sstlaure: Believe it or not I can see the negative camber on this car. It measured at -2.3 and -1.9, but I think it is far worse than what it measured.

The car is stock and I have not modified the suspension at all. So with this being the case what would cause my tires to wear so unevenly? I guess I need to add a camber kit to a car under warrenty see as how the dealer will not do anything to correct the problem other than tell me it is the tires that are the problem.

Any suggestions would help greatly!

 

I've only had my car since 5/12/07 and I've noticed this. The car was in the garage and I was down on the sidewalk. The rear tires are not straight up and down, the tops lean in some. The first thing I thought about when I saw this was uneven tire wear. I've only got 600 miles on the car but on my first service visit, I will address this to the service writer.That wayit's noted in my first service call in case I have tire problems later. Also about the GoodYear RS-A Run Flat tires that came on my 3, the tire wear rating is only 260. I figure I'll be lucky to get 20K miles out of them, that's a very low tire wear rating and at $268 each, I won't get them again.
Jim

 

I just had my tires rotated at 5k and will continue to do so every 5k in an effort to maximize tire life. The camber is for handling, as I'm sure most of you already know, so I'm not surprised that the MS3 has some camber. If the tires are not directional, have them broken down and mounted the opposite way on the rim at some point. The added life may be worth the cost of a mount and balance. Discount Tire will rotate for free.

 

[font=californainfb]i believe it'smore in the interest of safety... Mazda's. I took out quite a bit of the neg camber and now the car turns in better than before. too much neg in the rear of a FWD car causes it to understeer much more, and I'm sure Mazdadoesn't want all kinds of lawsuits from those ppl that can't handle it (re: drive.)

 

Yeah Jim, 20K is about right. At least it was for me.19K+change.
I should've tried to trade mine in right after I bought the car. Often tire shops will do that, and it might be an option for you too.
The RS-A's are DOGS!!!! In fact, after three sets of BadYear's on three different cars, one was my wife's and she hated them too, I'm staying clear of them for a long, long time.
GY's are overpriced,OVER-HYPEDpieces of junk.

 

I had no idea the car came with them until I checked them and got on the Discount Tire website. I couldn't believe it when I saw they were $268 a piece. I just put tires on my Dodge Ram at Discount Tire and asked if I had to use them again because of the tire pressure monitoring system. The manager said no, the system will work with any tire so I won't be getting them again. I'm surprised Mazda putrun flattires with a pressure monitoring system on my MZ3, it only stickered at $19,800. Expensive tires for an inexpensive car.
Jim

 

[font=californainfb]
Ask them what they'd give you in trade. If they're still like-new, you may get a pretty good deal on a new set.
If it makes you feel any better, Iknew nothing about RS-A's until my 3 too.Then I thought to myself,give'em a try. I wasn't too happy with the results and after complaining to Mazda USA and Good Year customer service, they (GY) offered to replace them for me... with more RS-A's and @ $293/ea BEFORE mounting and balancing.
Itold them to get my car off their GD lift and out of their F***in' shop, and they should hope they never meet me in a dark alley @ night somewhere.
Needless to say, I have good reason for never giving GY any more of my money.
I have a down hill dogleg to deal w/on my way to work. nothing really major, just a little jog in the road. Everytime it rained I was never sure which lane in the road I woudl end up in w/those tires. I replaced them w/215/50-17" Falken V series ZE-512's. They aren't bad, not super HPer's,butwere relatively cheap ($87 ea out the door.) Best of all, no unwanted surprises either.

 

I would love to but I can't afford it right now. I put 3K down on the car, just put $600 in tires on my Ram and we just paid the last payment towards the cruise we're going on in July. I don't charge things, it's cash on the barrel head for me and I've spent my cash. Time to save again. I'll just try and be easy on them, check air pressure and rotate them every 5K. When they wear out, I'll get ones with a better tread wear rating on them.
Jim

 

Recommend that you not buy a Mazda. Bought a Mazda 3 2006. At around 17,000 miles I began to have problems with the tires. After complaining several times to the dealer, I was referred to the Toyo Dealers to address the warranty. I ran into major problems with them in honoring the warranty and ended up buying 4 new Firestone tires at 21,000 miles. Again at around 20,000 miles, I began having the same problems. I had the tires aligned, rotated and balanced every 3,000-6,000 miles and nothing improved the wear of the tires. Neither the Mazda dealership nor the main Mazda offices were willing to do anything to remedy the problem or find a solution. I finally traded the car in in 2008 and don’t plan to ever buy another Mazda in my life. I have read blogs on both the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 with the same problems.
Unless you are rich and can afford tires every 17,000 miles, it is not worth the trouble you will incur. You will be zoom zooming every 17,000 miles to a tire store.

 

Recommend that you not buy a Mazda. Bought a Mazda 3 2006. At around 17,000 miles I began to have problems with the tires. After complaining several times to the dealer, I was referred to the Toyo Dealers to address the warranty. I ran into major problems with them in honoring the warranty and ended up buying 4 new Firestone tires at 21,000 miles. Again at around 20,000 miles, I began having the same problems. I had the tires aligned, rotated and balanced every 3,000-6,000 miles and nothing improved the wear of the tires. Neither the Mazda dealership nor the main Mazda offices were willing to do anything to remedy the problem or find a solution. I finally traded the car in in 2008 and don’t plan to ever buy another Mazda in my life. I have read blogs on both the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 with the same problems.
Unless you are rich and can afford tires every 17,000 miles, it is not worth the trouble you will incur. You will be zoom zooming every 17,000 miles to a tire store.