Tyre help please

[edt]

Just treated the car to a set of black Rev 4 alloys. They came with tyres. The rears are Kumho Ecsta Spt and pretty low already. What's a wise brand/model to ask for when I go to my local Merityre branch.. same again?

[shinny]

You may find yourself with your hands tied on options on stock sizes, especially at the rear. I believe you can still get Toyo T1Rs and Falken 912s in 225/50/15, both of which are reasonable tyres, the T1R being "sportier", whatever that means.

There is probably a budget / ditchfinder option (eg. Nankang) that is best avoided as these cars tend not to like cheap rubber. Professional sprinters don't wear flip-flops to race, so why should a performance car be expected to be at it's best on the cheapest rubber out there

[Gullzter]

Ive got t1rs going on the car next week, looking forward to trying them, had no issues using toyo in the past, great grip round bends from experience of using them on my previous cars

[HighwayStar]

Personally (and it's always a personal thing) I love my T1-Rs as an all weather tyre. Only advice I can give is when you get to replacing the fronts go for the 205/50/15 rather than a 195/55/15... much more neutral handling results though of course that does means you are a bit closer to oversteer than otherwise.

R.

[woz_106]

Gotta ask where are people getting the t1-r proxies from in 225/50/15 size as I can't find any

[Ryan6926]

That's because you want 225 50 15 mate

Ears sell them. Ears.co.uk although stock levels are likely to be low as they're one of the few places that sell them in that size

For the front I'm going for 195 50 15's instead of the 55's as there's more about, I'll be getting Yokohama PS2's I expect for the front although if I find a set of alloys in 16's first I'll likely have them instead

[HighwayStar]

Got mine from Cole and Day in Somersham, Cambs as I have done for about the last 8/9 yrs (with occasional changes to Blackboots when it was convenient). Call them on 01487 741000. Took them about 3 days to source them.
Ryan if you're going for a 50 profile you're better off with a 205 width to maintain the correct RR...

[Nic]

Email Mike Pattison at EARS ([email protected]), if you mention I pointed you his way he'll sort you out with a very good price.

http://www.ears.co.uk/index.html

[edt]

Good price from ears but by the time i add delivery and fitting works out about same going local... shame

[Ryan6926]

You can get Pirelli's for the rear too but be prepared to sell a few vital organs in order to be able to fund them

I think Maxxis have picked up on the fact that 225 50 is needed still and they've started bringing them out.

Try mytyres.co.uk they've normally got various things that maybe of use

[Donato]

I bought a set of 225/50/15 from Black Circles for £205 posted. Because they have discontinued them no one else had them in stock. I tried Camskill, Ears Motorsport, Stapletons, Viking, Deamon Tweaks & eBay. Ears spoke to Toyo for me who said they wouldn't be producing them any more as they are bringin out a replacement. They are however very good tyres once scrubbed in.

[edt]

Are Nexen any use? There's one with a load of tread on one of the rear alloys I removed. If there OK, I can get that tyre put on one new wheel, and get another for the other wheel

[Ryan6926]

They're a fair bit more budget than I'd like on the back of a MR2 but if that's all you can find then go for them I guess

I'm going to probably try the Maxxis' on the rear when mine eventually give up the ghost

Hopefully this link may help?

http://tyretraders.com/tyresearchresult ... reType=All

[Donato]

Are Nexen any use? There's one with a load of tread on one of the rear alloys I removed. If there OK, I can get that tyre put on one new wheel, and get another for the other wheel

If you value your car and/or life. You'd want to put something good on the car, especially the rear. There OK in the dry, absolutely terrible in the wet. How about the Falkens? I've heard a couple of good reviews on them.

[edt]

They're a fair bit more budget than I'd like on the back of a MR2 but if that's all you can find then go for them I guess

I'm going to probably try the Maxxis' on the rear when mine eventually give up the ghost

Hopefully this link may help?

http://tyretraders.com/tyresearchresult ... reType=All

Great link!
One question how come the more expensive Toyos do worse in the ratings compared to the MAxxis / Nexens? F & E vs. E & C

[Ryan6926]

Mainly I think because they've been around before the new tyre branding systems came in.
I was speaking to a MOT tester who explained that the way they're broken down on the labels is the rolling resistance, wet grip and noise as well,

He said that rolling resistance is another word for grip as the tyre digs into the road more so uses more fuel, In this case the lower the rating the better grip there is,
Wet grip and noise are pretty self explanatory so I think we can work that out lol.

One thing I did find with the Toyo's are as grippy as they are they're very soft rubber so they wear quickly, On the rear of a MR2 probably isn't the best place for them as there's normally enough grunt to light them up whenever you wanted.
They're great tyres just won't last particularly well, in addition when you get to around 3mm change them sharpish, they're a nightmare in the wet when they're getting low

[HighwayStar]

Wondering the same thing myself edt.... odd considering the Toyo write up starts with basically "the best wet performance tyre just made better". Of course they're only being judged on wet stopping distances not stability, lateral grip, resistance to aquaplaning etc. but still very odd.
No indication here of course of dry weather performance... P'raps the others just spin you off the road in the dry? Also what were they tested on as they'll all behave differently on different vehicles.... consider how the different F1 teams use the same tyres so differently this season.....
Talk about a minefield. I'm still recommending the T1-R though through getting on for nearly a decade of personal experience. I get about 12k - 18k from rears on my n/a depending on just how much I've been pushing things but a good 30k plus from the fronts. With my n/a I certainly cannot light up the rears in anything other than 1st or 2nd and only then by setting out to deliberately.
As Ryan said though you want to be changing ANY tyre at 3mm. 1.6mm is the legal limit alright but performance is dramatically reduced by 3mm so allowing any tyre to go lower and still expecting the same performance as when new is pretty dumb. Tyres are the single most important factor in keeping your car on the road and how it performs there... again look to F1 and see how a new set of tyres improves grip and therefore performance whether slicks, intermediates or full wets.

[Ryan6926]

To be fair though I've had T1-R's on my Celica and found them grippy as you like until they start wearing low.

A friend of mine has them on a MX5 on the front and the main parts of tread have no issues with wear at all but the shoulders of the tyre do wear quite quickly (I knackered a set in 4 months on the Celica although that could be any number of reasons why although I wasn't spinning them up etc)

In the rain they're good too although bearing in mind most people don't drive as quickly in wet weather although when they get low they are quite prone to tramlining from past experience. I'd definitely use them again although personally I'd take the ZE912's over them if they still made them today (I don't like the new 914) as they were fantastic on my little Saxo that I had, I tried allsorts and couldn't get them to break traction in the dry although granted the MR2 is an entirely different beast

[edt]

If money was no object I'd bin all 8 tyres I've got kicking around now & stick Toyos on all round. Sadly.....

[edt]

Just fitting 'new' rear alloys & the rears are 205 50 15 !
Brill...