I have a 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 GT. The car is really great… until I found out first hand about the rear camber issue. I rotated my tires at 17,000 (through owning 7 cars beforehand I’ve rotated tires at half-time every time and that’s worked out perfect) and got massive tire noise / roar from the front thereafter. Turns out the inner edge is cupped on both fronts (after rotation). I brought the car back to Gaithersburg Mazda in Maryland and they said it’s because I didn’t rotate the tires often enough (supposed to do every 3,000 miles they say). I searched various posts and find all the stories about the camber. I go back to the dealer and they say they can check alignment (I might have hit a pothole) – did I hit a pothole on each rear tire the same way? – clearly not. The service manager then comes full circle and admits that this is because of rear camber (forget the nonsense about alignment and rotation) – he says it’s meant for racing and set up aggressive for that reason. I get nowhere with him and he turns me to Mazda USA in California. I talked to them and they’d already been ‘informed’. After a week of ‘deliberation’ supposedly, they call me back and tell me there’s nothing Mazda will do – there is no defect on the car. I ask if they’d spring for the aftermarket rear arms (http://www.streetunit.com/SPC_Camber_Arm_MS3_Mazda_3_p/67420.htm)
where I can adjust the camber and they say no and that they wouldn’t warranty any suspension items if I install them.
There is a class-action suit in progress against Mazda on this issue: see http://www.girardgibbs.com/Mazda-tire.asp.
I still love the car but clearly Mazda is NOT the manufacturer that stands behind its products!

 

Yes after reading this thread, I looked under my car today and the first 1/4 inch R/L inside of rear tires is completely bald!

 

Well for start what they said about the rear camber adjustment is correct in that its supposed to be that aggressive and for that very reason. alot of cars now a days are also set up like this in the rear for various reasons, i go through this myself and i fix the problem with the rear camber links and better tires. You are correct in the terms that "Mazda" does not stand behind their products.

 

Has every Mazda related forum on the internet gotten that post? As I responded to you on another board, just man-up and put some decent tires on your car; problem solved.

 

new tires will help but the problem will just re-occur until camber angle is reduced

 

I doubt it; it is highly likely the OP's 2008 car has the same exact wheels and tire size as my 2009 (205/50 R17), and no such problem has occurred on my car in spite of the more than 46,000 miles on the current tires.

FWIW I noticed this phenomena years ago when I first started driving BMWs; if I shod my cars with soft summer performance rubber (or even a low-end set of All-Season tires), I would be lucky to get as much as 15,000 miles out of an entire set even if they were rotated every couple of thousand miles. By simply changing to high-end All-Season tires the problem literally went away without so much as a change to anything in the suspension.

Fast forward to 2008 when I bought my Mazda3, I did some internet research and learned that this car suffered from my old friend the camber issue and that the OEM tires were some of the worst All-Season tires ever to touch the road (the Goodyear Eagle RS-As); I ordered a new set of tires the day I took delivery of the car. The proof is in the pudding; the aforementioned replacement set of tires for my (then) new car now have just over 46,000 miles on them and while they are showing their age, there are no uneven wear issues.

FWIW #2, I just ordered another set of tires for my car and suspect that there will be a tad over 47,000 miles on the old skins when I get the chance to have the new ones mounted; I'll post a picture of the old ones to illustrate what I've been saying in this and other similar threads.

 

well you may be correct, but, for a DD there is not much need for that much negative camber... unless the vehicle is driven hard everyday

 

As I've posted many times now:
I too had this problem through 3 sets of tires (Good Years, Falkens and Kumhos.)
I have also read many posts about the Bridgestones that come on the MS3's and they seems to suffer the same fate. 15-20k miles is about the best most owners do.
I too put in the SBC camber links and had the rear camber set @ -1* and have had no more problems, nor have I noticed any instability in day-to-day driving. If anything, my car is much more drivable in foul weather than it ever has been.

Off-Topic (Good Year): While visiting a local Chevy dealer recently, I noticed that they had a new Police "Test" vehicle buried on a side lot. I was curious of course so I had a look... a new Malibu. I was VERY surprised to see that it was running 245/60-18" Good Year RS-A's!!! I know these were the std police car tire for years but was surprised they STILL insist installing them on police cars.
Surly tire tecnology has greatly improved since these "wastes of rubber" have been engineered?
The RS-A and my experience with them was the last straw for any relationship I am likely to have with Good Year Tire and Rubber co.

 

While I absolutely agree the RS-A was one of the worst (and oddly enough significantly expensive) tires ever created, my brief encounter with that tire isn't enough to swear me off of Goodyear all-together; I mean, everybody and every company is bound to screw up upon occasion.

The thing is, the most previous experience I had with Goodyear tires were the two sets of Assurance TripleTred 215/65 R16 tires on two of our minivans; vans which at times have been shod with Yokohamas, Coopers, and Michelins, and the Goodyears were easily the best of the bunch (in spite of the "high" rankings of the others).

If/when I buy another set of Goodyears for any of my rides you can be sure they'll be well researched before the charge hits the credit card.

 

FWIW, the OP has made that exact same post on any number of Mazda related forums, and has yet to show back up on any of them. I strongly suspect he/she/it is more interested in making noise than actually looking for a solution or accepting suggestions; that and I doubt we'll hear from him/her/it again.