mx5cartalk.com

Guys,
I've been trying to source some new tyres, for my NB8A....225/45(50)r15 (200 utqg)
...but supplies seem to have dried up, in the cheaper end of the market...except for:-

Nexen Fera SUR4G

According to 'TireRack' reviews, Nexen have emerged from the wilderness and gave the SUR4G a...."slightly better than RS4s, in the dry...but much better in the wet.....however not as good as RE71-RS and Rival-S".

Current available market, seems to be:-
RE71R......are 205/50r15 and $255+
RT615K+...are 205/50r15 and $185+
SUR4G......are 225/45r15 and $218+
A052........are 225/50r15 and $254+

Federal RSRR...too noisy etc.
RS4.........are 225/45/r15 and $165+....but currently not available...(will they hike the price for new shipments, whenever they arrive)

Other manufacturers
Toyo.......<200utqg
Nitto......<200utqg
Nanking...<200utqg

Apart from the fact that RS4's are cheaper and better wearing (when available)...Does anyone have any experience with the 'SUR4G' on Trackdays.
Or, if you know of secret sources of RS4s

Cheers,
Jim

I've only heard good things from a number of people that do time attack/sprints with the SUR4G. Mostly 86s, but also a 400 whp s15 that gets dríven very fast. Last track day I was at there was an 86 on surge 4s within about 0.5s of me on A050s - cars would have similar power to weight. I was speaking to him afterwards and he's wrapped with how long they've lasted and how much grip they have. I was doing 59.9s and he was doing around 60.5s or a bit quicker at lakeside.

You're missing a great tyre from your list though - yokohamma ad08r. They're about $200/tyre in 205/50R15, and honestly, if you're not consistently within a few tenths at the track, you're not going to notice a difference between a 225 and 205, it'll come down to compound more than anything. I've doing similar times to the 86 mentioned above on the ad08rs (granted, on cooler days). If you can hold out or pick up a set of AD08Rs for 4 for 3 deal (they usually do it twice a year), it's a great set of tyres for ~$600.

I got some 195.50.15 RS4s in December from CeramicND on this forum. If Newcastle NSW is convenient for you, give him a try.