Mazda 3 Rapid Tire Wear

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I have a 2006 Mazda 3i touring w/ 205-55R16 Toyo Proxes tires. We purchased the car new and it now has 17,600 miles and was informed while the car was in for service that all 4 tires are cupped. The tires were nitro filled when new and are consistently checked for proper pressure, the tires are rotated every 6500 miles and the alignment has been checked and is within spec. Mazda says this is normal, everyone else says its is not - I am curious to know what everyone's thoughts are about this, sure doesnt seem normal to be - this is an economy car and should get more than 17K out of tires. 90% of the miles are highway and the car is not abused.
 
Not sure if that is normal; my father got 19K miles on his Goodyear performance tires on a 1989 SHO, adult driven.

I get the impression that "factory tires" are a "lowest bidder/don't care about durability" item
 
My tire place says the factory tires are really good tires and was surprised of the tire wear.

I can say I have been to Tomah, Wisconsin =)
 
Originally Posted By: carguy996
the alignment has been checked and is within spec.

Quote:
The inner tread is shot


It's a bit strange that this car would wear the tires unevenly if the alignment was correct. I mean, does this car require negative camber or something?

Which Toyo Proxes tires are these exactly? Are these the OEM tires or did you buy them aftermarket?
 
Are you saying they wore unevenly as well as quickly?

I don't think it's a typical Mazda3 problem. I probably put 20k miles on my OEM RS-As and I was within 1/32 to 2/32 of the wear bars at that time, but those are a low treadwear (260) tire and I abused them frequently with hard cornering and burnout launches. I have 10k on my winter tires with no visible wear, but I try to go easy on those for the sake of my studs. I did notice that the center tread wore a little more than the edges on the RS-As, so I'm running 30 psi for more even tread wear and - more importantly to me - to reduce wheel hop.
 
It's probably a combination of negative camber and performance-oriented tires in order to produce good magazine test results that sell cars. It's also a problem with sport-package BMWs and other sporty cars.

You'll probably get somewhat better mileage out of a more wear-oriented tire, but forget about 40k-60k miles unless you find a way to dial out those camber settings.

And you will lose some of the performance feel that you probably enjoy from the car.
 
Inner tire wear is something you should expect from this car. I put a set of wider wheels and tires on and the negative camber in the rear became very evident when looking from behind.

What shouldn't be happening is cupping. That's a front end misalignment problem, stemming from either caster or toe (I can't remember which one causes cupping, but I dealt with it on a Ford Ranger that was out-of-spec from the factory). I rotated every 3000 and wider summer tires wore completely evenly, except a little extra wear on the inside tread blocks. Have it looked at...at a different dealership if you're not getting satisfaction.
 
I agree about the cupping. However one thing I have noticed is that people have very different (technically incorrect) impressions of what should be called cupping. Some people look at any sort of imperfect wear and call it cupping.

If it is truly cupping wear that is occurring, then I agree there is a problem, either mechanically or with the tires themselves, that needs to be fixed.
 
completely normal. we see this a lot at my work (mazda dealer). you can purchase aftermarket control arms to pull more positive camber, but the mazda 3 was designed to be more performance oriented, hence the negative camber.
 
Might add this. Belive it or not my dad made 60k miles on his original tires from the factory over a period of 9 years. Still had reasonable amounts of thread left too. but sidewall was giving in.
 
Is "cupping" not a balance issue? Feathering is "usually" due to high speed cornering and is very distinct. "Even" wear on the insides probably alignment, whether OEM spec or not.
 
cupped.. as in overinflated? where the middle of the tread wears out faster than the edges?

make sure the tires arent inflated to the "maximum" rating indicated on the sidewall
 
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Originally Posted By: wantin150
Is "cupping" not a balance issue? Feathering is "usually" due to high speed cornering and is very distinct. "Even" wear on the insides probably alignment, whether OEM spec or not.

Good reference here:

http://www.procarcare.com/includes/content/resourcecenter/encyclopedia/ch25/25readtirewear.html

Note that the characteristic called cupping has to do with the "cupped" pattern of the wear and not necessarily where on the tire the wear occurs. I have seen tires that had cupping all the way across the tread surface. It almost always means there is a suspension or other problem with the car.

Many people don't know this, though, so when they say cupping they may actually be referring to something else.
 
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I was able to get Mazda to pay 50% of the new tires on this vehilcle, I consulted a local tire shop and he is capable of reducing the negative camber and advised the vehicle would lose its performance handling but be easier on the tires. The Toyo Proxes on this vehicle were the OEM tires and only have a 270 tread rating, very similar to the Goodyear RS-A Tires - I guess they really do put cheap OEM tires on cars.

Does anyone know if I can expect the same tire wear on my 2006 Mazda 6 V6? The car only has 8K miles on it so the Michelin's are still wearing well.
 
The Pilot HX MXM4 on the 6 will likely wear out around 25k to 30k miles. They're a 300 treadwear rating. No unusual wearing trends on those however. Most people on the 6club are happy to get rid of them.
 
we see a lot of 6's with premature wear on the front tires. the usual cause is aggressive driving with no rotations. especially on the v6 models.
 
Originally Posted By: carguy996
The Toyo Proxes on this vehicle were the OEM tires and only have a 270 tread rating, very similar to the Goodyear RS-A Tires - I guess they really do put cheap OEM tires on cars.
In fairness I wouldn't necessarily call them "cheap" tires. It looks like they're designed for high traction, and tread wear is the natural trade-off for that.
 
Those "cheap" toyo proxes are over $100 each at the tire shop. Mazda markets all of their vehicles as "sporty", tires that grip are part of that image. you'll notice that the majority of the tires that are in the OEM size have a low tread rating but a AA traction rating and H or above speed rating.
 
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