Hi folks, new to the forum. I have a 2008 Mazda3 Sport GT. I just put on my winter tires and noticed really uneven wear on my summers (yes the oem Goodyear Tires). I took the car into my mechanic and he checked the alignment and it is within spec. The front right tire is wearing excessively on the inside edge. The rear tires are also wearing strangely it seems. I noticed this summer that the tires were louder than the year before too. I have 47,000km on the car in 2 years but I use winters from November to April, so the summer tires only have around 24,000km on them. Any suggestions?

 

Get rid of the badyears.
They are crap with a capital "C".
I have never heard one good word about them and, the biggest complaints with the badyears is they are noisy, and tread wear is terrible.
Bob.

 

There is one good thing about them...
They make really good planters for the yard!!!

 

Canuck, welcome to the forum!

If you search back through the postings, you'll find several threads on tires for the 3 and many complaints on the OEM Good(Bad)Years. On my 2007, the Badyears were shot at only 18K miles of "normal" driving. I put Kumho's on the 2007 and was happy with those plus they are not extremely expensive.

Now that you have the winter tires on, you'll have some time to read the other tire threads here. I've seen good comments on many brands.

I have a 2010 now, it came with Yokohama Avid S34's. I have found these to have quite a bit of road noise, however have seen favorable comments on other Yoko's.

You can also go to websites for some of the major retailers (Tire Rack, Discount Tire, Kaufmann Tire, etc.) and read user reviews on tires you're considering and in most cases filter the comments down to only those for the vehicle you're driving. The downside is that you can read the comments, and one person says a tire is the "worst" they've ever owned, and the next review says they are the "best". So it is hard to do anything with it except see if there are a ton of comments going one way or the other.

Finally, a recent issue of Consumer Reports had a good in-depth tire review. I think their testing may provide better advice and tangible, measured, and comparison results -- than reading someone's opinion on a message board like "I really love my Dunlops" or something like that and basing a several hundred dollar purchase on it. Just food for thought.

 

82,000 noisy miles on DW's 2004 Mazda 3, 5-door...2nd set of Cooper tires that also need replacement @15,000 miles...WTF?

Jack-B-Wildered

 

I have the RSAs on my Mazda 3 08.5 too. I also have them on my G35X. At about 18k, on the G I noticed more road noise, harsher ride, particularly when cold, jst an overall deterioration. The car is AWD, and the infiniti system is special... never got stuck in any snow. The Mazda is so -so in the snow, traction control and all. On a Mazda 6 - 2005, I replaced those RSAs with Yokohama AVIDs (I think they were Avid 4s) which were directional tread design. The difference was definetely noticeable and improved from the Goodyears. Too bad, my son up at UMASS in 2007, driving the car - hit "black ice" - flipped over on a rural road at a turn, and THANK GOD, he and his passenger came out without a scratch. Car was totalled, his nerves were frayed (especially a few days later - aftershock). But Black Ice is Black ice, I don't care if you have 20 Wheel drive, nothing works on ice.... Anyway, look into the Yokohamas - priced much better than the Badyears.

 

Another vote for getting rid of the Goodyears. They're just not they're hype anymore. Any of 'em.

As far as me I have Michelin Pilot Exalto all seasons on my car and they are EXCELLENT in rain conditions... even when I drive like a bat out of hell. I do want to take my car into a snowy place, and have been wanting to this season while it's still wintry out but I don't think I'll have the finances, 'specially since me and my gf got her a 626 last night.

As far OEMs my car actually came with Toyo tires not Goodyears. They weren't all that great either, but I'm not sure what model of Toyo tire they were. I'm sure they have a better line of tires than what Mazda threw on em.

 

Price vs. goodyears? Did you order from Tire Rack or go to local tire shop? I think these are carried at COSTCO too. I've purchased tires for my old Pathfiner there - Michelins. Much cheaper.

 

Got mine at Discount Tire. I think they were $108 each.

 

I'm getting Kumho Ecsta's put on my '10 this weekend, yes with only 2500 miles . The car came with Yokohama Avid S34's, I was excited that it did not come with Badyears like my '07 did. Unfortunately, the road noise in the car is making me hate it already.

I'm blaming the tires, went with the Kumho's as I put those on the '07 and was very happy with them in all respects. If the tires don't make things quieter I am not sure what to do, I know they are bragging that the body structure is supposed to be stiffer on the '10 so I am hoping that is not the reason that all the road noise is transferring to the cabin............stay tuned.