Tires are shot... talk me out of Azenis if you can.
 

These 195 T1R's have been awesome for me... but enough is enough.
205 Azenis are $346 to my door w/valvestems from DiscountTireDirect. They're $347 from EdgeRacing, but nowhere on the ER website does it say they come with valvestems. If specifically states they do come with a wheel/tire "bundle" but not just with a set if tires. Anybody know?

And does anybody suggest for any reason a better tire for less money?

I'm just not sure you'll be pleased with the longevity.

what do valvestems cost? we hand them out for nothing at work. sam what size are those tires, may have something you'd be interested in, i've been too lazy to list for sale.

I think I paid $1.50 for all 4 last time I had to get valvestems :jerkit:

DTD adds a $12 surcharge for valvestems... so if I decline those, that takes the price down to $334. I assumed they'd come as part of the mounting price at my tire place anyways, just checking.

They only need to last until early next summer when I sell/part the car. My 99+ build will be on 6UL's and 225's.

Mach, they're 15x6.5"Heliums. PM me with what you've got.

i pming

The more I ride/drive/experience Azenis, the less I like them. They are loud, rough, short lived, and FUCKING HORRIBLE if it rains. One of my coworkers just spun his RX8 on the interstate in a light rain because Azenis in rain is like walking on ball bearings on top of ice. In the dry, they grip good before they get hot, then they're greasy and unreliable. The T1Rs ride much softer and quiter than Azenis, I'm not sure how happy you'll be...

I'm running the BFG KDW-2 in 205 50 15 on 15x8 6ULs. I am very happy with the KDWs; they're better riding than the Azenis, work in the rain, and should get decent life. Turn in is a little heavy, but otherwise no complaints so far. However, based on reviews and the fact that BFG does not make the KDW in the size, I think my next tires will be RS2 in 225 45 15. But that is a long time away, so it's prone to change as something better may come out.

Why not go ahead and get the 6ULs and 225s now? I can't imagine you'd put that many miles on the miata with your truck and speed6, so you'll have their benefit over the next year, and then won't have to buy tires this year and then again next year.

Valvestems are cheap. Get them from the people who will install your tires. I like metal stems, they're worth the small premium. Especially with the ULs which have twice as many stems to potentially be damaged. Emilio also sells metal stems.

Also don't be afraid to get quotes from the local shops. Tires are the kind of thing that are nice to get local in case you have any road hazard or balance issues. The store that I got my tires from gives me a free rebalance and rotate every 5k. They also had 1 guy spend nearly a whole work day getting the tires right on the wheels, I think a few of them were remounted 3 times. They have 0 runout on the balance machine. Zero. They're also filled with Nitrogen. That kind of service is worth a little extra, no?

I just put a set of Fuzion ZRi UHP summer 205/50/15 on my car. Too soon to comment about their overall performance, but so far I like them. <$400 w/tax mounted/balanced at Discount Tire. I had to haggle a bit, but it ended up being the same price as if I bought them on-line and had them mounted locally.

I really really like my Nitto Neo Gen Vr's. When up at the gap last month they took everything I could throw at them. They are also very good in the rain. I drove home from work today in a down pour and they handled it perfectly. http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...06&rd=15&ar=50
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I didn't have any excessive road noise with 195s, and I am still on my original set two years later. They are now to the point of needing to be replaced, but IMO, they are the best bang for the buck in street tires. If I can make a set last two years, anyone can. (Not my DD)

Ben is right, they do suck horribly in the rain though.

I won't run azenis on the street, they don't last long enough.

I always get my tires mounted and balanced at a mexican tire shop in the barrio. Its only $25.

RE-01s...and/or Hankook RS2s

I liked my azenis but like ben says, they're not practical.

I absolutely DETEST the KDW2s for everything but flash floods. they are heavy and ride like ass even compared to azenis. I found them to be about a B- in dry traction at the limit for a street tire.

The RS2s I have now compare favorably to both. I've had them in all the virginia weather except snow and I'm pretty happy. They do tend to tramline some but what awesome tire doesn't?

Sam, honestly, the RT615s are OK in the rain for the first 50% of their wear bar life. That may be 5000 or so miles if you drive like I'd expect. They are a fun tire and probably a fair tradeoff.

Another option if you want less compromise is the 912. I picked those up for $100 at discount tire last winter for my gf's civic and they've been pretty decent. No real faults that stand out. solid in wet or dry. of course it's not a turbo miata so I can't say if they'd do well (though I could swap em over and try).

Hell, if you're feeling like a big 8 foot tall stud, you can drive your ass up here and try all these sets of tires. Kook RS2, Falken 912, KDW2... they're just sittin around on cars and in my shed. Probably could convince some other nova shmucks to bring some azenis to compare to.

Running RS2's and like them. Haven't hit cold wet weather yet though.

I did like the Kumho SPT's I had before but that was Pre-FI. Worked really well wet and dry. No problem in heavy rain. Wore pretty well and they were cheap.

These Z1 star specs are fucking dirty. Those are my recommendation, a little more expensive, but way more grip than an azenis.

OK, wow, didn't expect a lot of that. So, I've officially been talked out of Azenis.

So how about buying my 6UL's now. The 15x7.5 and 15x8 are $150 each. That makes $600 a set. Assuming I can get $300 for my Heliums, I'm looking at $300 for the trade-up. Which means I'm not gonna be able to spend any serious $$ on rubber.

First, what's the pro/con of 7.5" vs 8" with a 225/50/15.

And... I need a cheap 225 tire.

TireRack has Ecsta AST's for $58.
EdgeRacing has Zeix 912's for $58.

If you're going with 6ULs and you're FI you have no reason to even consider 7.5s. The 225 fits best on the 8" wheel why go smaller. I personally like my Azeni's but I haven't driven on anything else. They're relatively cheap, though not as cheap as other options. I still would love a set of 225/45 RS2s if they were available when I needed tires. By then i'll want a set of R comps though.

I've had many people tell me the 912s are a good cheap tire.

I don't really recommend Azenis either. I tried them out and I'm tired of them. They suck balls in the rain and get greasy hot really fast in the turns. Fortunately when they are greasy, they are still very predictable.

I'm replacing with either Rs2's or T1R's when the time comes(225/45)

is 949 no longer selling the 225 RS2?

^I don't see any tires on the 949 website, but TireRack has them for $99, which makes them too expensive.

I've got about 20 things going on Craigslist today (mostly household shit) my Heliums will be $300... I've got some brand new Zeix512's on stock rims that I'll run in the meantime if they Heliums sell.

I like when I had Azenis, but really they are loud and are not very great in the rain

On the other hand they are great on an Autocross track.

Ive ridden on the Falkens and i like my RS-2's 10x better. They are great in wet/dry conditions and they grip just as well. The sidewalls arent as stiff but they still handle everything I can throw at them with ease.

wrapped around some 6UL's they look mean too!

Guys, read the whole thread... I've already completely tossed the ideas of Azenis and am in need of advice on cheap 225/15's. I'm considering AST's or 912's... any opinions.

only know the 912s and as i mentioned above, they dont seem to have any faults that i've found for a daily nonmiata.

225/45/15 RS2
Don't make a $75 mistake that you have to live with for 2+ years.

^ Hmm, where are you seeing RS2's only $75 more expensive for a set of 4? Edgeracing shows a diff. of ~$125 for a set of 4 225/45/15 RS2 vs. 225/50/15 912.

Sam posted that the $350 shipped set of Azenis were in his price range. RS2s run $99/ea at the rack. I've seen them $89/ea at a couple of other stores, but of course are sold out. Maybe it does end up being $100 or $125, same point applies: Don't be penny wise but pound foolish. You have to live with the decision for a long time.

^But that's before I was spending $700 on new wheels too.
Ben, I'm totally with you on getting the higher performance tire... but money is a factor and the longevity is something I've been thinking about.

The RS2's have a 200treadware, which is even less than the Azenis... and people said that their longevity was an issue.

I think the 912's will do everything I need them to do on the street while sacrificing a large chunk of autoX performance. Chances that I'll do an autoX in the next year are slim.

I think the smart move, dollarwise+longevity is the 912's on 15x8 silver.

BUT FUCK!!! It doesn't matter anyways, because I just went to buy the wheels and 949 is sold out of 15x8's. SHIT, I finally get the sack up to buy these and they're sold out. SHIT! Now what?

damn he's out of everything 15x8 and 15x9. 15x7.5 is available, might be worth considering. might not. I'd hold out for the 8s.

Try one of my dealers. Goodwin or Phil's (dealer page on the site) should still have 8's.

My Disocount Tire guy called Hankook, and they said the RS2 is being discontinued. He can't get them, onlinetires.com can't get them. I decided to go with the NT-01, we'll see how they are in a few weeks.

edit: They said the 225/45/15 was being discontinued, not the whole RS2 line.

The R-S2 will last longer than a 615. I got 9k street miles and 1k track miles out of my set, and I ran them into the cords.

The 912s are a pretty good tire. I have them in 185/60 on stock daisies for rain/winter use and they are quiet, confident in the wet, and still pretty grippy (and fuck, I paid like $32 a tire, so who cares.)

R-S2s are a good choice for you. I also call BS on them being discontinued; his guy can't get the 225/45 because that size is just damn hard to get.

I have 225/50/15 RS2s on 6UL 8". I am very happy with how they handle in the rain and dry. Previously I had Pierelli pzero nero's and those really were grade C in dry and D in wet. The 6UL handle better in the rain which is nice considering it's such a better tire. Wear is ok. I think my last set of 6ULs lasted me about 10K...

Please get the 225/50 size. It's about 1.5" wider tread than the 225/45. This does make a difference... I am at 250whp and don't have any problems with traction when doing full throttle 1-2-3-4.

One last thing about 6UL {woops i meant RS2}. It's not really a good cold weather tire... Get something different for winter so you don't use up your tread skidding all over the place.

HUH? 6UL's are wheels and weather should have no effect on them at all....

^He meant he RS2... and because it's an Xtreme Perf Summer Tire, I'm not surprised it sucks in the cold. Not to worry though... these tires will spend 99% of their life in SoCal.

As an update... I'm probably going to put the car up for sale after drag-racing on the 19th of this month. If it sells, I'll drive my truck for a couple months while I scope the country for the '99 of my dreams.

What exactly is the '99 of your dreams? i'll try to keep an eye out as will most everyone else I'm sure.

I just put AST's on my wife's 03 Protege. They seem OK, very quiet but they are only 195/50/15's. Haven't pushed them hard. I expect that they would be a good value for the few $ they cost. I have already decided that 20550/15 ASX's are going on my 99 on 6.5 wheels for DD use. A bit more money but dry grip is better and should wear well which is important as my car is seeing 4K a month. My 615T's haven't performed badly all. They are actually fairly comfortable and not that loud but they are pretty new. I was told that they wouldn't hold up on highway use but 8K so far and a couple autox's and no noticeable wear.

White, base model, sport package, 75k miles or lower, already with minor suspension, exhaust, rollbar, other basic mods...hopefully a salvage title so I only have to pay about $5k for it.

If this one came with a motor, I might have bought it already.
https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24089

I can flex on the color to silver... maybe the blue if the deal was right and the paint was perfect. No red, no black, no emerald... and somebody would practically need to give me a 10ae to put up with the boy-racer bodywork.

Plans:
GT28r
BEGiS4+DP
3" exhaust
CXRacin 3"IC
ForgeBOV
Adj Cam Gears
Godspeed or Mishimoto Rad
550's (if they'll support the power)
??? Hydra/Adaptronic/MS(if Chad will build me one)
15x8 6UL on 225/50 RS2's
3.363 gears on the 5-spd
ACT XTMM
...few other things (everything I possibly can will get bought used)

Looking for wastegate to get me 200whp, EBC to get me 250whp, 2nd EBC map or MBC for 300whp.

I'll be in California, plans are a gallon of Tuolene to each tankful to bring me up to around 94octane... fillups just need to be planned a little better.

I assume you mean 2871R. I would look hard at the ETD shorty, Sam. I think it'll spool better than the S4, and Bell won't do an S4 with a EWG so you can't use the bigger T3 housing on the 2871. Get 15x9 6ULs, they're PnP on the NB. I would also do a 6-speed, because you're going to fuck up your 5-speed at 300whp.

I'd do water injection with a failsafe instead. Initial cost will be a little higher, but toluene is not as cheap or easy to get as the internet makes it out to be.

You coming to CA with the Navy? Where in SoCal? Lemme know when you're out here, I'll have to come down to a meet. We can keep ourselves company and laugh at the Socal artards.

I went to 195/50R15 Bridgestone adrenalin after having 205/50R15 Toyo T1R, I have to say the t1r were good but soft in the sidewall, and now these RE001 are great, they are by far the best tyres I have had, stick well, take a fair bit of punishment on the road to make them slippery, have nice firm sidewalls for turnin but still ride well, and they are wearing quite well so far, even after putting on the hairdrier.

I can'tbelieve we get ripped off so much on tyres over here, my toyos cost $169 each from memory, the bridgestones $130ea, and I was quoted just under $300 each for 205/50R15 RT615! I want to get a new set of Toyo R888 for the track in 15", which cost about $270 each! thats over $1k for the set:vash:

Tim

Well, I guess I have to call your call of my BS. Just got off the phone with Hankook CA, and the RS2 line is being discontinued. Once the current stock is gone, no mas. The replacement is not due out until next year.

Oh shiz this makes me cry. Any recommendations for another great summer tire that won't assassinate me in the rain?