.

Good to see we're in violent agreement on that, lol.

That is bad. I've had well over 20K out of the PS2's and still have heaps to go. And although I never do burnouts it's fair to say I've heard them squeal, ahem, once or twice...:uhh: :)

Tyrewear can depend on alignment and camber settings too. I know mine wear differently because of my settings.

I think I had my bridgestones for 30,000km before getting new tyres. I didnt have to but I had them on the skidpan a few times and the wear was a bit uneven, I dont play games with tyres and brakes so I just figured get all new ones. Still got my original bridgestones with my stock rims on them and there is enough wear on them but I use those for 'fun' now if I have to.

Very correct Kal. My alignment is spot on as they've been done twice this year, and both times came up trumps (+/- .005%). I've been running my Bridgys on 36 psi and I think thats half the problem why my tyres are starting to scallop.

Until I get the newbies, I'm running them on 40 psi but I've left my run too late...and lost out on 5K+ in tread...:spank:

I thnk its recommended 38psi for daily driving. All the driver schools say 38psi. I run 41-42 but I got low profiles.

Trev a question. When you said your tyres were scalloped can you confirm its as per the attached pic'

that looks like -ve camber action to me!

I have to agree with Drew - that pic looks like a camber issue. The only way Mazda could detect it was on their hoist.

When they spinned the rear wheels (and you looked against a white backdrop) you could see a faint uneven variation on the tyre. You could feel it as it was spinning...like there were some raised 'bumps' in the tyre.

The mechanic said the only way to fix it would be to flatten out the tyres with some serious drifting...or buy some new ones!

For the purpose of the exercise they quoted me $490 a corner for new Bridgestones....

You sure is the tyre?

Not the wheel......

Nope, its pure scalloping from excessive toe. Note the wear on the tyre wall. -ve camber wear is restricted to the tread.

If its not that Trev then from what you are saying its this...cupping, which is as a result of a bad wheel balance as taka was getting at.