I am fixing to get a set of tires & wheels for my Miata and am trying to narrow down the choices a bit.
The wheels will be 15" x 8" Avanti DST Storm S1 with +25 offset
The reason I am going with 205/50-15" on my 2000 Miata is so I hopefully don't need to roll the fender wells.
My understanding is that the 225/45-15" width will potentially require a roll, which is why they are scratched from consideration.
If there are any 225's that you know for a fact do not require a fender roll, please advise to they can be considered.

Use will be about 75% street and 25% autocross with the potential to do a road course play day or two at Hallett in Oklahoma down the road if I install a real live roll bar.
Not wanting anything too noisy as the majority of miles will be on the street.
I try to avoid wet weather but there is the potential if I do a day drive and the weather turns bad.
Don't drive the car if it gets too cold since the fun of the car is being a convertible and freezing cold kills the fun.
The car has an LS1 V8 that puts down 315 HP at the rear wheel so I am feeling it needs more than what is currently on it.
The car was aligned a few months ago using the Flyin Miata recommended alignment specification.
It has Flyin Miata V-Maxx coil over's and factory sway bars but I will be upgrading the sway bars shortly.
Not specifically interested in tread life as the car gets less than 2000 miles a year put on it and I expect to change them out in a couple of years.
I would like to have something that would give competitive grip with the STR class even though my car is in XP class.
It gives me a good benchmark for my skill level as a driver.
To the best of my knowledge all the tires mentioned are 200 tread wear except the S Drive.
If there are other reasonable possibilities, please let me know so they can be added.

So far my list looks like this (all are 205/50-15");

BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S 1.5

Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R

Dunlop Direzza ZIII

Falken Azenis RT615K+

Hankook RS4

Kuhme Ecsta V720

Toyo Proxes R1R

Yokohama Neova AD08R

Yokohama S Drive (300 treadware)

 

I have only good things to say for Federals' 595 RSR, but I am reading that AD08Rs are even better in all aspects.

 

I'm a fan of the Maxxis VR-1 for a long lasting but very surprisingly grippy street tire.

 

Pick a wheel with the correct offset and 225/45 become an option.


315whp and 205s, it wont matter what tire you choose.
We would recommend at least a 9" wheel and a 225 or 245. 9"s and 225s are our bread and butter. You'll only need to monitor fender/bumper tab interference and maybe bend the fender liner mounting tabs up out of the way, but not a true fender roll.

STR NBs run 245/40/15 on 9" wheels.

So far my list looks like this (all are 205/50-15");

Tier 1 "Super200TW"
BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S 1.5 (available in 225 and 245)
Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R (205 only)

"Tier 2 "normal 200TW"
Dunlop Direzza ZIII
Falken Azenis RT615K+ (205 only)
Hankook RS4 (available in 225 and 245)
Yokohama Neova AD08R (205 only)
Maxxis VR-1 (available in 245)

Outlier for daily drivers/street cars/wet weather:
Continental Extreme Contact Sport (205 only)

Don't bother in 2018:
Kuhme Ecsta V720
Toyo Proxes R1R

Not even close:
Yokohama S Drive (300 TW)

 

 

What chassis? If nb, you can fit 245 rs4 on a 10 inch 6UL without rolling. I would personally want minimum 275 for a v8 car, but there are plenty of v8 miatas running a good 245 tire with good results.

If you really want a 205 size, the 195/50/15 rs4 is slightly wider than other 205 tires.

 

Maxxis 245

 

It sounds like my original choice in a wheel is what is limiting the tire choice.

For that reason I guess the first decision needs to be the wheel then pick a tire based on the wheel fitment.

One of the really great things about forums is that I can ask questions and get straightened out to get to the answer I was looking for without even knowing the exact correct question.

I went to YouTube yesterday evening and watched a couple of 949Racing video's that explain all about Miata wheel design.
Great stuff and saw what Dan looks like in a video.

 

Maxxis VR1 is an awesome street tire that wears well. Maxxis was running a 20% off sale last week, maybe it's still going. If so, there's no better bang for the buck, IMO.

RE71 and Rivals are also awesome, but IMO the Maxxis will last longer (and possibly give up some grip, though the Rivals like to get sloppy when hot). I haven't been on the street with RS4, but I am biased against them after running RS3 on the street. ZIII are great, but you can only get them from a single vendor.

 

LOL.

No.

 

Anyways, if 205/50, VR-1 is great for what you're describing.

If 225/45 (on a 15x9 +36), then i like the RS4 for what you're describing.

For what you're describing, either setup is fine, though with V8 power i'd probably lean towards wanting more tire, rather than less.