ugh, just discovered a tire bulge.
Tread life is about 7/32"

What are my options? Can I just buy 1 new tire, or is the tread depth of a new tire going to be too much of a difference with the 7/32" on the other 3 tires?

ouch, which tire is this and which car?

Can't speak for what to do but hopefully a warranty covers it????

In theory, if you can find a tire shop that is willing to shave a brand new tire, you can shave the new tire down to 7/32 and put it on.

If you have the storage space, I'd say it's better to buy 2 tires, and keep the 7/32 good tire around. Generally speaking, by the time a tire wears down to ~5/32 thread depth, the tire's ability to expel water would start to degrade.

Rear passenger side. Mazda3. Just the stock Ecopia EP422 Plus that came with the car... meh
TBH I don't really care for them and can't wait for them to "finish" so I can buy some good tires of my choice, lol.

But now it sucks that I have to buy a tire I don't want...

I've had this car since 2018, so not sure if warranty is still valid. But there is some scuff damages on the sidewall at the same spot.. Looks like maybe the tire hit a curb at some point.
https://i.imgur.com/Lz7zwdW.jpg

How does that even happen ?

You might want to look into whether or not you have tire warranty left. I emailed the tire manufacturer my problem, they directed me to an authorized dealer, then the authorized dealer dealt with the manufacturer and I got a discount on new tires based on my tread depth. My tires were maybe 5 years old but started seeing cracking. I didn't have to prove anything like tire rotations, just had to show the tire shop my car invoice to see when my warranty started.

Usually hitting potholes, curbs, etc

He needed a reason to get some new Michelin Pilot Sports :troll:

Since it is on a Mazda3, I wouldn't even worry about buying 2 tires. There is no LSD on the car. It doesn't have an AWD drivetrain. It isn't ideal, but it is totally gonna be fine to just replace a single tire and keep going with it.

The only thing I'd do is -- I'd keep that new tire in the front throughout your tire rotation cycles. That way, it wears down faster.

Maybe pick up a used single tire off FB or Craigslist? Might be closer in tread to the other tires than a new one.

What size are your tires? I have a pair of used 17's I can sell :troll:

That bulge is kinda hot

I just swapped out the winter set in April so I know this happened recently.
My wife told me she hit the curb making a right turn some time last week...

:suspicious:


While I agree with you too... articles have all said to put the better tires in the back for better stability. Although I never understood this... because on a FWD, then the tire with more tread will always be in the back...

lol 16's. GS trim.

If you have tires with less tread in the back, the rear will lose stability easier, especially in inclement weather. For more experienced drivers, we can catch the slide and correct it, but for those who are unused to driving at the limit, it can create unwanted behaviour and make them lose control of the car.

Basically, if you lose traction in front, it becomes understeer, which is somewhat easier to deal with than oversteer when you lose traction in the back.

Single Ecopia 16" tire in stock Mazda size, 7/32nds (5mm) tread $70

Single Ecopia tire in Mazda 3 16" size, unknown tread, $20

Bro if you want one single shitty tire just go to any tire shop. They will pay YOU to get rid of their mountain of trash in the back.

I've gotten hella burners for free. Why buy the cow when the milk is free?

Trollface is correct

Used tire shops are the way to go in this scenario, 40$ for a tire installed

I understand the principle, but logically, isn't that's just saying, never rotate your tires? If you have a FWD, under normal usage, the rear tires will ALWAYS have more tread, being the "better" tires, for the entire life of the vehicle. So would you ever swap the front tires with lower tread depth than the rears?

As for a daily street car, I would think you'll have to be pushing it pretty hard for understeer and oversteer to even matter, unless you just have really bad tires to begin with, or completely wrong tires for the respective weather conditions.

Well the whole point of the tire rotation thing is to get them to wear evenly - which is why they recommend people to do it every 10,000km or whatever it is in the guide book. I think that if your tires are wearing unevenly every 10,000km such as that you have a large discrepancy between the front and the back, there is something else wrong. Let's say 6.5/32nds and 7/32nds, that's not a large discrepancy that would affect the handling a lot, but a new set of 10/32nds and an old 5/32nds set of tires will behave differently.

A lot of people don't rotate their tires, like my FIL - I always tell him to rotate, and I offer to do it for him, but he won't do it/let me do it.

This is talking about the average all-season tire, not sticky performance rubber which wears faster etc.

As for a daily street car, have you seen some of the drivers around recently? With the way they weave between cars on the highway at 120+ kph in the wet, grip starts to matter with these crazy drivers pushing the limits on their Civic/Corolla/Elantras or whatever. I've also seen people spin out on an on-ramp in the wet at 50kph because they have crap tires or just don't know how to handle a car.

I just noticed this crack on my tire sidewall (PremiumContact 6) :okay:

Both this set of tires and my winters are 4 years old at this point, and they share one set of rims.

I'm in a dilemma on what to do. Do I:

1. continue running this until the seasonal tire swap, then get one new tire come spring and have it shaved down (any recommendations?)
2. continue running this until the seasonal tire swap, then get a new set of 3-season tires in Spring (hoping PremiumContact 7 are available in my size by then)
3. get a replacement tire now, shaved, then swapped in a month or two when temperatures get cooler
4. get crossclimate 2s. sell my winters, and call it a day

I'm also looking for a second set of wheels, but the specs that fit on the car are laughably limited without at least using spacers.

https://i.ibb.co/8YrnNxd/Tire-Crack.jpg

How does something like that happen? Any chance you can claim warranty on it? Shaving a new tire down to 4 years of wear seems like a bad choice. Out of your options I'd opt for 2. Option 4 maybe if you're also hurting for space to get rid of owning 2 sets of tires.

4 yrs and it cracked like that ... hmmm, warranty material indeed. They would pro-rate cost of new one if you bought your original set new. But that stills leave the predicament how you match the new one's tread with the other 3.

Another option .. try to find one PremiumContact6 with similar tread wear ... LONG shot.

But option 4 sounds like it's the best if you only have one set of wheels, get a set of CC2 and be done with it. A lot simpler than even 2 set of wheels with summer and winters ... unless you mount and dismount yourself. It costs me like $50 per change even with 2 sets of wheels at local tire store, some charge >$60.

I'm not sure how it became like this - it's almost like someone took something sharp and cut a slit given how clean it is. I agree that shaving down the tire to match 4 years of wear is silly, but it's the cheapest option right now. Tires came with the vehicle so I'm not sure if a tire warranty applies in this case.

I couldn't find a matching tire on FB marketplace and CL so I'm out of luck finding a used tire right now. Long-term I do want a second set of wheels - I've been researching different setups since I only know of 2 non-OEM wheels that can clear the brakes without spacers. I'm not huge on their designs - OZ Rally or OZ Gran Turismo GLT - while OEM wheels are $1,500 per corner and impossible to find used.

This tire damage is forcing my hand to make a decision sooner, but right now I'm probably leaning towards 2 or 4 as well. 2 will give me better performance year-round at the cost of tire swaps, while 4 trades performance (and efficiency?) for convenience.

How is your tire not flat with a crack / slit like that? Personally, I'd say it doesn't look safe to drive on.

If you wanna be cheap, you can just replace 2 tires for now, and swap to your winters in Oct or something. And then when the 2 old tires are worn down enough to warrant replacements, you replace those 2 as well.

That's what the cheap bastard me would do on my DD. If it was my wife's car, then I'd have to bite the bullet and replace all 4.

What car? And I'd give warranty a shot, who knows, they might cover it

Car is new and the tires are from the manufacturer?
Or car is bought used and tires were bought by previous owner
Or car is bought used and tires are still the ones from manufacturer?