How long did you stock Potenza RE050A last you?
 

I'm at 15k miles and I was just wondering when did other mazdaspeed3 drivers swap out their stock tires for new tires. I tire tread is still pretty thick, so i think I should last about another 10 - 15k miles for daily driving.

i just hit 16k miles today and this past week i noticed that im understeering in hard cornering slidding out.

oversteered doing 75 mph on an onramp uphill (scared the shit out of me).

Did the penny test and my tread goes to his hair line. I think im in need in the next 5k miles IDK

so not that this answers you completly but there is some info regarding tires

17K and now realizing I had too much fun after my ETD install

:FACEPALM:

I have 17000 miles now, noticed the wear bars are getting close to the surface of the tread. Im thinking that if i get another 5000-6000 miles, I will be doing good. No way my tires will make it past 25000. Im guessing that will be similar to others.

Ken

Mine lasted 28,000 miles. Got some Nitto NeoGen 225/40/18 @ 28,000 and now my car has 33,000 miles and rotated the Nitto's once.

My Potenzas lasted around 23k miles, switched to the Eagle GT's for the past 10k and have been happy with them so far.

I got 31,000 out of mine and I also switched to Eagle GT's and with all the snow I am glad I did.

Ya. I'm in the same Boat. I have 15,200 right now. As long as I'm nice to the them i think i could get to 22 or 23,000. Seems like thats when most ppl change.

I'm at 18,500 right now and will be getting tires within the next few thousand miles. Looking at getting the Bridgestone Potenza RE760's. Anyone running these?

23k...

I'm on my 4th set of tires now @46k miles.
Stockers lasted me about 10k miles.
I went through 2 sets of Yokohama Parada Spec 2's (roughly 10k miles per set)
Then I went through a set of Nitto INVO's in about 12kmiles
Now I'm on PS2's which seem to be holding up well with aggressive driving and much better performance (I highly recommend these tires!)

They tell me 10-12K miles is about what you should expect from an ultra / max performance summer tire on a performance car driven the way intended. If you pussy footed around and or drive a lot of HWY miles I’m sure you’d get a lot more out of them. I rotate my tires every oil change (3-4k miles) and check my tire pressure weekly

10k miles

hahah, i love how everyone says over 20k until the last two with 10k... i've driven under 1k on the stock tires so far... about 3k on winter tires

15000 miles and mine were done. I replced them with re01's and really like them. guess they are re-11 now

i honestly dont know how anyone can make it 16-17k miles let alone 20k on thhose shitty tires unless they baby the car and never really get on it.

myself and ms3077 do alot of spirited driving and went to the track with them

I'm almost at 35k with my stockers. Bought my car new back in april 2007. I don't really drive crazy. I'm really surprised they've lasted this long. I really need new ones though, they are pretty much bald

Well over 20K for me. Put them through a season of autox and two driving schools. Easy 100+ autox runs I'd say. They are just at the rear bars now and I am replacing them with another set of barely used stockers since standing water is an issue on the highway.

These tire handle heat very well...my falken 615's pooped out with less than 50 runs even when I was rotating them.

These tires are awesome if you drive within the limits of the car's grip. There is a big difference between spirited driving and just burning up the tires coming out of every turn. It's hard for guys coming from low powered fwd's or any rwd cars.

Mine lasted me 29K before I got rid of them. After I started to hydroplane on the highway with not that much rain, I bought new ones the next day..got bfgoodrich G-Forces

12k

oh yeah, i forgot alot of these guys getting 20k miles live up north and switch to winter tires...florida weather FTW

roughly 17k but they still had a lil life.

12-13K with plenty of track time included.

After 6 auto-x's, 2 track days, about 15-20 passes down the strip, and daily duty i ended up getting about 14,500 with about 2/32nds left. Got the Falken 912's in 225/45/18 and they are still pulling very strong @32k, granted i have not been able to do as much track time but in the auto-x's i have done with them they have nabbed me two second place finishes in DS.

all my tires were shot after about 14k miles.

I got about 25 000 kms out of mine

I switched to these last summer and so far so good. I really like them

I got about 30k out of my stockers before I got a new wheel/tire package on the car. The stock tires could have still gone at least another 5k. I drive a lot of highway miles.

I am one of the 10K folk. I am not sure how anyone could do much better than that, UNLESS they are gay, ugly, old, short and a democrat. Yep all those things

dems FTW

27K and still going...

idk but def less than 10k

wow...just over 9k...an thats a couple autox's and weekend rides...How in the hell do you get more than 10k.....You must be on cruise controle 24/7.....

I was able to manage just over 25K on my stock tires before switching to Federal 595 SS tires.

16k thus far

12k here...they're still on, but they're not looking so hot.

ps..used same tires though winter. Just have a truck incase of snow. lol

13k, they are toast

If your stock Potenza's lasted longer than 15k miles you might want to check and see why your testicles haven't dropped.

at about 5,500 I needed new tires to pass inspection

You're obviously a true mans man :You_Rock_Emoticon:

auto-x will make your balls swell to an enormous size.. its almost uncomfortable

honestly they were still drivable, all four were worn very evenly, and just starting to get into the wear bars.

they are now replaced with 225 45 18 dunlop direzza star specs

lil side note kinda relevant to this thread, but

I checked my tires the other day and all 4 of my tires were 3/32 to 5/32 from the outside to the inside of the tire.

Why are my tires not wearing evenly?

^ I’m guessing that your alignment is out of spec and or an issue with tire pressure

i do tire pressure every fill up so about 2 weeks apart max.

So im guessing it must be alignment. DAMN

thanks for the info, toe in issue im guessing??

Fronts lasted about 12k on both my GXP and MS3. I just replaced all four and will likely be selling the rear OEM Potenza's as they are in great shape with 75% tread left on them and have worn evenly.

36k :-\

I drive like a grandpa.

10K..... 2 seasons of autox on them tho

35k miles

I went 28,xxx and still had 2/32 left. I'm now on Pirelli P Zeros just in time for all the snow in my area!

25k but it should be noted that I bought the car used with 17k on the clock. They only lasted about 4 months after I got the car and they could pass for slicks when I switched them out.

I'm on the pirelli p zero's now too and loving them. However, I'm going to put those on my stock wheels and run hankook ventus v12's for summer.

12.5k on mine and they are almost smooth across the tread. Thinking the kooks are the way to go.

23k but i was nearly bald

right at 15k rear passenger tire sidewall bulged out horribly bad. shit for tires, ordered up hankooks

Changed my first set at 11.5k, getting rid if my second set (falken) next week at 24k

So far I have 25K on mine. They are getting a little scary in the rain and with the 12 inches of snow we had in Dallas this winter forced me to keep her in the garage.

Changed em out at 8k... could probly get another 2k out of em tho

18k Hydroplanning issues, rotated every 3k, went with falkens.

Haha.. I have been to Gainesville raceway x 3 and I am at 31,200 miles and still going on the stockers!!!

Fixed! :biglaugh:

You sir, are not going fast enough.

Haha.. too funny!!!
It just means I am not spinning through 1st and 2nd when I leave the line.
You got to feather that $hit to get your traction :-)

mine are on the last legs after about 20k

Well, 1 warning, 1 ticket, and a WHOLE bunch of fun farm road driving my stocks may as well be slicks at 18K. debating which new ones to get now.

I am at about 16.5K miles and i estimate about half way through them...not driving on them super hard so they probably will last longer than some others who really beat on them.

24K and counting. Looking forward to replacing them and getting new wheels. And finding my testicles.

Managed to get around 27K out of them. Starting to hit the wear bars on the outside portions of the tread right now.

I'm at 40K right now. Any rain at all makes me crap my pants. I can't hit the brakes or the gas without the tires breaking loose. I have a set of RX-8 rims with 235/40ZR18 Sumitomo HTR Z III's ready to put on but I wanted to get all of the usable tread life out of the stockers before I trash them, which will be before next weekend. It should be noted that I put 25K miles on them in the first 10 months due to freakin traveling all over the southeast, most if not all of which was highway driving. I now have a DD and can use my speed for autox and racing! My balls are so close to dropping! I can't wait!

Agreed. I got about 10K on mine but man they were a fun 10K miles and worth every penny of the new Hankook Ventus
k110's

7500 miles. Technically, they still had some tread left above the bars, but the tread blocks were deforming and the grip was falling off pretty quickly so I replaced them.

I drove another MS3 that had about 22K of mostly freeway driving on it. They appeared to be in good shape but just about about worn down. But they had absolutely no grip to speak of. Way less than when they were knew, which demonstrates my point.

I've seen this with other tires, where the compound loses traction before the tread wears out. Some tires get better as they wear down but these are not one of them.

tires suck mine lasted 15k

I changed mine out between 16000 and 17000 miles. I bought the car used, had about 15000 miles on it if I remember right.

I got 27k out of mine, and got the same tires afterwards.

No, this only means your testicles actually dropped when they should've.

If you’re a true mans man and don’t drive your car like a little girl you should get no more than 15k out of a Max performance summer tire

16k, probably would have given me another 1,500... Not worth the risk, i got Hankooks and they're aiiiight.... Like the feel of the stockers better.. Next set i want something sticky and with good feel on the turns, can anyone provide a set they like? I drive in Florida, so we get a lot of rain and hot temps in the summer.

I'm curious, when people say that the stock potenza's suck... is it because they don't last 50,000 miles with hard driving??? because I've had ignorant people tell me that they must've been a shitty tire when I say "yeah I got less than 9500 miles out of em"

well I actually got them replaced AT 9900 but there was so little grip left it was a bit disconcerting... one quarter of a summer and BAM! new tires... and now I'm looking at my next set with 2 out of 4 goodyear eagle F1's looking to be replaced too... the other two will stay on till they run out of tread... so like 4 burnouts, lol

I should also mention I did front brakes at 12k and will be doing the rear soon at currently 17,500 ... I drive the car like it was built to be, flat out whenever possible.

I agree, if i would have kept driving as agressive as i did for the first 9k miles, the stockers would have lasted 12k at the most. It all depends on where they drive like you say, if it's highway driving and there is no agressive turns taken and agressive launching then yeah, the stockers are good for 20k... If i had the cash, and money wasn't an issue then the stockers would probably last 6k...

stocker didn't make it past 15k

People who know about these particular tires (on any car, not just the MS3), and who drive performance cars like they should be driven, are lucky to get 10K on them before the grip goes away.

Yes grip, not tread - who cares about the tread life if it isn't sticking anymore? The Pole Position variant keeps it's grip longer, but they're even more expensive, last time I checked. I ran them on a previous car, they're better tires than the regular RE05A's, just a bit noisier.

PS: I got 11.5K out of my front brake pads. They are very tricky, an on-car visual inspection seems to show a lot of pad life remaining, but the actual friction surface is only about half the pad's width.

how on god's green earth, dude?

mine were pretty much done at 20k. i fucked the shit out of my car for the first 8k miles, though.

Got about 23k on mine now and lookin into gettin new ones soon.

Got 15k outta mine with rotating them every 3k with my oil changes

I got 38k on mine right now. Bought the car back in june 2007. I think I could probably get another 5k out of them

i was about 15k i think when my shit got low and i bought new rims/tire setup. i did alot of practice launching when i first got the car.

If you got 38K on the stock tires, all that go fast stuff is just for show 'cause you ain't really driving it.

Im at 20,000 miles...I have 3mm to the wear bars in the rear (just rotated out from the front) and 6mm to the wear bars in the front. I bought it with 15,000 miles on it and I have to assume (also because of the service records and home address of the previous owner) that this was a highway commuter car.

Im looking at driving across from WA to MI and back by way of St Louis, Denver etc etc...in July. By then I will likely have a set of Hankook Ventus V12's on the car....and less noise perhaps!?

Ken

I just replaced mine and I got about 20,000 miles before they were at the end of their usefullness.

Less noise for sure!

Mine lasted until I slid into the curb in some snow last winter. Tore the sidewall, lol. ~7500mi

10k - autox destroys tires

Can I ask you something? What the HELL were you doing driving on snow on SUMMER performance tires?? :pat:

15-17k with 5 autocross days, 2 drag nights, and a few spirited mountain runs. Still have them now at 21k (almost no tread left even to do the penny measure) but got my Ventus V12's today!

lol 3 years and 45k later my stockers still look great. in the corner of my garage.

i took them off at 15k and they have low low low tread. not slicks yet but close

My new Z has the exact same tires...I drove 18k+ miles on my MS3 before I traded it in for the Z. Hopefully these tires can be used for over 20k miles.

Just put some Ventus V12's on, after 27.5K. Good god my stockers were freaking slicks!

I went to the Ventus V12s from stock rubber after putting 23K on it. At that point they were starting to get scary. I never did any track days or anything though.

got 24 out of stockers, switched to Nitto INVO's...still breaking those in

I just replaced mine yesterday at 28,600. Call me a fag or a grandpa. I don't care

9k for me...lol

5500 mi. and I have ripped chunks out of one. I did rotate the wheels one but all I can think about is how much I hated these tires. Sidewall was crap and I would roll over off the tread with 46 PSI in the front at autox events and for a 140 tread rating tire there were not that sticky just that soft. That was only a total of about 30 auto X runs and daily driving by the way.

17k and that was pushing it

18k and theyre slicks

My car has 23,400 miles on the originals and they have had the shit driven out of them! The wair tabs have come and gone a long time ago. I live in Florida and we get 100+ degree days and massive rain and I still drive on these tires and have had no negative effects. Now I am not saying I dont need new tires, that was obvious about 6K ago but I am getting my moneys worth out these bastards !!!! LOL When I do get new ones get the Hankook Ventus Evo V12's best tires for the bank (as loong as you live where it doesnt snow or you have and extra set for winter)