I haven't been paying attention...
The car is a turbo NB.
Competitive use, or just fun street use? For fun street use I still really like the "outdated" Falken Azenis RT615K+ since they are pretty sticky but don't wear as fast as the newer 200TW cheater tires, and have decent manners near their limits.
I like the Nexen N Fera SUR 4G. It's super grippy when hot, but does okay in the rain and cold weather and lets you slide the car around a little without completely breaking loose at the limits like some tires. With a wild alignment (-3.5 degrees of camber up front with a touch of toe-out and -2.5 degrees of camber in the rear) I got about 9000 miles out of them, including about 12 autocrosses and 9 mini-track days. They might have actually gone farther, but I had an eccentric cam slip in the rear and send my camber to -4.0 degrees and I didn't catch it, which wore through to the carcass. They're also quieter and tramline less than a lot of the competition. And they're priced pretty reasonably.
Continental ECS is a slight bit less sticky than the 200tw weapons but amazing in the wet and lasts a fair bit longer. It is available in Miata friendly sizes too.
I still like the Sumitomo HTR zIII. They might be harder than what you want at 300tw. They have been a great all around tire and are substantially cheaper than most brands.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Continental Extreme Contact Sport are both offered in miata sizes, and both meet your described needs very well.
The Conti is cheaper, but tends to wear faster.
collinskl1 said:Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Continental Extreme Contact Sport are both offered in miata sizes, and both meet your described needs very well.
The Conti is cheaper, but tends to wear faster.
Unless something has changed the PS4S only goes down to 17" sizes. My general advice is that the indy 500, ECS, and PS4S are pretty much the same value, so pick whichever one you're comfortable with for your budget. Or if you want something more like a performance tire that's decent on the street (rather than a street tire that's decent at performance) either the 615k+ or the RS4.
I'm a sucker for an irregular looking tread pattern. I've been using the falken rt615k for quite awhile on my e30 and really enjoy them at the limit. Closed courses, obviously.
Opti said:I've really liked the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and they are cheap to
I second these, they were great on a BRZ
Another vote for ECS.
I run them in the summer on our NB, and use them for rain tires on the NA on track. They even did OK on a dry track. Plenty of performance for the street, decent ride, and quiet.
carczar_84 said:Opti said:I've really liked the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and they are cheap to
I second these, they were great on a BRZ
Third, I have them on the 944. Mostly because they were the only summer performance tires available in my size.
I think when I wear out the garbage all-season Goodyears on the Fusion, I'm going to put ECS's on it and get another set of wheels and tires for winter.
I'm running Federal Evoluzion ST-1. So far, they have been 90-95% of Pilot Super Sports (stock for my vehicle) at ~33% of the price. All with very minor downsides.
My thoughts are here.
I think you're all overthinking this. Tires are either for competition use (treadwear limits and class rules being your only concern) or street use. Street use should never approach the limits of any new tire.
So while the ECS is great if you are tracking in the wet, and the RE-71 is awesome in the dry, for a DD a competent all season is really all you need at which point treadlife and cost are your guiding factors. Find the best tire you can for the lowest price and change them more often than the Karens and Kyles of the world and you'll be great.
(The last tires I put on the NC Miata were Uniroyal Tiger Paws and believe it or not, they are GREAT tires)
KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:I think you're all overthinking this. Tires are either for competition use (treadwear limits and class rules being your only concern) or street use. Street use should never approach the limits of any new tire.
You never spin the tires in the rain?
I agree, you don't need to corner at 10/10ths on the street. But one nice thing is having that overhead if you need it. Also 5/10ths of a good tire is a lot better than 5/10ths of a E36 M3ty tire.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:carczar_84 said:Opti said:I've really liked the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and they are cheap to
I second these, they were great on a BRZ
Third, I have them on the 944. Mostly because they were the only summer performance tires available in my size.
I think when I wear out the garbage all-season Goodyears on the Fusion, I'm going to put ECS's on it and get another set of wheels and tires for winter.
The previous owner of my S2000 had these put on prior to our exchance. They lasted a long time and were decent for 20 minute PDX sessions. They seemed to get "greasy" after about 15 minutes of runtime; but, def worth consideration.
ProDarwin said:KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:I think you're all overthinking this. Tires are either for competition use (treadwear limits and class rules being your only concern) or street use. Street use should never approach the limits of any new tire.
You never spin the tires in the rain?
I agree, you don't need to corner at 10/10ths on the street. But one nice thing is having that overhead if you need it. Also 5/10ths of a good tire is a lot better than 5/10ths of a E36 M3ty tire.
Sorry, I should have clarified. As kind of a joke the King of the Heap race series specified that all cars shall run on the same tire. The Tiger Paw was chosen for its high treadwear and near universal sizing options.
The amusing thing that happened was that we discovered: it's actually a very competent tire! It has good manners in the dry, good manners in the wet, good manners in the cold, it will spin if you hammer on it but what won't? I put them on the front of the NC and went for a VERY spirited drive a few weeks ago and they just did what was asked without drama. To make it more telling, I only put them on the front (nail through the shoulder of one front tire but the rears were perfect Continental ContiSports). The Contis were $200 each and the Tiger Paws were $75 each. I'm a pretty fair driver and I could tell no difference between them.
TLDR, the Tiger Paw Touring is NOT a E36 M3ty tire.
I've had the BFG Sport-Comp 2s on a couple cars and been very happy with them except that they don't last quite as long as I'd like. Went to the Comp 2 A/S on my 128i to see if I could get a little more life out of them - so far been quite happy with these too. Both are exceptional rain tires, BTW.
No votes for Kumho? It's been a couple years since I bought HP tires, but I have sworn by Ecstas for a while. I have a set of ASX on the SS that I love. They're likely one step harder than you want since they are A/S, but they do a summer-only that is pretty darn sticky.
iansane (Forum Supporter) said:I'm a sucker for an irregular looking tread pattern. I've been using the falken rt615k for quite awhile on my e30 and really enjoy them at the limit. Closed courses, obviously.
Haha! That sounds like it belongs in the "confession" thread! I didn't know we were allowed to admit that... I'm kinda a sucker for irregular tread pattern too!
But it doesn't have anything to do with performance, so I'll try to tame myself.
Another vote for ECS. On a Mustang in this case, I like them a lot better than the Pirelli P Zero Nero OEM tires they replaced.
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