Ok, mine came with the Toyo A36 All Season Tires. I have to imagine (but hope I'm wrong) that these are NOT the best amongst the middle of the pack. Am I wrong?

 

These came standard from the factory on our 2017 Mazda CX-5 AWD Gran Touring. Decent tire accept for treadwear. Well maintained but only lasted 21,000 miles. Bought a set of Yokohama GEOLANDAR G055. A bit louder and firmer ride but hopefully will last longer.

 

The stock Toyo A36 is not a good tire for this type of car. I am amazed at the wear in only 15k miles. I figured the tires would easily last the length of my 36k lease but it will not be the case. The dealer mentioned the wear at my oil change last week. The tires only have a tread wear rating of 300 which is really poor. They are obviously a very soft compound. No tread wear warranty. I contacted Toyo about my tires wearing very quickly and they told me to have the dealer contact them about it. I have done so and will report back if any offer is made.

 

Thanks. How were they in rain? Any hydroplaning? Tried them in snow?

 

This is disappointing to hear- though not surprising. This is because the bean counters have gotten too involved in the decision making. This is not only a Mazda thing. The same thing I had on my 20017 Audi A4 Allroad. They came with Pirelli tires (forgetting the model) that I'm sure they got some type of great deal on and they were terrible. In the rain one evening I hydroplaned and after that, I bought a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and they were terrific.
Why all models of cars and SUV's don't come equipped with a better grade/quality of tires only comes down to money saved by the car makers. I totally get that certain tires are designed with different features in mind - some or high performance, some are better at braking, some have longer tread life, etc. But what ticks me off is that amongst the whole lot of tires available, they seem to pick poorly rated tires.

 

Vehicle manufactures with a few exceptions the consideration for which tires to use are first the engineers for the suspension and chassis then the department heads go to the safety departments which are generally also in charge or directing vehicle testing. When the prospective tire(s)type and model are chosen it then gets approval of the "bean" counters to see if a budget extension or change is necessary. I have never known an auto manufacture to cut back on vehicle SAFTY parts for the sake of a budget. What they do is go to another department to reduce manufacturing cost. Like interior amenities or even in some case switching from a cast aluminum part to a plastic like an intake manifold? Naturally this is after the winning tire manufacture(s) (there are many time a few unlike decades ago when there was generally only one per production year) was chosen.


I might also add that most people seldom get a wide introduction to different tires and their performance so opinions about tires is generally really vague at best unless 2 or more people live in the same area and are driving the same year and platform model vehicle. Oh and also have near the same driving skills. LOL

And and this a BIG AND... not all states use the same material and engineering specification on highways and road ways. There are so many Federal Standards for new roads and also the replacement of Federal Highways not to mention in the state of CA alone there are over 3000+ different road types... so to conclude that any one tire will do better or less in all these different types of tarmac in the US alone is just IMPOSIBLE!

If tire choices and their Performance on dry, wet, snow, ice dirty clean ,muddy etc., road surface was easy then why do professionals racing worldwide have many sets of tires for any given event in case one type and set is not working well for that track and the days conditions? LOL

 

I do hear you and I learned something from your post. Having said that, most any tire available today will "work" - they will let the car go from point A to point B. I'm also not referring to high performance, ultra high performance or snow tires, etc,
I'm referring to the most common tires - the All Season tires or maybe summer tires in the warmer regions of the country, that the vast majority of cars/SUVS come equipped with. My point is that they should come with tires that are rated better than average in handling/braking/tire wear, etc. and it seems that is not was is happening.
I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to tires - I do monitor the pressures and check wear. Tires are literally where the rubber meets the road and all things being equal a good tire can help prevent and accident - shorter braking distance, better handling in both dry and wet weather. That's why I swapped out my Pirellis for Michelins and I'll do it again if per chance I sense any issues with these Toyo's. I'll grant you But in my book, juts because the overwhelming majority of drivers are not the least bit concerned about their tire unless they get a flat. doesn't mean that the auto makers shouldn't provide a better offering. They can do and we should demand they do better.

 

LOL you have not seen fanatical until you see what I do concerning tire service and treatment... LOL
POST #73 and POST #145 and POST #172 lol
https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/maz...like-do-44018/


Now here is something that when I see a few post about their factory tires performance I like to ask....DO YOU THINK THE PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY SPECIFICATION ARE FALSE! Ask an average "Joe/Jane" what the stopping distance is for their vehicle and they look like a deer in headlights... no answer....LOL
Now lets try a harder question more for real car "nuts" Do you know what the G force results tested on a kid pad were for your vehicle with those so called inferior tires chosen by the auto manufacture? Ops another most have no clue? That tire was on the vehicle that those test were done on and later posted as performance information pertaining to the safety and other aspects having to do with tires supporting information about the vehicle like MPG! . And lets not forget we all got the separate WARRANTY pamphlet about the warranty on the tire.
Then there is the question when some of you actually Hydroplaned how fast were you going? LOL You see those MPH signs posted are for perfect road conditions, when things change less then perfect you should be reducing the vehicles velocity more in line with in my humble opinion to the capacity of experience level driving in less then good driving conditions. This would mean at some point in ones life you took a driving school either in the capacity of Performance or Defensive or general improvement skills Training in which all of these would teach you improved driving skills beyond the ego of "I know how to drive a car " cuz I passed my DMV driving test? LOL

As for handling well this goes with the same information about the performance on a skid pad. The tires on your vehicle now were used to determine the performance handling capability.
Treadwear ..... 300 in the world some of us that actually know more aspects of tires, maybe either using them for tracking or selling them in a business ; ) know performance ratings and although 300 is somewhat of a lower rating and you need to compare to other tires in the same class really it is still generally ok. Unless maybe you advertiser targeting a market with another tire or want people to believe that it is low quality, perhaps? But like any tire even with higher tread wear number (most really dont understand the number anyway) you need to check tire pressure frequently ,watch for front outside wear mostly cause by poor driving habits and skills and make sure they get rotated on or before 5000k Religiously to get the best performance from them!

 

At one time, many moons ago, the new cars came with whatever tire that provided the smoothest ride, hoping to impress the potential buyer with the smoothest ride on a test drive. Now, unless the car is represented as a slalom car, I think their priority is strictly enhancing their profit margin.

 

I'm gonna check out that thread - thanks.
Nope, don't know a G force test from a G-string, but I do know that the Michelins handled way better than the Pirelli's. I am what most people would (politely) refer to as a defensive driver but in any type of inclement weather I am super cautious when driving.
So, when I had that unpleasant hydroplaning event I was concerned enough to start doing some research. I started to see a lot of posts on the Audiworld A4 forums about those Pirelli's and seems its a common complaint. I then went to Tirerack and read reviews (and I understand that reviews can be all over the place) and the consensus was the the Pirelli's simply did not perform as well the Michelin. So driving my car with my family, I'm going to get the better tires.

My whole point is to say that we could and should be given tires that are a better quality than the ones the auto makers choose. The fact that most people are not aware of a tire's limitation (braking/handling) isn't the issue.