I have an '02 Protege sedan ES with just 22000 km' on it. Last night one of my stock dunlop's blew and the tire ripped up really badly.

Are the tires covered under any warranty? Should I be able to take it into my dealer and get something from them? If the stock Dunlop's (195/50-16" SP 5000 M) aren't available... is it a bad idea to mix tire brands? If I get another tire in the same class, would that be ok or do I need to buy at least two more tires (to match pairs) or .. god forbid ... 4 new tires? Recommendations? The stock Dunlop's are frickin' expensive, ~$145CAD each at tirerack.com

Thanks

Steve

 

i remember when i bought my pro 2000, there was a little pamphlet about tire warranty. You should have it somewhere. don't count on a brand new tire as a replacement for free though.

 

Yeah tire warranties are iffy. I know that if you can provide that you have taken care of the vehicle (i.e. have had it aligned and rotated the tires ever 6k) then they will look into seeing wether or not it is a faulty tire. If all else fails yea go up and ask the service dept at your local dealer. The worst they can say is no and you would be in the same situation as you were before.

 

AH HA! so im not the only one with a blown Dunlop! just this weekend mine blew out too... i had to get 2 new front tires because they were toed out by 1 degree so the whole inside on both fronts were ripped to shreds and i only have 14,000 miles on my p5. i got toyo proxes for my front however there not the same as the stock size cause 195 50r16s are hard to find so instead i went up one size to 205 50r16. which works good, little wider tread on a front wheel drive car, now i can get more grip while racing . if ur gonna get new tires get the toyo proxy 4's. i think they cost me $120 a piece and they are a really good tire. i still have my stock dunlops on in the rear, and i will be replacing them as well when i get the $$.

 

AH F-bomb, i have the Dunlops too, i thought they were a good tire???? I hope they stay good to me-I just dont have the money right now.

 

Dunlop is supposed to be a good tire. But not every one that comes out of the factory is going to be 100%. As it is with everything else that is made. The chances we take.

Heck when I bought my car it had toyos on it and the drivers front fell off the tire about a month after I bought it. I was driving to school and the tire litterally fell off the rim it was the weirdest thing Ive ever seen.

 

that is weird... the dunlops that come on the proteges are horrible, very bad hydroplaning resistance. with the slightest bit of rain my car would be all over the road. Mazda is very aware of teh problem but there not doing anything

 

I think I'm gonna get a pair of Pirelli 535's 195/50/16's for to replace a pair of my Dunlop's. Any of you have these tires on your cars?

It's funny, I looked at pirelli's website but I can't find the 535 - I think it might be the P6000 on their site though? The tire shops call them "535"...

 

Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's @ 195/50-16's

Cost, around mid $60ish a peice.

Stay AWAY from Dunlop SP Sport FM 901's

 

pr5guy,
you said you got 205's instead if the 195's. Do you have aftermarket rims? will wider tires fit on the stock rims? I have the 16" rims that come with the ES sedan, I just assumed you could only use 195's does anyone know what size tires it will take?

 

rubix,
nah i still have the stock rims. they 205 are wider byt like 1/4 inch on each side and they still are 50r 16s so they can still fit just a little wider which = more grip 205 is only a size up and it was a recommened second size from a website i saw.

 

Dunlop's suck! And for that matter so do Pirelli's. All you're paying for is a name. Dunlops are known in the industry as dunloploploplop, after a year or so the tires get really noisey. The best tire when comparing quality to price is Kumho. We have been dealing with Kumho's for over 2 years now, and have never gotten a bad one. As opposed to the Dunlop GT Qualifier's the owner wanted put back on his Mazda MPV. 32 Dunlops before we got 4 that rolled good. Now with Kumho's...The tire machine we have is called a roadforce balancer. It measures how the tire rolls down the road. The Kumho Mud Terrain tires roll with less resistance that a Michelin car tire. It all comes down to quality control!

 

My uncle owns a tire shop so I have had every tire brand almost and these are my first Dunlops and I like them very much. Let me tell you that their hydroplaning resistance is much better than the Parada's on my Maxima and the Toyo FZ4's on my civic. The parada's are almost as god in the rain but the Dunlops trounce the Proxes FZ4's in the rain. But they are not better in dry handling than the Parada's or the Toyo's. It all depends on the road conditions near where you drive and how you drive. also, did you take care of your tires? Did you use a lot of petroleum producst to shine up your tires? Do you closely monitor your tire pressure? At my uncles shop Ihave seen more ruined tires due to low tire pressures han to nails and such.

 

You can change tire size as long as the new rolling radius stays within 3% of the original. Most on-line tire shops will have a calculator to determine which sizes will fit your car. For our car both 205/50 and 205/45 will fit. (if you really want the formula I'll post it).

I'm running 4 Falken Ziex 205/45. The tires are much better than the stock Dunlops in both wet performance and looks. I'm finding the tread wear on these is pretty sad tho. Oh well...

 

alright next question then, for you guys running 205's on the stock rims, how badly does the added width and larger contact area affect your milage? I figure extra width = extra drag and all that, any noticible difference? anyone out there besides me that actually caculates their milage every tank? My dunlops have about 30K on them now and only about 10-15K left on them so I want to start deciding what tires I'm going to get so that i can know ahead of time how much its going to cost me, you know, whether or not i get to eat for the next year. Thats why im asking. I'm a poor college student so i need something that lasts, and preferably something that will cut down on some of the road noise since i drive at highway speeds a lot. But on the rare occasion that it rains in SoCal, i dont want to ahve to drive like a fricken water buffalo.