Tires for a P5
 

A family member has a 2002 Mazda Protege5 and needs new tires. They will not be getting dedicated summer and winter tires, all-seasons only. I was doing a little research and came up with the following:

Kumho Touring A/S 795
Kumho Ecsta HP4 716
Michelin Harmony

Any feedback on these or any other recommendations?

The OEM tires are Dunlop SP Sport 5000 M 195/50-15

i'm not a big tire expert but I'd choose the Kuhmos over the michelins. I don't know which tire is the better. I guess it depends on what you're wanting to do with them.

cruise? mileage? performance? cost?

I think their main concerns are probably handling, wet traction / resistance to hydroplaning, and good (safe) performance in light snow. And, of course, they want it all for a good price... :)

The ones I mentioned got good ratings in those areas on the TireRack website.

Kumho ASX support all of the opinions you seem to be looking for. They have a pretty good retail price too. Tirerack.com allows you to click and compare tires.

I run the Kumho Ecsta711s year round on my pro5. They do great in snow even with an N/A snow traction rating from tirerack.

I just had Pirelli Pzero Neros put on about 2 weeks ago. So far I'm loving them. Great wet and dry and even in the snow. they're a little pricier than the others but well worth it. i don't skimp out on tires because they're the only thing holding your car on the road.

i prefer yokohama avid h4s'.....just put them on all 4 corners, had them on before also. i think they handle great in all conditions....especially snow. compared to the stock dunlops almost anything would probably perform better. got all 4 for with the replacement certificates for 398 from tirerrack shipped to my door. got them installed, mounted and balanced and the old tires removed for 40 bucks. best tires for the buck in my opinion.


james

I was just looking at these at the tirerack.com site and think I have narrowed it down to these or the BFGoodrich Traction T/A H.

What size Yokohama's did you get? I'm clueless when it comes to figuring out what size will fit if they don't exactly match the OEM size.

Thanks

i picked up the 205/45 16's....little bit wider...little bit lower.

james

I called Discount Tire today to see if they had them in stock and said I was looking for the 205/60-16, and he said those were too big for my car. So I thought I'd get the BFGoodrich Traction T/As instead. I have an appointment to bring my car in tomorrow so I'll see about the 205/45-16s in the Yokohamas.

I know you said you like your Yokohamas...do you have any opinion about the BFGoodrich ones I mentioned?

just caught something in a post of mine. i got them from discount tires.....not tirerack like i stated(dumbass me). i have no personal experience with the traction t/a's. but i guess it depends on what you really want. i went with the difference in price and the fact i already like and have used the yokohamas(yokohamas have a higher UTQG rating....500 compared to 440 not a whole lot but enough for me. i drive my car everyday for work(probably 30-40 miles a day if not more) so tires dont last long for me. the yokohamas go for 86 a tire....i looked and the traction t/a's are $108 a tire...thats a 88 dollar difference after all four are shipped....unless you buy them outright from the store. the yokohamas in my area bought and installed by the store comes to 497 something. its a 12 dollar difference per tire($98 instead of $86) so if you get the t/a's expect to pay a little more than $108 a tire installed from buying directly at the store. so again it all comes down to what you want to buy and how much you want to pay. i still give a thumbs on the yokohamas though. hope this helps a little more.


james

FYI, the 6" wide OEM wheel of the P5 (and the sedan) is too narrow to properly support a 205/45-16 (or 15) tire. Both the Tire and Rim Association and Yokohama specify a minimum 7" wide wheel for this size. This is because the recommended wheel width for a given tire size is determined both by the tread width AND the aspect ratio of the tire. Thus, a 205/50-16 tire is acceptable on a 6" wide wheel while a 205/45-16 tire is not. According to Yokohama, "Failure to follow rim width recommendations may result in poor tire performance or possible wheel and/or tire failure."

http://www.yokohamatire.com/utrimwidth.asp

hmm....didnt know that little tidbit of info. well i went through discount tires. i had them on before at a 205/45/16 and had no problems. i guess if anything goes horribly wrong ill be in a little battle with discount since there search on what tires will fit bring up these size tires. last time i had them put on the guy that worked for them even said this size would fit. so theyd be the ones at fault i guess. owell...like i said...had them on before....there on now...handle well in all weather in my opinion.


james

I just bought a 03 P5 with these tires on it. Absolutely awful in the snow. I'm shopping for replacements right now.

I got the Yokohama's put on the car yesterday and in the snow and slush we have in Chicago's suburbs right now I noticed a big improvement in traction and handling right away. The car felt more confident and stable, and braking even seemed better, probably to do the increased traction from the new tires.

I hope the issue goldstar mentioned doesn't wind up being a problem, but since MyLowPro5 is on his second set of these tires without any issues, hopefully I'll be ok. Thanks for all the input, guys!