Mazda MX5 Tyres
On this page you will find the best real world tyre reviews from owners of the Mazda MX5.
Do you Drive a Mazda MX5? Why not add your own tyre review and help other owners pick the right tyre! After all, who knows what the best tyre for a MX5 better than the owners?
| Tyre Reviewed | Dry Grip | Wet Grip | Feedback | Handling | Wear | Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continental WinterContact TS 870 P (18) | 88% | 94% | 82% | 91% | 89% | 93% |
| Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 (9) | 93% | 98% | 79% | 88% | 98% | 88% |
| BFGoodrich gForce Profiler 2 (24) | 92% | 85% | 87% | 84% | 89% | 85% |
| Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen 1 (28) | 86% | 90% | 83% | 85% | 88% | 90% |
| Continental ExtremeContact Sport (13) | 92% | 83% | 83% | 81% | 88% | 87% |
| Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 (156) | 94% | 87% | 88% | 87% | 80% | 85% |
| Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 (125) | 95% | 91% | 88% | 88% | 74% | 85% |
| Continental ExtremeContact DWS (9) | 84% | 89% | 80% | 80% | 84% | 90% |
| Michelin Pilot Super Sport (145) | 94% | 84% | 89% | 86% | 82% | 81% |
| Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3 (7) | 96% | 93% | 94% | 93% | 80% | 76% |
| Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 (243) | 93% | 90% | 86% | 88% | 79% | 81% |
| Michelin Pilot Sport 5 (67) | 91% | 93% | 81% | 82% | 82% | 84% |
| Vredestein Quatrac (20) | 86% | 91% | 76% | 86% | 92% | 82% |
| Falken Azenis FK520 (29) | 90% | 88% | 84% | 86% | 81% | 83% |
| Vredestein Sportrac 5 (98) | 88% | 85% | 84% | 83% | 86% | 84% |
| Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 (9) | 85% | 84% | 81% | 74% | 93% | 68% |
| Vredestein Snowtrac 3 (34) | 84% | 91% | 82% | 76% | 83% | 86% |
| Hankook Icebear W440 (5) | 82% | 86% | 80% | 78% | 82% | 88% |
| Falken ZE914 (99) | 89% | 81% | 84% | 80% | 82% | 81% |
| Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3 (302) | 90% | 88% | 84% | 84% | 73% | 82% |
| Yokohama Advan Neova AD08 (30) | 94% | 72% | 90% | 90% | 70% | 74% |
| Uniroyal RainExpert (132) | 85% | 91% | 81% | 76% | 75% | 86% |
| Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (34) | 89% | 83% | 83% | 78% | 73% | 87% |
| General G Max AS 07 (3) | 90% | 85% | 80% | 60% | 0% | 80% |
| Avon WV7 (14) | 82% | 84% | 83% | 76% | 82% | 88% |
| Nokian WRG2 (72) | 85% | 87% | 83% | 80% | 83% | 85% |
| Yokohama A539 (13) | 81% | 74% | 88% | 86% | 78% | 81% |
| Yokohama Advan A11A (2) | 90% | 75% | 95% | 95% | 95% | 75% |
| Michelin Pilot Sport 4 (322) | 91% | 88% | 81% | 84% | 73% | 78% |
| Hankook Ventus RS4 (18) | 87% | 73% | 85% | 89% | 86% | 63% |
| Avon ZZ5 (93) | 90% | 83% | 83% | 86% | 70% | 82% |
| Bridgestone Adrenalin RE002 (108) | 90% | 82% | 82% | 80% | 77% | 77% |
| Michelin CrossClimate 2 (122) | 87% | 83% | 75% | 74% | 83% | 84% |
| Bridgestone Potenza Sport (104) | 92% | 87% | 90% | 91% | 62% | 72% |
| Goodyear Eagle F1 Directional 5 (30) | 87% | 81% | 79% | 85% | 76% | 78% |
| Uniroyal RainSport 2 (226) | 85% | 91% | 78% | 76% | 76% | 80% |
| Bridgestone Adrenalin RE003 (90) | 91% | 78% | 83% | 87% | 71% | 73% |
| Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response (103) | 88% | 84% | 84% | 77% | 76% | 80% |
| Michelin Pilot Exalto (56) | 86% | 81% | 76% | 80% | 83% | 77% |
| Falken ZIEX ZE310 EcoRun (101) | 87% | 83% | 81% | 80% | 77% | 79% |
| Falken ZIEX ZE914 EcoRun (90) | 86% | 82% | 81% | 82% | 78% | 76% |
| Falken Azenis RT660 (4) | 100% | 58% | 95% | 95% | 73% | 40% |
| Uniroyal RainSport 3 (286) | 84% | 92% | 79% | 78% | 64% | 83% |
| Yokohama Advan Fleva V701 (66) | 84% | 79% | 81% | 81% | 77% | 75% |
| Uniroyal RainExpert 3 (36) | 83% | 93% | 78% | 75% | 66% | 81% |
| Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance (247) | 86% | 84% | 76% | 78% | 73% | 85% |
| Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 (45) | 79% | 85% | 73% | 73% | 85% | 83% |
| Dunlop Direzza DZ03 (7) | 94% | 66% | 89% | 89% | 71% | 47% |
| Dunlop SportMaxx RT (175) | 88% | 84% | 83% | 82% | 60% | 82% |
| Maxxis All Season AP2 (21) | 84% | 80% | 73% | 76% | 77% | 72% |
| Toyo Proxes CF1 (45) | 85% | 80% | 80% | 76% | 68% | 80% |
| Kumho Ecsta PS31 (62) | 82% | 78% | 74% | 79% | 74% | 78% |
| Kumho Ecsta PS71 (69) | 86% | 82% | 80% | 80% | 74% | 74% |
| Continental ExtremeContact Force (3) | 93% | 55% | 93% | 93% | 87% | 60% |
| Rotalla RH01 E Pace (3) | 80% | 77% | 73% | 73% | 73% | 73% |
| Hankook Ventus V12 evo k110 (114) | 84% | 75% | 76% | 78% | 74% | 79% |
| Avon ZV5 (112) | 84% | 78% | 77% | 77% | 71% | 77% |
| Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 (91) | 84% | 78% | 77% | 77% | 75% | 79% |
| Toyo R888 R (26) | 93% | 64% | 85% | 88% | 64% | 63% |
| Kumho Solus HS51 Harmony Sports (5) | 85% | 80% | 65% | 65% | 80% | 90% |
| Kumho Ecsta KU31 (165) | 83% | 75% | 77% | 76% | 72% | 74% |
| Accelera 651 Sport (24) | 82% | 71% | 77% | 75% | 74% | 73% |
| Toyo Proxes TR1 (66) | 85% | 75% | 78% | 81% | 72% | 67% |
| Nankang AR 1 (36) | 91% | 46% | 85% | 88% | 70% | 66% |
| Yokohama Parada Spec 2 (118) | 92% | 59% | 80% | 80% | 69% | 71% |
| Maxxis MA Z1 Victra (64) | 88% | 77% | 73% | 77% | 71% | 66% |
| Nankang NS2R (60) | 89% | 66% | 82% | 84% | 72% | 55% |
| Continental Premium Contact 5 (117) | 87% | 83% | 76% | 77% | 58% | 78% |
| Goodyear Hydragrip (13) | 74% | 88% | 68% | 75% | 70% | 68% |
| Federal 595RSR (51) | 86% | 66% | 76% | 80% | 72% | 57% |
| Nankang SV2 (30) | 83% | 77% | 74% | 74% | 83% | 74% |
| Yokohama ADVAN A460 (20) | 84% | 74% | 77% | 74% | 81% | 65% |
| Dunlop SP Sport 200 (3) | 80% | 57% | 77% | 57% | 87% | 83% |
| Landsail LS588 UHP (94) | 80% | 73% | 69% | 66% | 75% | 79% |
| Nexen N8000 (80) | 79% | 74% | 69% | 66% | 69% | 79% |
| Toyo T1R (288) | 83% | 69% | 75% | 75% | 63% | 70% |
| Firestone TZ300 (19) | 81% | 71% | 75% | 63% | 68% | 76% |
| Kumho Ecsta V720 (11) | 93% | 54% | 83% | 94% | 50% | 45% |
| Goodyear Excellence (126) | 79% | 70% | 72% | 71% | 72% | 74% |
| Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 (157) | 84% | 78% | 76% | 73% | 60% | 65% |
| Avon ZV7 (135) | 82% | 77% | 72% | 72% | 58% | 78% |
| Toyo Proxes 4 (45) | 80% | 63% | 72% | 66% | 77% | 74% |
| Continental Sport Contact 2 (229) | 85% | 75% | 76% | 72% | 61% | 66% |
| Debica Frigo 2 (23) | 68% | 61% | 65% | 63% | 84% | 69% |
| Bridgestone Potenza RE050A (212) | 83% | 69% | 74% | 72% | 66% | 59% |
| Rovelo RPX 998 (30) | 80% | 62% | 69% | 65% | 65% | 73% |
| Pirelli PZero Nero (140) | 83% | 66% | 71% | 71% | 67% | 64% |
| Kinforest KF550 UHP (20) | 74% | 65% | 70% | 68% | 65% | 69% |
| Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08RS (32) | 73% | 64% | 73% | 71% | 79% | 68% |
| Firestone Firehawk SZ90 (25) | 77% | 68% | 74% | 71% | 70% | 60% |
| Continental VikingContact 7 (13) | 60% | 64% | 57% | 64% | 56% | 83% |
| Bridgestone Turanza T001 (107) | 80% | 70% | 69% | 67% | 63% | 72% |
| Dunlop SP Sport Maxx (165) | 79% | 69% | 69% | 67% | 63% | 64% |
| Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD2 (8) | 75% | 68% | 70% | 64% | 66% | 63% |
| Nankang EX500 (1) | 70% | 60% | 60% | 60% | 90% | 70% |
| Wanli S1063 (80) | 74% | 58% | 63% | 61% | 77% | 65% |
| Nankang NS2 (211) | 76% | 58% | 65% | 62% | 73% | 62% |
| Barum Bravuris (19) | 79% | 57% | 63% | 64% | 65% | 68% |
| Bridgestone Turanza ER30 (44) | 78% | 61% | 67% | 62% | 73% | 57% |
| Avon ZV3 (28) | 72% | 63% | 65% | 66% | 58% | 66% |
| Pace Toledo TL1000 (15) | 73% | 56% | 63% | 61% | 69% | 61% |
| Bridgestone Potenza S001 RFT (61) | 72% | 59% | 67% | 65% | 73% | 49% |
| Marangoni Mythos (29) | 69% | 55% | 58% | 60% | 62% | 58% |
| Rapid p609 (34) | 68% | 55% | 57% | 60% | 62% | 58% |
| Firestone firehawk S790 (2) | 65% | 65% | 45% | 75% | 65% | 45% |
| Federal SS595 SUPER STEEL (136) | 70% | 47% | 57% | 55% | 69% | 48% |
| Pirelli P7000 (7) | 71% | 47% | 63% | 57% | 61% | 57% |
| Hercules Raptis WR1 (3) | 57% | 43% | 57% | 63% | 63% | 63% |
| Accelera Alpha (131) | 65% | 44% | 53% | 48% | 69% | 56% |
| Bridgestone Potenza RE92A (1) | 80% | 60% | 70% | 70% | 60% | 20% |
| Westlake SA 07 (8) | 71% | 41% | 45% | 49% | 58% | 64% |
| Minerva EMI Zero UHP (3) | 70% | 70% | 65% | 37% | 33% | 50% |
| Hankook Ventus K104 (11) | 68% | 42% | 50% | 44% | 55% | 61% |
| Achilles ATR Sport (56) | 62% | 41% | 54% | 48% | 62% | 56% |
| Maxtrek INGENS A1 (35) | 59% | 32% | 52% | 45% | 62% | 57% |
| Hifly HF201 (34) | 57% | 43% | 49% | 43% | 45% | 56% |
| Event WL905 (129) | 59% | 30% | 41% | 39% | 60% | 49% |
| Infinity INF 05 (68) | 56% | 31% | 42% | 39% | 62% | 45% |
| Fulda Carat Extremo (5) | 62% | 34% | 46% | 40% | 62% | 36% |
| Silverstone M5 Synergy (16) | 58% | 30% | 46% | 45% | 65% | 37% |
| Autogrip F107 (127) | 58% | 27% | 44% | 36% | 60% | 50% |
| Mohawk M112 (28) | 59% | 34% | 44% | 40% | 53% | 46% |
| Wanli S1088 (85) | 57% | 35% | 41% | 39% | 59% | 38% |
Mazda MX5 Tyre Review Highlights
Writing about the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 given 71% (195-55-16-)
Driving on mostly motorways for 5000 spirited miles
Driving on mostly motorways for 5000 spirited miles
I have run Hakkapeliitta 9s on heavier cars with little discernable impact during dry weather. The Mazda MX-5 is particularly affected by these tires compared to its summer tires. I had these tires installed in southeastern USA before driving the car to Alaska in December. They were almost frighteningly loose in the 15 - 20 deg C temperatures of the southeast. As I drove north into Canada and the temperature dropped below freezing, the tires were much better behaved even on dry roads.
I elected not to get the studded versions to minimize noise. I will probably go studded next time or go with a studless design like the Nokian R5 or a Michelin X-Ice. These tires make the MX-5 a decent winter commuter that my wife is comfortable driving year-round.
I elected not to get the studded versions to minimize noise. I will probably go studded next time or go with a studless design like the Nokian R5 or a Michelin X-Ice. These tires make the MX-5 a decent winter commuter that my wife is comfortable driving year-round.
Writing about the Falken Azenis FK520 given 83% (215-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 20000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 20000 spirited miles
I replaced the Pirelli P-Zeros that came on my car with these after I had the rear end step out at very low speed on a wet roundabout with the Pirellis.
Straight away I felt more confident in wet conditions. The MX-5 being a light, rear wheel drive car, I don't go too crazy when there's standing water but I was at least comfortable to drive in bad conditions compared to the old Pirellis.
In the dry my feelings were similar. I could throw the car into corners without so much as a squeak from the tyres. Everything feels very assured.
I primarily daily drive the car but I took it to a track day and they held up remarkably well. The car would bite down into corners and you could feel a natural drop off in grip as you nearest the limit. At that point the tyres had already done about 18,000 miles and after the partly melted tread had come unstuck, it seems that they have a lot more life left to give!
Straight away I felt more confident in wet conditions. The MX-5 being a light, rear wheel drive car, I don't go too crazy when there's standing water but I was at least comfortable to drive in bad conditions compared to the old Pirellis.
In the dry my feelings were similar. I could throw the car into corners without so much as a squeak from the tyres. Everything feels very assured.
I primarily daily drive the car but I took it to a track day and they held up remarkably well. The car would bite down into corners and you could feel a natural drop off in grip as you nearest the limit. At that point the tyres had already done about 18,000 miles and after the partly melted tread had come unstuck, it seems that they have a lot more life left to give!
Writing about the Falken Azenis RT660 given 77% (225-45-17-)
Driving on track for 3000 spirited miles
Driving on track for 3000 spirited miles
For a 200 treadwear tire the RT660s did better than I expected. Over two years and approximately six autocross schools and test and tunes along with a couple thousand road miles these tires held up well and exceeded the performance expectations I had. During fast road driving they really didn’t show any negative behaviors, they just stuck. While not my first choice for driving in the rain, the few times they were driven in the rain they really handled it OK. The only downside that I noticed is that anytime you run over a painted stripe on the road or a slick piece of pavement, the tire tread makes a very distinctive noise. The first time I drove on them I actually thought I left wheel nuts loose and pulled over to check torque. Just like all 200 tread wear tires, they pick up every pebble and sand you encounter in parking lots (or your gravel driveway) and throw it into your wheel liner. This is just the cost of super sticky tires, but understand that going in.
Writing about the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 given 97% (205-45-17-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 500 spirited miles
Driving on mostly country roads for 500 spirited miles
If you are looking for a fun slidey tire, this is not it but this is a tire that will stay stuck to the road in both wet and dry conditions. Truly amazing levels of grip that give high levels of confidence going into every corner.
Writing about the Achilles ATR Sport given 40% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 spirited miles
I needed a set of cheap tires and thought these would suffice. Could never get them balanced properly. I even had the road force balanced and it made an improvement. These tires are fine for everyday driving but they are absolutely treacherous in the rain. Hydroplaning and almost zero grip. I bit the bullet and ordered some Continental Extreme contacts which hopefully will perform much better ( at almost triple the price) . The old adage you get what you pay for really applies here
Writing about the General G Max AS 07 given 94% (205-40-17-)
Driving on mostly town for 300 spirited miles
Driving on mostly town for 300 spirited miles
Mine is a wierd size tire, fits the Mazdaspeed miata and who knows if anything else. I went through 3 sets of original spec Toyo tires in 39k miles before I found these. Treadwear is supposed to be MUCH better, traction is great (seems just as good), comfort and noise is better than the stock tires--I wish I had found these sooner!
Writing about the Kumho Ecsta PS71 given 51% (205-45-16-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 2000 spirited miles
Driving on mostly country roads for 2000 spirited miles
Car this tyre was fitted on was a 2000 NB MX5 with Teinz coil overs and white line sway bars set to their stiffest setting.
This tire is great, except it's one glaring flaw: once grip is lost it takes longer to regain traction than most if not all tires in its class (dry and wet). i have this on personal experience and accounts from a handful of other people who have a PS71 fitted.
The PS71 is a good Tyre if you get it for a cheap price. I payed $560 Aud for a 205/45/16 set (incl fitting and balancing) with no discount and I have reasonable confidence that no other tyre will come close to the PS71 at this price point or close to it. (the good price does not seem to scale with an increase in size unfortunately)
while you can hustle the PS71 on a twisty road its lower level of grip relative to other options in its class on the market, hesitance to regain grip after it is broken and relatively soft sidewall make it a subpar option to other tyres available in class and certainly to semislicks (where hard street and track driving is concerned). Make no mistake though, these have tires have more than enough grip for driving within the bounds of the law (to get them unstuck you would need to be driving in a manner your local law enforcement would be unimpressed by to say the least)
as for driving feel, it is okay but not great. it feels pretty numb but I am yet to conclude if it is an alignment or tyre issue
If you just want a competent, safe, mostly reliable performance Tyre for daily and spirited driving, this will do it for you. That is until you get into a situation where you loose grip. not to say that it does it to a degree that is dangerous, but when you unintentionally loose traction every moment longer the tyre takes to come back is a moment that could save you, and on this reason alone if you have a Michelin pilot sport, continental MC Tyre, Goodyear eagle f1 available in your size I would strongly suggest paying the premium for those options. If you stay at 8/10ths and below and have ABS I wouldn't as much about the beyond limits grip.
TLDR; If you never flirt with your cars limits, cannot find a better option for your wheel size and/or need just a 'good enough' Tyre to have until you get another set of rims, this tire is a strong contender. however if you hate the idea of a tire that behaves badly past the limits of grip, I would advise looking elsewhere.
This tire is great, except it's one glaring flaw: once grip is lost it takes longer to regain traction than most if not all tires in its class (dry and wet). i have this on personal experience and accounts from a handful of other people who have a PS71 fitted.
The PS71 is a good Tyre if you get it for a cheap price. I payed $560 Aud for a 205/45/16 set (incl fitting and balancing) with no discount and I have reasonable confidence that no other tyre will come close to the PS71 at this price point or close to it. (the good price does not seem to scale with an increase in size unfortunately)
while you can hustle the PS71 on a twisty road its lower level of grip relative to other options in its class on the market, hesitance to regain grip after it is broken and relatively soft sidewall make it a subpar option to other tyres available in class and certainly to semislicks (where hard street and track driving is concerned). Make no mistake though, these have tires have more than enough grip for driving within the bounds of the law (to get them unstuck you would need to be driving in a manner your local law enforcement would be unimpressed by to say the least)
as for driving feel, it is okay but not great. it feels pretty numb but I am yet to conclude if it is an alignment or tyre issue
If you just want a competent, safe, mostly reliable performance Tyre for daily and spirited driving, this will do it for you. That is until you get into a situation where you loose grip. not to say that it does it to a degree that is dangerous, but when you unintentionally loose traction every moment longer the tyre takes to come back is a moment that could save you, and on this reason alone if you have a Michelin pilot sport, continental MC Tyre, Goodyear eagle f1 available in your size I would strongly suggest paying the premium for those options. If you stay at 8/10ths and below and have ABS I wouldn't as much about the beyond limits grip.
TLDR; If you never flirt with your cars limits, cannot find a better option for your wheel size and/or need just a 'good enough' Tyre to have until you get another set of rims, this tire is a strong contender. however if you hate the idea of a tire that behaves badly past the limits of grip, I would advise looking elsewhere.
Writing about the Continental VikingContact 7 given 47% (205-50-16-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 5000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 5000 spirited miles
the VikingContact is most at home in snow. Dry traction is poor compared to non-winter tires, and worse than any other winter tire I have used. For example, I accelerated hard from 30mph and spun my rear wheels - in a miata (a miata is no mustang, and should never be unable to do this - 167 hp)
Snow traction is good, but ice traction is not nearly as good as a Blizzak ws-80. If you have ice, get Blizzak. Viking lasted longer than Blizzak, but was a worse performer in everything except soft snow. I would only buy these again if I lived in an area where the roads were always freshly snowed upon
Snow traction is good, but ice traction is not nearly as good as a Blizzak ws-80. If you have ice, get Blizzak. Viking lasted longer than Blizzak, but was a worse performer in everything except soft snow. I would only buy these again if I lived in an area where the roads were always freshly snowed upon
Writing about the Kumho Ecsta PS71 given 90% (205-45-16-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 3000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 3000 spirited miles
The PS71's are joy in the dry and the wet, warm or cold.
First let's give a comparison. I bought my MX5 with Dunlop Sport Maxx RT (these only had 3mm of tread so only had them on for about a month) and they were outstanding in the dry, the wet not so good but I put this down to the age of they tyres and the fact that they had only 3mm of tread so lets not put down those amazing Dunlops.
Compared to those, the PS71's have slightly less maximum grip in the high speed stuff and maybe not as fast turn in. Discarding those very subjective points I cannot fault these. In the dry they are outstanding and cannot spin the wheels at all, tight country corners taken fast these are absolutely amazing. medium speed corners id say the Dunlops are better but in High speed the Kuhmo's take over again.
In the wet the PS71's have so much damn grip it is unbelievable. I have so much confidence in the car and the only way I've lost traction in them is doing a standing wheel spin launch on purpose. Other than that they have never done anything I didn't expect them to and for the price of (£80 fitted each) I bought them for, these tyres are such such great value considering all the premium brands start at around 110 per tyre and that only goes up from there for some decent UHP tyres in this kinda odd 205/45/16 size that my MX5 has.
Honestly id buy them again and again. Amazing tyres that are very very underrated.
First let's give a comparison. I bought my MX5 with Dunlop Sport Maxx RT (these only had 3mm of tread so only had them on for about a month) and they were outstanding in the dry, the wet not so good but I put this down to the age of they tyres and the fact that they had only 3mm of tread so lets not put down those amazing Dunlops.
Compared to those, the PS71's have slightly less maximum grip in the high speed stuff and maybe not as fast turn in. Discarding those very subjective points I cannot fault these. In the dry they are outstanding and cannot spin the wheels at all, tight country corners taken fast these are absolutely amazing. medium speed corners id say the Dunlops are better but in High speed the Kuhmo's take over again.
In the wet the PS71's have so much damn grip it is unbelievable. I have so much confidence in the car and the only way I've lost traction in them is doing a standing wheel spin launch on purpose. Other than that they have never done anything I didn't expect them to and for the price of (£80 fitted each) I bought them for, these tyres are such such great value considering all the premium brands start at around 110 per tyre and that only goes up from there for some decent UHP tyres in this kinda odd 205/45/16 size that my MX5 has.
Honestly id buy them again and again. Amazing tyres that are very very underrated.
Writing about the Dunlop SportMaxx RT given 86% (205-45-16-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 1000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 1000 spirited miles
I bought the car with the Dunlops fitted all round. They were old and only had about 3mm of tread on them, so I was soon to get new tyres.
For the short while I did have them, they were outstanding in the dry, I've heard that the turn in on them can be slow to reslpond but to my usage I did not see this. In fact id say the turn in and maximum high speed turning grip was outstanding and felt almost like a semi slick. I couldn't get the wheels to spin at all in the dry and were a joy to drive. Was a shame that they had such a low tread when I bought the car because I'd love to have felt how they were in the wet with a decent amount of tread on them.
If they were not so expensive I would buy them again definitely so if you have the money and live in a mostly dry area then these are damn gold.
For the short while I did have them, they were outstanding in the dry, I've heard that the turn in on them can be slow to reslpond but to my usage I did not see this. In fact id say the turn in and maximum high speed turning grip was outstanding and felt almost like a semi slick. I couldn't get the wheels to spin at all in the dry and were a joy to drive. Was a shame that they had such a low tread when I bought the car because I'd love to have felt how they were in the wet with a decent amount of tread on them.
If they were not so expensive I would buy them again definitely so if you have the money and live in a mostly dry area then these are damn gold.
Writing about the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 given 94% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 8000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 8000 spirited miles
As recent owner of PS4S tires, I keep myself up to date on tires for my ND2 Miata. That said I decided to switch to the Conti ECSO2 this spring (2023). I'm glad I did for a variety of reasons and the the 2 main takeaways being price and warranty. As much as I loved the Michelins they are always the most expensive and at the peak drop off faster than I'd want for serious touge driving let alone track duty. In contrast I personally felt the ECS hold up better at the limit and the drop off was more than manageable and with a proper street+ alignment could eat up the road for hours of fun. It almost feels like the new updated conti is trying to find it's endurance mode similar to it's bigger brother the endurance 200tw tire ECF. Looking at Conti competitors this tire does the work you'd hope a summer tire would do, but has the longevity to keep you going past what you'd expect. It's wet grip felt on par with the Michelin in almost every way, even in hydroplaning conditions. I've put a good bit of miles on these tires and I'm happy to say I'd easily purchase them again.....not necessarily because it's just as good in dry or wet to the PS4S but because it's a better price, warranty and still provides the driver confidence you'd want out of a proper summer tire. An easy win in my book!
Writing about the Nankang NS2R given 80% (195-55-15-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 spirited miles
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 spirited miles
I've had these tyres on my NBFL miata for around 10000kms, I think theu are very great and awesome value for money. In the dry, with such a light car and not that much power (146hp), it's nearly impossible to get the car back end to slide event with the locked diff. Braking is the smae story, ABS is kicking in very late. I use the car for 80% road, 20% track mainly on the Nordschleife. They perform really well there too. Tyre pressure is something to take good look at because you will very quickly feel pressure increasing and grip reducing.
In the wet, it's another story. They work, I was able to drive 600km in the rain on the highway without too much worries but be prepared in the corners to counter steer. Maybe it's because my car doesn't have any stability or traction control, you have to be very careful, especially on road joints in corners where the car just "ungrips" from the road.
The wear is simply incredible, with such a light car and after 10000km of spirited driving and track use, they are only about 40% wear. This is awesome. I had som Kumho road tyre before that, at 10000km they were done.
Then, the usual, it's stiff which gives you great feedback through the steering wheel but you feel everything on the road, even the smallest rock (maybe my Bilstein suspension doesn't help either).
Concerning noise, of course you get a lot of noise, especially above 120kmh where you can distinctly hear tyre noise.
I would absolutely recommend them for someone who does some track driving, spirited road driving and mainly avoids wet condition.
In the wet, it's another story. They work, I was able to drive 600km in the rain on the highway without too much worries but be prepared in the corners to counter steer. Maybe it's because my car doesn't have any stability or traction control, you have to be very careful, especially on road joints in corners where the car just "ungrips" from the road.
The wear is simply incredible, with such a light car and after 10000km of spirited driving and track use, they are only about 40% wear. This is awesome. I had som Kumho road tyre before that, at 10000km they were done.
Then, the usual, it's stiff which gives you great feedback through the steering wheel but you feel everything on the road, even the smallest rock (maybe my Bilstein suspension doesn't help either).
Concerning noise, of course you get a lot of noise, especially above 120kmh where you can distinctly hear tyre noise.
I would absolutely recommend them for someone who does some track driving, spirited road driving and mainly avoids wet condition.
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