We have a six month old 5 which is a superb car apart from its voracious appetite for front tyres. At 4900 miles there is a band of wear of 25mm width for the full circumference on the inside shoulder of each front tyre, the offside being the worse. A four wheel laser laignment check at Kwikfit confirmed that the car was set up within tolerance. A visit to the dealer confirmed this, so, I and the dealer contacted Mazda Motors UK to lodge a call. Mazda's first action was to refuse to replace the tyres under warranty as the warranty period for tracking is three months (why should it be a tracking issue if the car is within tolerance? Surely the point of a tolerance is to proved a limit of non detrimental adjustment or acceptability). Mazda do say that hey are investigating but have no record of this "problem". A quick trawl around the web has revealed a few other cases, meanwhile the tyres are just becoming more consumed (but still legal). I would be interested to hear from anyone else who may have experienced, or has only just found this "problem". Also any thoughts out there as to what he issue may be?
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The usual scapegoat for tyre wear, especially on inner edges, is the speed cushion. Even so, I'd be amazed if that alone could account for what you describe. Even if, like me, you begin or end most journeys with a stretch of six cushions in 800m and straddle them all, that's only a few metres of cushion a day, however hard you hit them.
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What was 'within tolerance'?
Sounds like both wheels were actually toe-out and this has scrubbed the inside edge of both front tyres. A toe out position will give the car better straight line compliance. Toe in will make the car twitchy.
I would insist that the wheels are aligned parallel at ±0.0
Another cause for inside tyre wear is something bent or worn or mis-aligned, such as wishbones. Look ever-so-carefully, is one of the inside edges worn more than the other one. If something is bent on one side of the car, then the tyre on that side of the car will tilt further and therefore wear faster.
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It's not right that. Mazda needs to care more. A girl in work spent her hard earned on a brand new MX5 a few years ago and found paint splits under the sills - Mazda were very awkward initially and then admitted liability, apparantly the car was lifted on a harness somewhere in transit and the strops damaged the paintwork, Mazda proved hard to pin down.
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Have a look at reader reviews of this vehicle on the whatcar website. I think you'll find you are not alone, with the finger of suspicion pointing at suspension problems causing excessive tyre wear.
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