Best Tires for the Mazda 3 2014

Just purchased a new set in Europe, Serbia, DOT 2025, and was driving on them for about 50 km through the city, on the highway and the local road. Temperature was around 9 degrees C and the road was dry. Wanted to give you my first impressions right away, but I will update the review after I am able to use them on the snow and more severe weather with lower temperatures.

First, first impression, after coming from 10 year old Michelin Alpine A4 is, these tires are wobbly. Like, a lot.

That is pretty much the only issue, everything else seems pretty much fenomenal. Price, fenomenal. Noise is virtually non existent, I didn't know this was even possible. Feeling on the strait road or a highway is posh, they transformed my rough Mazda 3 suspension into a smooth sale. Rolling resistance is by my subjective feeling, really low. Although extremely soft tire by the touch, sharp cornering was surprisingly precise and there were no issues there.

If there was no that annoying bounciness, I would looove my new tire, but there is this constant feeling that I might be missing a level of sportiness that Michelin offered, with their firmer ride. I just don't have the same degree of confidence with this balloony feeling under my legs. I just hope that some of this awkward feeling will go away on lower temperatures , where it might be possible that this compound becomes a little bit stiffer. Also, of you have slimmer sidewalls on your wheel size, you might not have this issue at all.

Tried these after recommendations from work colleagues. In the dry the felt a little vague in feedback... Noise levels ok.
However in the wet they were dangerous. Let go easily at low speed cornering.... Like roundabouts. No confidence in higher speed cornering. Felt like they were struggling for grip.....Understeer... To the point I wouldn't let the family drive my car.
I was spoilt with my original tires being Michelins but they had better road manners and grip in the wet even when they were at the end of their life with almost being bald ! No good for my car.... Maybe I was too light....
Went back to supplier who swapped them out.... Cant recommend them.....

Great braking performance in the dry and wet. Sidewalls are quite soft. Rolling resistance is actually quite good, making it quite efficient.

Down from around 8mm to 6.5mm tread after 24000km after 2 rotations.

Customer support from Continental USA is abhorrent though. Because of that, I'll choose another brand next time.

18s came on the Mazda 3 premium. Drove them to 51000km before retiring them, mainly because I hadn't rotated the tires and the wear became disturbingly uneven- but it still had some treadlife. Switched to the ContiSportContact 5 and although a little wider at 225 and lower profile at 40, feels about the same. However, I did notice the Contis had worse breaking distance--but it could be new tire issue. Also the Dunlops felt lighter probably because they are old now with less rubber--could contribute to the braking distinction. I switched also because the Dunlops are overpriced where I am and wanted to try something else. But yeah, even at 51000km, they were still solid in the dry and fine on wet highways if you lookout for puddles. They did start to squeak if you push them in turns at around 35-40000km.

Got sold these tires as a cheap alternative to big branded tires. They were decent for the 1st year, lacking a bit though. After 10k miles they went to shit and the handling was incredibly poor. I started losing traction on corners I had previously never had an issue with. These tires are cheap for a reason, they do the job for cheap but if you do a lot of driving I would never suggest them. If you drive to the shops round the corner they're cheap and fine.

Great value tire. Feels really good, and better than the factory mounted Toyo R38.

Comparison made with my previous tire, toyo proxes t1 sport, and my place having raining almost everyday. Dry grip is good, no complaint about it. But the grip in wet is worse, can feel aquaplanning when speed above 90-100km/h. I had one episode of skidding at 90km/h while at midcorner, which i didnt have any similar episode with my previous tire. Noise is better controlled compared with toyo. Unable to comment about wear. Pricewise is good, just that i usually drive above 150km/h, and i need better grip and feel in both dry and wet.

More than 6000 miles driven up and down hill on country roads.
OEM tire was Dunlop maxx TT, very happy with them. Was a bit softer than those, did 40000 kilometers.
Dont know if is the size that make the different or the fact they made in different factory. Car must have 215/45/18 but they are hart to find so we go for 225/40/18. The car is only 120hp, so wheel spin is no issue, but now is no big problem, considering that traction control is on all times. Maybe is a harder compound.
Taking in consideration that they cost a good amount of money i have to wait until they show a good amount of wear to start thinking to replace them.
Over all not a bat tire, a good i may say, maybe the size or the compound make the difference, time will show.

These tires came fitted on my car. I have covered close to 35000 miles on them over the past 3 years and all I can say is the wear rate has been fantastic. My last service noted that both front tires have 3mm left so I expect them to hit close to 40000 miles before they are worn out completely to the legal limit. Tires I've had in the past from different brands seem to wear out at about 25000 miles so I'm more than happy with these Dunlops. Grip levels have never been an issue apart from one cold winters morning where the car skidded easily on corners so I would say they are not the best for icy/wintery conditions but feel great in the dry/wet. The tires do have a heavy feel on turn in when new but this soon disappears as the tires wear. A lot of reviews say this tire is noisy, from my experience I would say they are no noisier than any other tire I've driven on, they aren't silent but they are by no means noisy. They have quite stiff sidewalls so are more suited to a sportier driving style and road feedback is good. Overall I would recommend this tire but I think I'll try Michelin pilot sport 3s next just out of curiosity to see if there is a difference in noise/ grip and because of the rave reviews those tires get. I'd happily buy these again in the future if the Michelins disappoint.