Tires / tyres

[mickeyduck]

Heck, however you spell it... them things what are CRUCIAL to life (as opposed to death or injury) on the road.

What are your experiences? Good sticky feet, or ice skates...?

I'd merely ask that statements made here be factual please. Opinion's fine of course but let's not get derogatory eh. The question is simply, "what are good feet for your MR2"?

To start this I'm going to say that I have AW11 Superchargers, and run 185/55 15 front, 205/50 15 rear.

In my experience Bridgestone Potenza RE040 are brilliant in the wet as well as the dry and last well. They are OEM for ZZW's and work a treat on the AW.

And I've just fitted a set of Potenza RE11 on th rear of my super tail-happy LSD manual AW SC and MAN do they stick. Awesome, even in the wet, despite being semi-slicks. Don't expect them to last as well as the RE040 but grip, HELL YES!

By way of contrast I've tried Bridgestone MY01 and found they work fine on the front if no bigger than 185 (I tried 195 and aquaplaned in heavy rain - scary stuff going straight ahead on a sweeper at speed). I also found they were a lot of fun in the dry with predictable tail-drift, but downright snap-scary in the wet.

Anyone else got an opinion on the tyres they've tried on their 2...?

*** EDIT - a couple of useful links ***

Put your original standard tyre sizes in and this will suggest alternative sizes for larger rims:
http://www.tyresizecalculator.com/

Note however that the "% difference" it shows is incorrect in fact it's about double the real figure.

This thing will give you a more accurate estimation of how a tyre size will affect your speedo:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Please note that when up-sizing your rims you really want to keep the radius of the new tyres as close as possible to the OEM spec.

An offset calculator:
http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Wheel-Offset-Calculator

*** End of edit ***

[Dell'orto]

Had 225/50/15 Hankook Ventus tyres on the back of my old SW20, will never EVER buy hankook road tyres again. Ok in the dry, lateral grip was average at best. Went from Yokohama A539's to them, and they would let the back end come out well before the Yokohamas.

[numbers]

I run some Hankook something somethings 205/45/17 on a turbo SW (Need to get staggered)
Brilliant in the dry, can be troublesome in the wet
However I will be upgrading wheels and tyres in the near future and will be going to RE11s
Cannot recommend enough!

[mcphail]

ive got falken fk452's 215/40/r17 on front and 235/40/r17 on my gen3 sw20
great in the dry struggle to lose grip unless im pushing it.
happy with them in the wet can get it to spin through 1st but it gets grip back half way through 2nd during a launch.
only problem is hitting puddles thing turns into a boat but i think thats tyre size more than anything.

[1ZZZZW30]

let's do a motorcross at the Hampton skidpad, and track day at Taupo.

[Joel]

let's do a motorcross at the Hampton skidpad, and track day at Taupo.

I went to a motorcross at the Hampton Downs skidpan last weekend, and an MR2 took out the top prize.
Would be a cool event to do as a club.

[Dangerous D]

let's do a motorcross at the Hampton skidpad, and track day at Taupo.

I went to a motorcross at the Hampton Downs skidpan last weekend, and an MR2 took out the top prize.
Would be a cool event to do as a club.

AGREE!!
i like the way u think sir

[bgnz]

sounds like a cracking idea, I'd like to get some quality time in on the skidpan too, its tricky finding back end break away point in the wet on a public road... or rather its easy but I'd rather not do it again

[mickeyduck]

its tricky finding back end break away point in the wet on a public road... or rather its easy but I'd rather not do it again

He he he... nice!

Get some RE11's and you'll find everything is suddenly very predictable and controllable, even in the wet. They are awesome feet. Worth every cent.

As for the skid pad, I'd like to see the younger fellas explore the limits with no risk of killing their cars or themselves, and we can all have a ton of fun in the process... It's gotta be done I reckon. Maybe a prize for the winner of the event...? Hmmm... Yeah, let's have a wee comp.

[bgnz]

I put Toyo's on pretty much the day after the back end came loose, mine did that day as well. Nothing quite like sitting facing the car that a few seconds ago was behind you

No spins since then but I'm still treading a bit gingerly in the wet which is why I'd like to know when its going to let go in future, so I can go just a shade underneath it

[mickeyduck]

He he that's a nice entertaining wee story there - and one which a lot of MR2 owners might learn from. Good on ya!

If there's a single piece of advice I could offer to any MR2 owner, it's get good tyres. The best you can afford. More power? Meh. Lowering, shocks, brakes.. yeah but meh... Body kits, paint, boom boom boxes... nice too, bling bling but meh... Good feet transform a 2 into what it was meant to be. A thing that you can put around corners twice as fast as most other cars, and a thing that can stop in a real hurry if needs be (cos the brakes are not at all bad even standard, unless you're on a track, in which case you need better pads and fluid). GIII's and Potenza RE040's were the factory standard issue for a reason - they stick, which is important in a mid engine car which just wants to change direction by nature of its design (and that's why it can out-turn most other cars). The pendulum effect of the weight in the rear means it's super nimble, as long as it doesn't let go, so good tyres are a MUST. Nothing wrong with Toyo T1R's either from what I've heard... Point is these are a quality sports car and they deserve a quality tyre to suit. Tyres first, all else afterwards... Your life and your 2 are at stake. So it's a no brainer in my estimation eh.

I hate cheap tyres. They kill people.
Good tyres save lives and add to it's enjoyment.

Some folk see tyres as a thing that wears out and by nature just fades away, is transient and thus isn't worth investing in.
Life does the same though if you think about it - from the day you're born it's wearing out and fading away. Doesn't mean it's not worth investing in though does it? Hell no, it's the single most precious thing of all.

They say if you don't have your health you have nothing. Same kinda deal... Good tyres are never a waste of money. They're an investment in long life and the enjoyment of it.

I might add that to my sig...

[bubbles4]

91 Mr2 gt. Approaching a massive 2 laned roundabout in the wet at 50km/h in fourth to go straight ahead.I'm in the outer lane. I'm like, ok, I'm not going that fast. Went in sweet, got to the middle, started turning right to follow the lane. nek minute, My tail's sliding, I countersteered but that just made me travel sideways into an island so im like, okay, I give up and just stepped on the brakes lightly. Ended up facing the traffic on the same lane I was in. Lesson learned. :/ :/

tl:dr
I spun my mr2 in the wet approaching a roundabout into facing the traffic. Damn.

[Alsw20]

Now go and buy some better tyres. k thx

[GDII]

Now go and buy some better tyres. k thx

+1

What do you have on there? I had some poor quality tyres and made wet driving scary. Quite slippery, but now I have good tyres and no more slipping and I feel much safer just driving at normal speeds.

[Dell'orto]

Yup, good tyres FTW. Shit tyres make them so sketchy in the wet