Artifex

I recently purchased new wheels and I have been searching for what tires to buy in 205/50/15. The car is 100% street driven at around 8k miles/yr but with a healthy amount of spirited driving.
I'm looking for something with good grip but also with decent tread life in the ~$120/tire price range. I've researched but there are so many to choose from and a lot of the information available is pretty dated.
Please be gentle, this is my first time shopping for tires.

The two tires that I've had my eye on are Yoko S-drive and Maxxis VR-1. I'm close to pulling the trigger on the VR-1's but I'm definitely open to suggestions.

I read that the S-drives have great tread life, seeing as they're 300 UTQG, but are not much better than your standard crap all season tires.
I've also read that people are pleased with the VR-1 for the street and the amount of grip they have for the dollar spent. I'm concerned they won't last very long.
How many miles could I expect from a daily driven 200 UTQG tire such as the VR-1?

As I said above I am open to suggestions. What do you suggest for a 100% street duty performance tire with decent tread life?

Bs_nb1

Rs4s are also a really good option, they have really good grip and last a long time

Erat

iTrader: (5)

I like the s-drives because they work very well when cold too. I can't imagine needing more tire on the street anyway. Plus they last a good amount of time and are quiet. Like it really matters in a miata.

vintagerust

Continental Extreme Contact Sport.

Artifex

I heard that RS4's are another popular tire but I don't believe they come in 205. You say they last a "long time" how long are we talking here, 20-30k?

If I can get at least 20k street miles out of a 200 tread wear tire, I'd be satisfied.

matrussell122

iTrader: (1)

I have the rs4 for street duty and they are great in everything except rain

Marioshi

The 195 width RS4s are as wide as other 205s

Artifex

That's good to know, I appreciate the tip!

Roda

S.Drives are a good compromise tire. They get greasy when hot, but at that point you're really pushing too hard for the street anyway. As noted above, they are pretty tolerant of temperature, and for that reason I ran them on my wife's DD NC. We don't get a lot of snow, but often see temps down into the 30's and 20's at night, and the S.Drives were never bothered by it, as long as your expectations weren't unreasonable. I found the S.Drives a bit noisy as they got higher miles, but most performance tires will...

I currently have Conti ECS on our NB, but they will be coming off shortly due to temps, as they are not recommended to be run under 40*F. I like them better than the S.Drives in the dry, but they can't go year-round for me.

SamM_UK

Yokohama ad08r 205/50r15, maybe a little outside your budget though.

I had the AD08 on my MR2 Turbo and could not fault them. Amazing grip dry or wet, and they work in freezing temps too. Very good poor weather grip for the type of tyre.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

And 225 RS4s are as wide as... 205 VR-1s.

matrussell122

iTrader: (1)

Another important factor is weather. What kind of weather do you get. If you are prone to a lot of rain and only want to run 1 set of tires it might change some opinions. Such as i strongly recommend the RS4 for summer days but not at all in the rain. (I have roughly 3000 miles on my RS4 and they look almost new also)

If you need a good streetable rain tire i would probably go with the Toyo RA1

afm

iTrader: (3)

Artifex

That's a really good point that I didn't think was a huge deal. Obviously wet vs dry is important but I didn't know you couldn't use certain tires below a certain temperature. We don't get much snow here but it does get into the 20s pretty often in the winter. I'll start looking into to tires that work fine in the cold.

I really appreciate all of the responses guys. I guess to further filter my search, I'm not looking for a super plus ultra summer tire. But one that works well in dry, wet, and now cold. So one with good grip for a street car and I can use them year round.

ridethecliche

iTrader: (2)

Aren't the federal 595's available in a 205/50/15? How do those compare? I've read good things about them on this site and elsewhere.

Artifex

I believe they do come in 205. They're a good price, too. I'm curious to how do for a street car (tread life, wet, cold etc.)

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

1) Bad
2) Bad
3) Bad

No 200tw tire does well in cold. Period. Don't do it.

ridethecliche

iTrader: (2)

Sorry, missed the bit when OP was asking about cold weather driving. I always default to fair weather daily when I see anyone talk about spirited driving etc on these.

OP, OEM wheels for these cars are cheap. You may be better served by having a set of oem wheels with all seasons and a different set of wheels with performance summer tires. You can likely get the OEM wheels with all seasons for 200-300 bucks. I've seen a bunch get sold pretty cheap from folks that just bought the car and are swapping to more aggressive wheels/tires and sell off the set that the previous owner had recently replaced.

cabowabo

RS4's are awful in the cold. Cold and wet, gg.

Artifex

Now that you mention this, I may actually do this. I have oem wheels with all seasons on them now. It just never crossed my mind the need to have "winter tires" living in the south (TN).