Looking for new street tires
 

The car I bought has some older badyears and is in need of a good street tire. I drive this car in the summer only and am looking at new 15" wheels/tires. Primary use is for the street, but some track days. Looking for performance mostly, cost second. Any input is great.

Thanks

I like the Toyo T1Rs

I liked Azenis and their sharp turn-in and grip, but my stock 93le suspension made my teeth fall out with them. Plus they don't last very long at all. Great tires if you can afford to switch them out frequently.

I prefer something a bit softer and longer treadife.

Khumo Escta MX, Hankook RS2, or Falken RT-615s

bfg gforce sports

a lot of people seem to like the toyos if they mostly street drive.

I have Yoko's ES100s on the car for street tires (PO had them), but I dont track the car on thoese

hankook rs2's for sure

or at least that's what i'll tell everyone to get since it's what I've bought

Ditto on the Falken Azenis RT-615s or even the Hankook RS2s.

I have a set of RT-215 Azenis and it was fine on the track til it got really hot.

ES100 = total crap. If the car is a summer toy, there is only one option. Azenis.

That is the primary difference between the RS-2 and the Azenis. They develop nearly the same grip, with the RS-2 a little down, but the RS-2 is far more resistant to overheating on the track.

as of now, ive tried BFG gforce sport's and Falken Azeni's. Azenis have more grip, but seem to communicate less than the gforce, however i am still getting used to the suspension setup on my turbo car, as its only been dailydrivable for a week now and the tein basic's oversteer compared to my other car that understeered.

I'm a member of the driving R-compounds on the street is a waste of tire club.

bfg g-force sports.

+1 on the Toyo T1R for street and some trackdays

(I'm even considering an extra set just for trackdays, toyo r888's, but they're too expensive for the moment...)

I wouldn't advise the T1R for the track, unless in a pinch. While I like them for the street, the sidewalls are waaay too soft for track use.

if the car is a daily, I'd go with something cheap that will last for a long time like kumho ecsta 711's...you don't need all that grip for the street. Get something sticky for the track.

Teh 711's aren't really that bad of at a tire with a UTQG: 320 AA A. I might buy that tire again, not sure. It all depends on how much I drive my daily if it ever runs again.

The 711's are small, and you need all the grip you can get for any situation, it is just on the street you need to be able to handle rain etc. My 225-50r15 bfg gforce sports had better wet handling than my stock size rubber did in the dry. And the dry handling and overall feel are excelent. Any oversteer problems of a turbo miata might also be boost contributed as well. All the more reason to get more grip. Makes driving easier and makes you a much safer and faster driver. Just my 2 cents. BTW with my kind of agressive driving i am looking at getting about 32K or so miles on my BFG's.

For the price you can't beat what I've suggested (for a summer only tire). The BFGs would fall into my list, but the price keeps them out.

I just burned up a set of T1Rs they were okay, but the Hankooks are MUCH better. Wit the toyos I would have to constantly play with my suspension to try to get them to work at an autocross, but the hankooks are great. My buddy has the Falkens and I really like the feel of them too. I haven't put the Hankooks or the Azenis on a track yet, but I don't think I will be dissapointed. I used to run RA-1's on the street, but it was a huge waste. The Hankooks grip almost as well (the difference is tiny), should last a lot longer, cost about a third the price, and if you are using the full ability of the RS2 or Azenis on the street you are a complete tool.

As a very cheap alternative you can pick up some Fuzion's for real cheap.. I believe I got 4 17" summer tires for 40 bucks each shipped. Tread pattern seems good and they got solid reviews.

T1-Rs are poo.... they are still they same price as the T1-S's they replaced, but they have the same lifespan as the falkens/RS2's. I know two guys locally who put out the coin, then burned through them in a summer. I'd rather pay less for the Falkens, or even the RS2s for that matter, and have better performance, but half the price.

I got my 615's for 500 CDN, which was a smokin' price.... and they have lasted me 3/4's of a season already. And will probably go through half of this summer too. The RS2's were not bad from reviews around here, but they don't stick quite like the falkens, but are damn close.

Personally if I was going for a street tire, I'd go with either of those.... price for performance is off the hook.

R's a definately grippy, but... you pay the price to get them.....

Dave,

T1R same lifespan as Falkens? Hmmm...I got ~8-10k on Falkens, and ~20k on T1R. Weird.

My T1Rs had about ~12K on them. The rears were shot, but the fronts still had a few miles in them (yes I do rotate, but the 195 toyos were not up to my small amount of power). I have around 2500 miles on the RS2 and they show no wear. I hope that they last through the summer, but at $61 each what difference does it make?

um, I don't really "drive aggressively" on the street. They make 195-225 in a 50% aspect ratio...so why not just get a wider tire?

Its too bad they don't make p-zero nero m&s in a 15". That is without a doubt the greatest tire I've ever owned.

More difficult to find tires in 14" size, but I don't really want to ditch the oem bbs yet.

I like the Neros on my MP3, but I would hate them on the Miata. The cornering grip is okay, but they don't seem to work that well under power or braking. The Rosso Assimetricos on the other hand rock, but they are $ and only larger sizes. I sell lots of Pirellis and so I got a great deal on the Rossos and ran them on my WRX, those tires did more for the handling than the STi suspension I was running.

I have them on my turbo vw. At only $88 each, they wear longer, handle better, and are better in the rain than any tire I've used.

But for an occasional track-day and summer only use, we are talking $72 a tire in 205/50/15 for the MXs, RS2s, and 615s. Nothing else can beat what each can deliever for a Street-Class tire for the price.

I've had the ES100s (average job for a street-only tire, as they didn't have super dry or wet traction and were somewhat loud, suck at autocross, probably lasted ~20k miles), the original Azenis (average job as street-only, as they had tremendous dry grip, shitty heavy rain/standing water grip and were loud as hell, tremendous job at autocross, lasted ~12-15k miles) and the T1-S (great job for street-only tire, as they are wonderful in dry and rain, quiet, comfortable, average at autocross if pumped up properly, lasted ~20k miles).

I think I'll be getting the T1-Rs as replacement, as I don't even really autocross anymore.

If 70 bucks is criteria summit shipped all 4 of my bfg's out to me for 320 bucks they only charged the 10$ deal on 1 tire and the rest came with it i thought it was a sweet deal myself. couldnt find em local for less than 100+ apeice. BS i just shopped around on the net and got a good deal.

Edge racing is the place to go for the hankooks, toyos, or falkens.

I liked my sumitomo htr200's the guy I sold them too says they are way loud, but I never noticed...

The sumitomo is about on par with the ES100. They are dirt cheap and if you are only looking for a street tire you cannot beat them.

i had those sumitomos the sidewalls were really floppy. I didn't like em much. I love my Azenis, the turn in is fantastic.

+1

I said for street tires.

I have a set of 615's
and a set of V710's for fun.

he never said what his plans are. Does he drive on the street 99% of the time.

I've got the ES100s for the street and I hate 'em. I did have the T1-S on my old Miata and they were worlds better. I can't wait to get the ES100s replaced. I'm limited with the wacky 205-45-16 on a 6.5 in the stock 01 wheel but can get T1-Rs in that size or could go with 205-40-16 Azenis. Hmmm.

Frank

Depends how your car is setup. If lowered with a stiff suspension you need stickier tires. For example I had Kumho Ecsta 711's, which where fine with stock springs, but when I lowered the car the brake bias was fucked up and oversteer was out of control. I really couldn't dial it in with alignment. I put the stock rear sway bar on and it helped only marginally.

Went to the stickier Kumho MX and bingo! Even put the bigger rear sway on and the handling is perfect. The stickier tires help give the proper weight transfer in cornering and braking needed for the suspension to do it's thing.

You need good tires!