Mk1 Wheel & Tyre options - what's best?
Discussion
I'm about to buy a Mk1 MX5 and a lot of them seem to have either shopping car tyres or nasty budget Chinese ditchfinders so I'm expecting to have to change them pretty quickly. On a friend's Mk1 Toyota MR2 picking up a set of 15" alloys to replace the stock 14s meant cheaper tyres and a better choice (195/50 15), is this the same for the MX5 or do 15 inch rims spoil the ride or handling? I'm probably going to end up with a non PAS 1.8, will this make the car undrivable? I had a Golf GTi cab a while ago on 15s with 195 section tyres and the steering was like trying to wrestle a chest freezer so I need to avoid this!
What brands of tyres are people running? Coming from an Elise the Toyo T1-R and Kumho Ecsta were the tyres to go for at a sensible price, what about for the MX5, in 14 ot 15" sizes.
Thanks!
What brands of tyres are people running? Coming from an Elise the Toyo T1-R and Kumho Ecsta were the tyres to go for at a sensible price, what about for the MX5, in 14 ot 15" sizes.
Thanks!
195/50/15" is probably the optimum size, though I haven't tried a non-PAS car. I found swapping from 14" to 15" sharpened things up a little with less sidewall flex, but I wouldn't want to go any lower in profile.
Most important thing is nice light wheels, and try to keep the offset close to the factory 40-45mm.
Some of the more popular performance tyres are T1R, Eagle F1, Bridgestone RE001. Personally I stick with more touring-intended tyres - a lot of the fun with an MX5 is being able to play with the balance and enjoy yourself at sensible speeds, so a less grippy tyre suits that IMO with the bonus of taking longer to wear out.
I drove one prepared for tarmac rallying back-to-back against mine on a trackday and (while the bucket/harness was much better than my standard seat) as far as handling goes I had more fun with mine on chinese ditchfinders - was only ~1s difference in lap times but I suspect that would have increased with more time to adjust to the stickies.
Most important thing is nice light wheels, and try to keep the offset close to the factory 40-45mm.
Some of the more popular performance tyres are T1R, Eagle F1, Bridgestone RE001. Personally I stick with more touring-intended tyres - a lot of the fun with an MX5 is being able to play with the balance and enjoy yourself at sensible speeds, so a less grippy tyre suits that IMO with the bonus of taking longer to wear out.
I drove one prepared for tarmac rallying back-to-back against mine on a trackday and (while the bucket/harness was much better than my standard seat) as far as handling goes I had more fun with mine on chinese ditchfinders - was only ~1s difference in lap times but I suspect that would have increased with more time to adjust to the stickies.
Edited by GravelBen on Friday 6th November 21:15
I run 195 R888's on my Eunos track car with a de-powered powersteering rack, its fine.
you rate T1R's from the Elise, I have them on my VX220 I find them good in the rainy wintery weather we've had recently but I only have old conti's to compare them against, the VX220 forum universally slates them as s
t.
you rate T1R's from the Elise, I have them on my VX220 I find them good in the rainy wintery weather we've had recently but I only have old conti's to compare them against, the VX220 forum universally slates them as s
t.Edited by Herman Toothrot on Friday 6th November 21:45
I have two pairs of 14" wheels for mine; the original BBS lightweight ones have some not very worn but quite old Toyo Transas Eco tyres on (195/60x14, thanks to the previous Japanese owner...) and they are absolutely rubbish. My spare set have some 185/60x14 UK Toyos on (not decent ones) and they're a little better for progressive breakaway but really not very grippy still. I think I'm just going to bung some 185/60x14 Goodyear F1 GSD2s on the BBS wheels; I really don't want to bother getting a third set of alloys.
SJobson said:
I have two pairs of 14" wheels for mine; the original BBS lightweight ones have some not very worn but quite old Toyo Transas Eco tyres on (195/60x14, thanks to the previous Japanese owner...) and they are absolutely rubbish. My spare set have some 185/60x14 UK Toyos on (not decent ones) and they're a little better for progressive breakaway but really not very grippy still. I think I'm just going to bung some 185/60x14 Goodyear F1 GSD2s on the BBS wheels; I really don't want to bother getting a third set of alloys.
Why not just sell both pairs and get some 15" BBS?We have 14s on ours that originally had those chinese ditchfinders (and boy is that a good name! 
). We now have Falken Ziex 912s that are pretty good. Judas hasn't gone mad with them yet though but when I had a 'moment' 
they seemed very easy to reign in with a 'dab of oppo'.
Apparently 15s are the optimum size for handling and tyre range.
Trace
). We now have Falken Ziex 912s that are pretty good. Judas hasn't gone mad with them yet though but when I had a 'moment' they seemed very easy to reign in with a 'dab of oppo'.Apparently 15s are the optimum size for handling and tyre range.
Trace
johnnyboy666 said:
I don't quite understand people picking ditchfinders as it is more fun. Definitly not that fun when a situation arises by chance and you have no grip what so ever.
I couldn't agree more. I recently bought some 14" Wats shod with part worn ditchfinders. They were ok in the dry-just, but in the wet led to some very unprogressive & surprising break-away brown trousers moments! Mine is just a road car (though it does get treated like a rally car 
), it was a race/rally MX5 on stickies I was comparing it with.
I wasn't recommending buying ditchfinders, I only have some because they were on a set of second-hand wheels I bought - my recommendation would be mid-range tyres from a respected manufacturer, so you can play with the balance and feel the car moving around progressively at lower speeds.
As far as ditchfinders go the kingstars are ok though - reasonable in the dry and usually ok for lateral grip in the wet when driven smoothly, its just traction which disappears, making it remarkably easy to produce controlled oversteer on demand. Those wheels also came with a pair of GT radials, grip levels were mostly guesswork with those - roll the dice to decide if they'll stick or slip.
), it was a race/rally MX5 on stickies I was comparing it with.I wasn't recommending buying ditchfinders, I only have some because they were on a set of second-hand wheels I bought - my recommendation would be mid-range tyres from a respected manufacturer, so you can play with the balance and feel the car moving around progressively at lower speeds.
As far as ditchfinders go the kingstars are ok though - reasonable in the dry and usually ok for lateral grip in the wet when driven smoothly, its just traction which disappears, making it remarkably easy to produce controlled oversteer on demand. Those wheels also came with a pair of GT radials, grip levels were mostly guesswork with those - roll the dice to decide if they'll stick or slip.
Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 10th November 05:30
I'll add my voice to support the Falkens on 14" wheels.
I did my first track day in the Eunos at Brands last Sunday. The day started wet and then dried out and the Falkens were entirely predictable throughout the day. I'm sure there are stickier tyres available but the great thing about the Falkens was that while they allowed the car to move about a bit, they were really progressive and never gave up the fight to keep us on the black bits. To me, that's what I want from a tyre. I'm not racing and I'm very happy to trade the last few 10ths of speed for controllable fun. Plus, they haven't suffered much wear (unlike the Goodyears on the Impreza I used to track occasionally) and they're very good value for money.
I did my first track day in the Eunos at Brands last Sunday. The day started wet and then dried out and the Falkens were entirely predictable throughout the day. I'm sure there are stickier tyres available but the great thing about the Falkens was that while they allowed the car to move about a bit, they were really progressive and never gave up the fight to keep us on the black bits. To me, that's what I want from a tyre. I'm not racing and I'm very happy to trade the last few 10ths of speed for controllable fun. Plus, they haven't suffered much wear (unlike the Goodyears on the Impreza I used to track occasionally) and they're very good value for money.
Right then guys/girls after my thred on mx5nutz about my extreme sidewaysness on some p6000's at very low speeds to the point i actually turned around and went home mid hoon where to buy said z tyres and how much should i pay? This question is more pointed in the direction of aceT as i know you live local to me + aint seen u in ages but should be bringing the mx5 to the next mids meet if you wanna meet/compare cars and talk rubbish?
Matt
Matt
The Tea Boy said:
Right then guys/girls after my thred on mx5nutz about my extreme sidewaysness on some p6000's at very low speeds to the point i actually turned around and went home mid hoon where to buy said z tyres and how much should i pay? This question is more pointed in the direction of aceT as i know you live local to me + aint seen u in ages but should be bringing the mx5 to the next mids meet if you wanna meet/compare cars and talk rubbish?
Matt
Try http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m4b747... at £28.80 per corner.Matt
gdaybruce said:
The Tea Boy said:
Right then guys/girls after my thred on mx5nutz about my extreme sidewaysness on some p6000's at very low speeds to the point i actually turned around and went home mid hoon where to buy said z tyres and how much should i pay? This question is more pointed in the direction of aceT as i know you live local to me + aint seen u in ages but should be bringing the mx5 to the next mids meet if you wanna meet/compare cars and talk rubbish?
Matt
Try http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m4b747... at £28.80 per corner.Matt
matt
Right, I've bought a car and now I need some new wheels for it. It currently has 14" alloys which are an OE fitment multispoke type design shod with Pirelli P6000 tyres all round. The fronts are good but the rears are on the wear bars and need replacing, the other problem is that they're 185/65 14 tyres which I'm told is wrong and they should be 185/60 14 instead. So, there are a set of steelies on eBay with nearly new Marshall tyres which I'm hoping to buy as a temporary measure so I don't have to spend £90 on a temporary set of rear tyres before I look for some 15s to go on the car.
So, what 15s do I want? They need to be as cheap as possible and not massively heavy, I'd rather buy a 2nd hand set needing tyres if possible. What size and offset do I need? I'm not that bothered about looks, but if they're silver and not 3 spokes that would be good!
So, what 15s do I want? They need to be as cheap as possible and not massively heavy, I'd rather buy a 2nd hand set needing tyres if possible. What size and offset do I need? I'm not that bothered about looks, but if they're silver and not 3 spokes that would be good!
Wheels are these ones....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
They need a re-furb as they're peeling a bit and if I'm going to do some track days in the car I'd rather be on lower profile 15s as the tyres are cheaper and there's a far better range available in the size.
What offset do the 15" wheels need to have? The PCD is very common so I wonder if there are some decent cheap wheels off another car I could find.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
They need a re-furb as they're peeling a bit and if I'm going to do some track days in the car I'd rather be on lower profile 15s as the tyres are cheaper and there's a far better range available in the size.
What offset do the 15" wheels need to have? The PCD is very common so I wonder if there are some decent cheap wheels off another car I could find.
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