Mazda Tires

Initial Review, 110 Miles on Tires
April 21, 2013

These things must be made of pixie dust, rainbows and unicorn farts, because BFG somehow combined the magical properties of velcro-like grip, the durability of iron, and a complete disregard of ambient temperatures, into a tire that communicates telepathically and recovers from over-the-limit excursions without any fuss. We punished these tires through 14 autocross runs on USAF concrete, in ambient temperatures barely into the 50's, and they just kept on gripping with barely any visible wear at the end of the day.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
April 26, 2013

Overall, a pretty solid tire. I put about 25,000 miles on this set, regularly rotated, and they did me proud. I live in Ohio, so snow is an inevitability, but it's not frequent enough to need dedicated winter tires in my opinion. So a good set of winter-capable all-seasons is a must, and I think these meet that requirement. Rain traction is also excellent, even if you hit a huge patch of water, these tires would shed it near instantly. Cornering is a bit mushy, the sidewalls aren't very stiff, but I never noticed terribly due to how nimble my Mazda 3 was.

Overall I would recommend this tire to anybody who has an average driving style, but if you're aggressive, you will hate the mushiness through the corners.

Initial Review, 130 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

I used these April 21, 2013 at a Vancouver, British Columbia autocross event. The weather ranged from sunny to cloudy, damp to rain, and the tires stuck like glue in all of it. I was expecting them to not do great in wet conditions, but as long there is no standing water/puddles, the tires are great. They do hydroplane above 90 km/h in standing water, but I've had slightly worn all seasons that performed worse. There is a lot of tire noise at speeds below 50 km/h, but it gets less noticeable at higher speeds. The ride quality is also not great, but high noise and low ride quality is expected in a tire with capabilities as high as this one. The tread wear from autocross appears to be better than the Kumho Ecsta 4x all-seasons I used in very wet winter autocross events. I highly recommend these tires for anyone looking for a new autocross tire.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
March 30, 2013

Just replaced the original tires (Bridgestone Dueler H/L) which only had 30,000 miles on. I would not recommend the Duelers, they were loud on the highway and tread life was terrible. I did a lot of research and the Firestone Dest. LE2 were the logical choice. Handling, noise level on the highway, and ride were noticeably better. At 70+ mph, we can actually have a conversation in the vehicle now without yelling. Highly recommend these tires and they are $40 each cheaper than buying the Bridgestone Duelers again.

Initial Review, 600 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

Just got through the break-in miles, so this is an early review. These replaced Continental DW tires (30,000 miles, over three years) that became very noisy after 15,000 miles. The Bridgestones are incredibly quiet and smooth-riding - much nicer than the OEM Michelins, my prior summer tire, the Conti DW (when new), or my other set of aftermarket rubber, Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 winter tires. Until the mold release compound wore off, they felt uneasy on the highway, but now they're much better at tracking straight at speed. They respond faster to steering corrections than the Conti DW. (The DW in this size are 2009 production, and I didn't want to get old stock.)

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
April 26, 2013

I bought these BFGoodrich Rival tires for use as Autocross only on an NB miata using 8" wheels. The 205/50R15 size has a slight stretch on this size wheel, making for a stiffer sidewall at lower pressures for better turn in response. I have a limited number of miles on the Rival since it is not driven at all on the street, but have competed in 6 full Autocross events on the tire(6-9 runs/event at an average of 60seconds/run).

The Rival is stiff, but compliant over bumps and does not give a harsh ride. Wear is exceptionally good. When paired with the proper amount of camber, and heat cycled correctly, there is no chunking of the tread blocks it it wears very smoothly and slowly. The Rival is plenty noisy, when cornering, but relatively quiet when traveling in a straight line. This noise is necessary for helping determine the grip available mid-corner.

Turn in is immediate, the low and wide treadblocks reduce tread squirm and the sidewalls are stiff. Traction is very good, and has a very smooth and predictable break-away. The Rival has helped improve my straight line braking ability and trail-braking as well.

As a final comparison, I had been competing in the STR class at my local Autocrosses and finishing regularly between 5th and 10th place overall on a summer tire. On the BFGoodrich GForce Rival, I have been consistently part of the top 3. The Rival is just that good. And it will be even better when paired with a properly stiff suspension.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 11, 2013

i am in love with these tire, will buy for a next pair, great on the track and on the street

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
February 04, 2013

There was no snow for the first month of the tire use, so when we got a few inches, I took the Miata to a parking lot to see how the tires would perform. Donuts, quick stops, quick acceleration were all tested. It's a rear wheel drive roadster so there was fishtailing, but the Miata does that with the forecast of snow. I was really impressed with the Continentals. I was able to control the slides and was able to recover every time, no matter how hard I pushed the car. I have had all season/mud & snow tires from Pirelli (P Zero Nero's), Dunlop, Goodrich (Super Sport M/S)...the Continentals beat them all. We'll see how they do in deep snow, but so far, so good!

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

OK....just purchased a set of these tires, replacing a set of Goodyear tripletreads. First impressions as I have only had them a week:

QUIET! Wow.....huge difference from the Goodyears. From day one the old tires were loud, which over time became monotonous. New tires are a nice change.

Responsiveness.....not so much. Most of my cars are shod with performance rubber. This is my first venture intot he land of "luxury touring". While not a deal breaker, these tires are soft.....you can feel the sidewalls squishing on sterring/cornering input. Cant feel the road through them either....as I describe it, like driving on marshmallows.

Fuel Economy.....on my instant average display, these are getting 3-4 higher MPG than the Goodyears. Nice. This wil save some serious scratch if it holds up over the life of the tires. Thats a 10% bump in mileage!

More to come in time, but overall....so far the tradeoff for my typical 60mile each wau highway commute is worth it. Im getting old as the quiet is actually more appealing on this daily drive than the performance handling.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

Went from the OEM 225/45/18 Hankook Optimo H431 on OEM 18x8 to 245/35/19 Michelin PSS on 19x8.5 wheels. I'm very ocd when it comes to proper air pressure. I use nitrogen and run 38psi, 3psi over oem to optimize for proper load rating. Even though I drive a 4-door sedan, I drive it spirited! The PSSs in my honest opinion is an incredible tire in all aspects. I use to race BMWs and Mazdas in SCCA and know a little about racing. Hence, this tire has great turn-in and allows for sustained control cornering with little push. The variable contact patch seems to just bite the harder I engage cornering and handles the car's weight transfer during cornering, maximizing lateral grip. Wet weather handling is great, however our rainy season has yet to hit us down here in central Florida. In the rain that we have had the tire does very well in both handling, hydroplaning, and breaking. I've driven on Goodyear's F1, Bridgestone's S04, and Conti's Contact DW & DWS. Looking forward to updating this review after I put some mileage on the tires. Stay tuned!

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 14, 2013

These tires will not give up their traction, my ABS will not activate, the car just comes to an immediate halt. On curves, everything inside my car will slide before the tires do. They never have, not even on highway 'decreasing radius' exit ramps. Beware they have no traction on snow or ice.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
April 11, 2013

These are the best snow tires I've owned, over an 8 car career so far. They handle snow and ice just fine, and drive like good all seasons when on dry roads (which is most of the time, even in the middle of a VT winter). My ratings are all for a SNOW tire, not a sticky summer tire. But even considering they are a snow tire, I think they handle almost as well as a good quality all season, and I drive my Mazda pretty hard. I'm replacing the Mazda with a Ford Focus ST, and plan on getting a set of these for the ST. I'm sold.

Initial Review, 23,000 Miles on Tires
April 16, 2013

Contrary to many reviews I would rate this tire as above average for OEM options. I have 23,000 miles on the tires and 10/32 of tread remaining. I did have my tires siped at a local tire store and that has provided good to great winter service during a very snowy season in Northern Michigan. The noise level appears typical for a 'v' rated tire and this carries over to the ride quality. I have not found a 'V' rated tire that has a very smooth or quiet ride quality. The trade off is a very positive handling characteristic. I would consider this tire for a replacement option if the cost were about $100 less each. My choice for a replacement will give serious consideration to an 'H' rated option to smooth out at quiet the ride quality.

Initial Review, 750 Miles on Tires
April 04, 2013

This is basically a fun HPDE / Autocross tire for me. I plan to switch to a different set of wheels/tires for daily driving. Last year I used Conti DW and Michelin Supersports for daily, autocross and HPDE use, howevever that was with a different car, so I can't make a direct comparison.

Ride quality is actually pretty reasonable given the "extreme" nature of this tire. Actually, ride has improved over the oem Dunlop SP Sport 2050 tires, however, some of that may be due to the smaller and lighter wheels. I'm sure a more recent max performance summer tire will ride better, and a gran touring tire better still, but these are quite reasonable for what they are, and not at the level of harshness of a run flat tire.

Noise is deeper and a little louder than oem, but still not bad. It is more noticeable at lower speeds (40-50mph) now. Smooth tarmac is still quiet, but rough tarmac, or concrete is where you will hear them.

OK, now for the performance aspect. So far I have just 2 days on track with these tires, 1 dry and 1 wet. I was very happy with them in both conditions. In the dry, these held up well for a 25 minute session. They did get slightly greasy feeling after a few hot laps, but much less so than the Supersports I last ran at this track and adjusting tire pressures helped dial that out. There is another comment on here saying that the traction is harder to judge for the beginner due to the lack of audible feedback. I did find it hard to judge traction in my first session, however once I had learned to understand the feedback after that first session, I found them to be very communicative and was able to push up to the limit of traction. I'm not a complete beginner, but neither am I that experienced yet. In the wet, they worked well on track and I also drove through some storms on the way home with no aqua planing.

Overall, I am very happy with these tires and would recommend them for anyone who wants an aggressive street tire.

Initial Review, 1,500 Miles on Tires
February 19, 2013

This is a preliminary review of the Continental PureContact with EcoPlus for the Mazda5. We have put 1500 miles of Pacific NW winter driving on these tires since our purchase. They are significantly quieter when driving on both concrete and asphalt highways, especially at freeway speeds. The Mazda5 is not a quiet, touring car, but these tires are a dramatic improvement over both the OEM tires and the Goodyear Eagles that we have previously had mounted. Our Mazda5 has a 5sp manual and so far, the Purecontacts have not lost their grip during normal 1st gear starts. About 80% of our driving so far has been in damp and wet weather and the Purecontacts track predictably at all speeds. Fortunately, the Mazda5 has not been in snow this winter, so no feedback yet on their snow performance. Only time and mileage will show how these age, but we are extremely satisfied with these tires so far.

Initial Review, 60,000 Miles on Tires
April 03, 2013

These were great for the first 20,000 miles, then comfort, ride, and noise went downhill fast. At about 55,000 miles they were so loud and rough that I thought my car needed shocks, motor mounts, and sound proofing. At 30,000 miles one tire failed and came apart inside. Treadwear was good all the way to 60,000, but like I said, everything else went to crap after 20,000.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 09, 2013

I was not expecting too much from these tires since they were so inexpensive, but I was pleasantly surprised. The only thing I liked better about the oe tires was their traction in the rain. These tires are quiet, handle extremely well, and responsive. For the money, you can't beat them.

Initial Review, 19,000 Miles on Tires
April 05, 2013

Not understanding all the hate for this tire. Most likely it's because they come standard on 2010 thru 2013 GTI's and drivers who never experience sub-zero temperatures and snow have no need for an A/S tire on a high-performance car. As a result, they compare this tire to either max or extreme performance summer tires.
However, comparing this tire to the Kumho ECSTA 4X A/S tires on my son's Mazda 3, I would rate them at least as equals, and probably a bit better when below zero.
Additionally, using a regular rotation period of 5k miles, these tires demonstrate fantastic wear resistance. Currently at 19k miles and less than 50% wear. Very quiet on the freeway as well. The only negative is the braking and cornering traction in the wet should be a little higher.

Initial Review, 7,000 Miles on Tires
December 27, 2009

Well this is a pretty crappy tire. It doesn't accel in any category that I can tell. The wet traction (where it's supposed to shine) is not all that good. Neither is the dry. The noise is ---awful now that they are about 60% worn down.....all in all it's not really any good.



I'll go back to a Fuzion ZRi or BFG G-Force Sport before this again. The ONLY redeeming quality was the now gone rebate I got.



These are like the Kumho Ecsta SPT only worse in every way by a slight amount...except price...much pricier per mile.