Tyre wear on UK Mazda5
#471
04-04-2009, 02:01 PM
I have heard that radial tires should never be rotated to opposite sides -- only from front to back. Tread separation can occur otherwise. This advice doesn't appear to be universal. This article claims that rule only applied to bias ply tires: http://corvetteidaho.com/tire_wheel/tire_myths.htm
Last edited by NightSwimmer; 04-04-2009 at 02:09 PM.
#472
04-05-2009, 08:53 AM
I think that may only apply to directional tires, and these ones are non-directional... cant see how it woudl make a difference in this case as these tires look 100% identical when off the car... I could be wrong though?
#473
04-07-2009, 10:00 AM
Tyre wear is fine at just short of 19,000 miles, rears are like new I expect to get 60,000+ out of them, should get 30-40K out of the fronts.
Tyre wear is slightly higher on the inner edge, but nothing I am worried about (still has tread across the whole width), strange but I checked my wifes car @ the weekend a toyota 7 seater and guess what heavy tyre wear on the inner edges of both front tyres (no tread left on inner edge rest of tyre looks fine).
I did check the tyre pressure when I noticed the slight difference in tyre wear and found the tyres to be under-inflated 30psi, put them all back up to 34psi.
Tyre wear is slightly higher on the inner edge, but nothing I am worried about (still has tread across the whole width), strange but I checked my wifes car @ the weekend a toyota 7 seater and guess what heavy tyre wear on the inner edges of both front tyres (no tread left on inner edge rest of tyre looks fine).
I did check the tyre pressure when I noticed the slight difference in tyre wear and found the tyres to be under-inflated 30psi, put them all back up to 34psi.
#475
04-08-2009, 07:46 AM
I have read through all of this thread. However I would still welcome peoples thoughts.
I am shortly due to be a proud dad for the 4th time and therefore need a bigger vehicle to cope wityh my growing family. I have narrowed down my current preferences to either a Mazda 5 or Mitsibishi grandis.
Thanks to this forum I am aware of the tyre wear issue and whilst the sport was my original choice I now think its not an oprtion to go for as I will be buying second hand and as far as I can see there is no way of knowing for sure if you are going to get a tyre eater or not.
Would I be correct in thinking that a TS2 will give me the practicality without the tyre eating headaches experienced by so many?
On a related point is the diesel DPF issue a common one. To be honest the main use of the car will be ferrying the kids to and from school ( a round trip of about 5 miles).
Any advice much appreciated.
The other main plus for the mazda opposed to the mitsibishi would be the sliding doors.
I am shortly due to be a proud dad for the 4th time and therefore need a bigger vehicle to cope wityh my growing family. I have narrowed down my current preferences to either a Mazda 5 or Mitsibishi grandis.
Thanks to this forum I am aware of the tyre wear issue and whilst the sport was my original choice I now think its not an oprtion to go for as I will be buying second hand and as far as I can see there is no way of knowing for sure if you are going to get a tyre eater or not.
Would I be correct in thinking that a TS2 will give me the practicality without the tyre eating headaches experienced by so many?
On a related point is the diesel DPF issue a common one. To be honest the main use of the car will be ferrying the kids to and from school ( a round trip of about 5 miles).
Any advice much appreciated.
The other main plus for the mazda opposed to the mitsibishi would be the sliding doors.
#476
04-08-2009, 10:19 AM
It does appear to be the case that the TS and TS2 don't suffer from the tyre issue, they have different tyres and wheels and the issue just doesn't occur.
#477
04-08-2009, 10:25 AM
We got our new Mazda 5 in July 2008 (08) it was the 2litre petrol Sport. Now at 14500 miles the inner edge on all tyres is 'smooth'. Though the normal thread area is very good with the worse thread depth at 4.2mm, and that was to the wear indicator bars on all tyres not the total thread depth which would therefore be in the order of 5.7mm. I'll try to add a picture.
I have conposed a short e-mail to send to my dealer (4 miles away). I plan to call MMUK some time next week to log the official complaint. Then see how it pans out with the garage. I expect 4 tyre replacements. Even though a 12000 mile service since Xmas and no comment about excessive wear on inner tyre edges. This & more I will go into depending on garages 'response' to e-mail.
The car is fast, nippy and great but has it's small annoyances like the driver not able to control all windows when the 'lock' button is pressed to stop children playing with them, it stops me working them too (not like on my old Saab).
UPDATE
After thinking about the Mazda 5 and the tyre wear problem, due in my humble opinion to be Mazda'a fault, and having a few days to think about mine and your similar condition I have come to the conclusion that the Camber is too negative ( -0°42' +/- 1°). At a quess it should be 0° or positive. Quote, ...'Too much negative camber will result in premature wear on the inside of the tire and cause excessive wear on the suspension parts...'. see picture (if I can attach). For example on a motorbike the camber would be 0° because the weight bears down directly through centre of wheels. Whereas cars have their weight divided through 2 wheels on either side of the car with the complication of steering geometics and suspension. Think about it. This will explain why that in the slightly damp or wet weather it handles terrible as the front steps out (or spins) when accelerating or pulling off reasonably swiftly, because the load of the vehicle is on a much reduce contact patch with little tread. For you mechanically minded (engineers etc) drivers here, would you think my conclusion is fair comment or was I mislead many years ago in physics with material forces and ceofficent of friction etc? See also the picture and text from workshop manuals we've all had in the past in the tyre wear section, like Haynes and Autodata etc..
I have conposed a short e-mail to send to my dealer (4 miles away). I plan to call MMUK some time next week to log the official complaint. Then see how it pans out with the garage. I expect 4 tyre replacements. Even though a 12000 mile service since Xmas and no comment about excessive wear on inner tyre edges. This & more I will go into depending on garages 'response' to e-mail.
The car is fast, nippy and great but has it's small annoyances like the driver not able to control all windows when the 'lock' button is pressed to stop children playing with them, it stops me working them too (not like on my old Saab).
UPDATE
After thinking about the Mazda 5 and the tyre wear problem, due in my humble opinion to be Mazda'a fault, and having a few days to think about mine and your similar condition I have come to the conclusion that the Camber is too negative ( -0°42' +/- 1°). At a quess it should be 0° or positive. Quote, ...'Too much negative camber will result in premature wear on the inside of the tire and cause excessive wear on the suspension parts...'. see picture (if I can attach). For example on a motorbike the camber would be 0° because the weight bears down directly through centre of wheels. Whereas cars have their weight divided through 2 wheels on either side of the car with the complication of steering geometics and suspension. Think about it. This will explain why that in the slightly damp or wet weather it handles terrible as the front steps out (or spins) when accelerating or pulling off reasonably swiftly, because the load of the vehicle is on a much reduce contact patch with little tread. For you mechanically minded (engineers etc) drivers here, would you think my conclusion is fair comment or was I mislead many years ago in physics with material forces and ceofficent of friction etc? See also the picture and text from workshop manuals we've all had in the past in the tyre wear section, like Haynes and Autodata etc..