mx5cartalk.com

I know this is a topic that has been brought up in before, but many of the recommendation have since been discontinued or not available locally.

So far the best value one I've found is the Falken rt615k at about $200 fitted.

Does anybody have any recommendations for tyres in 195 or 185 60r14?

Nearly everything in 14" nowadays is focussed towards "relaxed" driving and lowest purchase price. While there are many tyres in the right size, very few are suitable for an MX5. Usually they're too hard, too vague and not grippy.

Tempe Tyres still have a listing for Kumho KU31s although they say they're out of stock. It is worth calling them anyway and enquiring about them. Tempe now have agent agreements with tyre shops here and there around the country. I just bought a set of 4 "out of stock" Hankooks from our local Tempe agent. He found them in stock at another Tempe agent shop in North Qld and had them shipped down for $10 ea.

You can still get Dunlop Star Specs from Tirerack but it's become a real problem to ship them over here. They're still in a class of their own for S-spec lap times. Just don't expect much in the way of comfort with them.

Lots of MX5 owners get pushed towards Michelin Energy because they have the M brand and they say the M brand always guarantees quality. They're truly ghastly tyres: noisy, harsh, no grip wet or dry and strangely prone to punctures. You'll feel like slashing your wrists after a while.

Yokohama Advan A048 still come in 14" afaik - not sure about pricing.

manga_blue wrote:Nearly everything in 14" nowadays is focussed towards "relaxed" driving and lowest purchase price. While there are many tyres in the right size, very few are suitable for an MX5. Usually they're too hard, too vague and not grippy.

Tempe Tyres still have a listing for Kumho KU31s although they say they're out of stock. It is worth calling them anyway and enquiring about them. Tempe now have agent agreements with tyre shops here and there around the country. I just bought a set of 4 "out of stock" Hankooks from our local Tempe agent. He found them in stock at another Tempe agent shop in North Qld and had them shipped down for $10 ea.

You can still get Dunlop Star Specs from Tirerack but it's become a real problem to ship them over here. They're still in a class of their own for S-spec lap times. Just don't expect much in the way of comfort with them.

Lots of MX5 owners get pushed towards Michelin Energy because they have the M brand and they say the M brand always guarantees quality. They're truly ghastly tyres: noisy, harsh, no grip wet or dry and strangely prone to punctures. You'll feel like slashing your wrists after a while.

Thanks. I'll look into KU31s. I have KU36s now in 15s and like them. I have had KU31s in the past and they were alright given their price.

I'd love to get Star Specs but they're a little more than I wanna spend.

I'm hoping to spend somewhere between 150 and 200. So the Falken RT615K is at the very top of that.

93_Clubman wrote:Yokohama Advan A048 still come in 14" afaik - not sure about pricing.

I think these have been replaced by the A050.

I don't know if the Falkens are the same as they used to be but the performance of the original RT615s never came close to matching their looks.

Sounds like they have improved a bit ...http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=219

I'm in the same boat needing 14" tyres, it is wet grip I'm most concerned about. Does anyone know anything about Dunlop SP Sport FM800? They are about $130 each. I can get the Z2 at $225 each. Are they chalk and cheese? I really do not want to go sideways again in traffic.

Thanks,

Tim

Purfler wrote:Are they chalk and cheese?

Essentially yes - don't have specific knowledge of the SP Sport FM800, but looking at the little available it's basically a commuter tyre, whereas Direzza ZII Star Spec is a performance tyre, so really depends on your driving requirements & driving style.

Thanks for the reply. The car is dríven daily, no track use. I just want something that will grip in the wet. I have RE001's at the moment, but they are getting up to 5 years old and hardening.

Tim

If you're a careful road driver they should be sufficient while the rubber stays relatively soft, but suspect you'll find they'll harden like the RE001s, if not a bit sooner. However, if things get a bit spirited now & again you might want to opt for a better tyre to begin with.

As someone who was very very close to buying a set of Michelin Energys i'm very keen to hear what other options you can still get.

Grip (in wet and dry) is my #1 consideration and whenever I've gone to tyre shops they keep saying Michelin since they don't know which performance tyres come int he right size and still exist.

In Canberra the Kumho KU31s and Yokohama Advan A048 seem not to be available in 14".

Very keen to hear what people are using these days

RobJ wrote:Grip (in wet and dry) is my #1 consideration

My concern with the Michelin Energy (being designed as a longer lasting tyre) will be that they won't satisfy your #1 consideration, especially as they age a little. However, not a lot of options for 14", hence many have gone to NB8A or other 15" wheels & tyres, but a recent thread did contain these:
Bridgestone T001
Dunlop LM704
Falken ZE912
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=74640

Different tyres are designed for different criteria. Each tyre represents a compromise of wet/dry grip, responsiveness, suppleness/ride comfort. noise, wear rate, price. You can never have all of these at once. An MX5 daily driver tyre demands high grip, responsiveness and suppleness/comfort. All the rest are just nice-to-haves.

Michelin Energy are designed, manufactured and marketed as high milage/low rolling resistance tyres. They may be good tyres but they don't meet any of the key MX5 requirements. Very few MX5s ever cover a significant enough annual milage to justify high milage tyres. High milage tyres on MX5s usually die of old age hardening long before the tread wears out. On the other hand their poor grip, harshness, noisiness and lack of direction stability will annoy you every time you drive the car.

Michelin are quite honest about the characteristics of their tyres. So are most major manufacturers. If they don't push a tyre as a performance tyre then it's not a performance tyre and its not suitable for an MX5.

Tyre sales is a competitive business. Tyres all look the same to most consumers. So they're very much guided by price and dealer recommendations. For this reason all tyre companies try to lock in tyre retailers with area exclusivity agreements, volume discounts and special bonuses for meeting volume targets. If a tyre shop keeps recommending a tyre that is not fit for your purpose then it's probably chasing a bonus. It is putting its own interests first, not yours.

i.e. You may be being suckered. Just go to another tyre shop and be clear about what factors are important to you.