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Latest word on solid street tires?
I hate to ask this, since you ask three people and get 6 answers, but....
I've been buying Azenis for my car for a while now, and need a new set. Before that I had T1-R's and T1-S's. Basically, looking for something for my 15x7" rims that doesn't weigh a lot, doesn't slip a lot, doesn't cost a lot. Should I be looking any further? My list so far for the RT-615's (not to say I don't like the toyos, I'd be open to them with a strong recommendation - or something wider than a 205) Discount Tires, Custom Wheels, Rims, Goodyear, Michelin, Cooper Tires 342.50 Vulcan Tire Sales - Tires, Tire Chains, Tire Pressure Monitoring (TPMS), and More... Falken - Goodyear - Yokohama - Pirelli - Kumho - Dean - RV Tires and more... 376.00 (includes totes!) Mazda Parts from Good-Win Racing - Mazda Performance Specialists ~398 (plus tax, discount?), mounted tires-easy Delticom AG - Online günstig einkaufen 324.12 discount-tires-2go.com: 255.47 + ship (four?) The totes are pretty cool, btw. :-) Anyway, just wondering if I should be looking at anything else in the "handles really good" category. |
Call Brian Goodwin... most times I call, he answers the phone himself. I'm pretty sure he knows absolutely everything there is to know about Miata tire choices... and he gives a discount if you're a member of SanDiego Miata Club.
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The Hankook Ventus RS-2 is available in a 225/45/15 size that will fit fine on a 7" wheel (I ran them on 6.5" wheels on my old Civic). I thought they were quieter than the Azenis, but still provided very good dry grip, and decent damp grip. I didn't like the way they handled standing water, but I doubt that is much of an issue for you in SoCal.
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Man an RS2 225 is pretty wide for a 7" wheel. I'd think it would be squirmy.
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Originally Posted by Ben
(Post 333573)
Man an RS2 225 is pretty wide for a 7" wheel. I'd think it would be squirmy.
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Originally Posted by AbeFM
(Post 333451)
Latest word on solid street tires?
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Originally Posted by boileralum
(Post 333556)
The Hankook Ventus RS-2 is available in a 225/45/15 size that will fit fine on a 7" wheel (I ran them on 6.5" wheels on my old Civic). I thought they were quieter than the Azenis, but still provided very good dry grip, and decent damp grip. I didn't like the way they handled standing water, but I doubt that is much of an issue for you in SoCal.
Anyway, with a lot of pressure they might be ok. I wonder what the rolling diameter is, really. RX-7 forums seem to prefer the falkens. And they are a lot cheaper... http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=531694 Someone complains about the falkiens getting hard with heat cycles, and right now, 1st, 2nd are garunteed wheel spin, and 3rd if I work for it, 4th remains a possiblity if I weren't going straight. |
Shitty tire compared to stuff now adays, but I have a set of Yokohama ES100's 225-50-15's on 6.5" wheels. They're pretty damn sticky when new, and wet traction is amazing. And 8.5" contact patch even with 6.5" wheels. And cheap. Bang for buck, I like them. But they're only ~15-20K mile tires, depending on how hard you drive. And I think they were recently discontinued.
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One more note, from some STI forums:
I've had the Hankooks in 225/50-16 and 235/40-17, and Falken 215 in 205/55-16. The Falkens in stock size were way better than the Hankooks in 225/50-16s as the Hankooks had the turn-in of a large pillow. In mud. Also, the Hankooks did not like the poor stock camber curve of my 2002 2.5RS or my 2004 WRX. I went to the stock size Falkens and the car handled loads better and the outside edges didn't burn up. Now, here's where things are a bit different. I added Prodrive springs, PDE camber plates, and a 22mm FSB. The Falkens responded well to these things, and the car seemed fine. When I went to my 17x8 with the 235/40-17 Hankooks, the car came to life. I run around 3* of negative camber with slight toe out at events, and 2* negative camber and 0 toe for daily driving. With this much camber, I finally have even wear across my tire and I run on asphalt and extremely grippy concrete. These are also my daily driving tires. The Hankooks are fantastic with this setup, although I do have to water down the edges between runs here in AZ. So, as pointed out before, the tires do need different setups. The 215s (and from what I've read, heard, and seen they are similar to 615s) were more tolerant of poor camber than the Hankooks. Also, over-sizing the tire on the stock rim wasn't fun. And above all, get better control of your camber to make them last and work well. So far, it's the $25/tire price difference that might call this one, though it is close. |
FWIW, I had I think either 2.6 or 2.8* of camber up front on my Civic, and a good autocross alignment and suspension setup (600F/800R springs, revalved konis, swaybars, quaiffe lsd). Under those conditions, I was very happy with the 'kooks. I can't comment on how they would do on a car that doesn't have at least a good alignment.
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They don't like to turn as much as some other tires without an aggressive alignment, I liked them, my wheel/tire combo on a friends car sucked.
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Note: unless you have to buy right away you might hold on for a bit. Hankook is coming out with the RS-3. Of course you could wait forever as new tires are coming out all the time but these are likely to be awfully good and still affordable.
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I have had the Ventus RS-2s for a while and have been very impressed with them.
I've done four track days with them and some autocrosses and they have never squeeled once. Full cold to full hot, small slip angle to very large slip angle, and no noise. Hell I flat-spotted the crap out of one and it still didn't make any noise. So if you want a tire that doesn't squeal, the RS-2 is for you. |
I've run both Azenis and RS2s (autocross and street), and the Azenis had slightly better grip everywhere and significantly better feel, especially on the brakes. That said, the Falkens don't come in 225/45, which I feel obligated to use on 15x8" wheels (narrow tires on wide wheels being the mark of the beast and whatnot), and they've gotten so much more expensive that I'd buy any number of other tires before I bought Azenises again for street tires. And they're not sticky enough for me to consider them for race tires now that I can (nominally :)) afford them.
My next set of street tires (which I will be buying Friday, as I scared the crap out of myself in the rain on the way back from lunch this afternoon) will probably be Falken ZE912s in 225/50-15. I've run 512s before, and been thrilled with them (for street stuff), in fact my father has a set on his 92 SE in narrow/short-14 right now. I expect I will be just as happy with 912s. For a dual purpose/ sticky street tire, I'd do the Hankooks again, cause they're *good enough*. Other than feel and wear, I've been satisfied. For race tires, I'll be using Avons next year, as I have an extra set available to me. I'll be doing Kumhos after that, I believe. Or maybe the new Hoosiers in 275/35-15. They make my willie tingle. |
Originally Posted by vehicular
(Post 333848)
I've run both Azenis and RS2s (autocross and street), and the Azenis had slightly better grip everywhere and significantly better feel, especially on the brakes. That said, the Falkens don't come in 225/45, which I feel obligated to use on 15x8" wheels ....
For a dual purpose/ sticky street tire, I'd do the Hankooks again, |
I really like the Direzza Z1 star specs.
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Originally Posted by BenR
(Post 333857)
I really like the Direzza Z1 star specs.
If you want the most badass street tire available, it's down to the 195/50 Toyo R1R or the 195/50 Bstone RE-01R. The Bridgestones are crisper on turn-in, and they like a nice neat driver. The R1Rs like to be manhandled and thrown around. Both will supply unreal amounts of grip and both will last about 10,000 miles. |
Not saying they're perfect for everyone, but they work great for my 15psi greddy on 15x6.5 rotas.
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Fastest tires right now are the Dizzera Star specs and the REo-1 R's. but the Dizzera's cost a lot less.
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Originally Posted by Savington
(Post 333858)
I'd own a set if they made them in the right size. 195/55-15 isn't gonna work for me.
If you want the most badass street tire available, it's down to the 195/50 Toyo R1R or the 195/50 Bstone RE-01R. The Bridgestones are crisper on turn-in, and they like a nice neat driver. The R1Rs like to be manhandled and thrown around. Both will supply unreal amounts of grip and both will last about 10,000 miles. |
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