Has everyone reviewed this item about the Bridgestone Potenza tire wear.
http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000320053857/
How about that for pro-active customer service?
I've got 18k miles on my tires here in NorCal and complained to the Mazda dealer about the load road noise and that the vehicle steers like a MACK truck, not a sports car. They indicated that the tire has worn and the inside tread has "cupped" causing this problem. They did not offer any other suggestions, except to wait another 5k miles to see if they wore differently. I investigated it a bit more & found that the same tire is on the Nissan & Infiniti. Has anyone received any real service from their Mazda dealer or perhaps a tire replacement through firestone?

 

18k seems like near end of life for the Potenzas if you drive them hard. I stretched mine to almost 25k, but they were very worn out. I also only got to put them through their paces 3 or 4 times (several miles of mountain fun). The Z's problem wasn't tires if I remember right, but the front suspension setup. The tire feathering occurred on other brands than stock.

 

Hey therm8, thanks for your response.
If the suspension /alignment caused the tire problem on the Z & if certain models of the Rx8 were recalled for suspension/ball joint problems, do you think that perhaps this problem could be more related that originally thought?
I'm just aggravated by the dealer answers "you've rotated them too often " (every 3-5k), "you should try to flatten them out by squealing them".
I'm going in to the dealer for an alignment/suspension check.
I don't drive hard, I simply commute everyday on the freeway (10-70mph)40 minutes one way to work here in Northern California. (waah) Its' the Bose stereo that makes the drive pleasureable.

 

Mine cupped at 18K also - pulled them off and slapped on the PZeros and had a laser alignment performed. It's night and day different now.

 

mine were done at 15K, without hard driving. But after dropping 25K on a car, i boycotted and refused to drop another 1K on tires so soon. I made them last to 35K

 

Mine are nearly warn out.. (loud, but not yet at the wear bars) at 22k miles.. He'll they were mostly worn out when I got the car at 16k miles!

I plan on getting new tires in the spring, either Pirelli Pzero Nero or Bridgestone Potenza RE050. (I'm afraid the 050's will wear and get loud like the RE040's did.. but afraid the Pirelli's will suck compared to the Potenzas.. ahh options..)

 

Your chance of winning the lottery are better than you having this problem w/ball joint so that's likey not the answer.



Your life will be happier if you accept the simply fact the RE040s are crap tires in many ways. It's not the car, it's not the dealer, it's the tires - - - and that's the way they wear...i.e., poorly, noisily..esp. when rotated.



You got some miles on them, just junk them and move on ... you can get some good rubber and you'll never think again about the bridgeSTONES and you'll be so ecstatic how much nicer your car is. Car makers are interested in price way before performance or good wear/noise characteristics, sad to say...that's why so many use RE040s. ps. mine were fried at 15K.

 

The Bridgstones are really pretty good for dry performance in the summer, and that's why Mazda put them on the 8; to get good spec. numbers. They suck for wear, noise, and cold performance; but then again those conditions are not what typical spec are derived from.