Any tire advice for ST2 Miata?

[Steve Collins]

Been out of the loop for a while. What's the current 15" weapon of choice? Is everyone still gaga about the Toyos, or has the herd moved on? I liked the Dunlops a year or two ago and they're even wider now.

steve

[Mako Koiwai]

Hankook RS3

[Jeff Wong]

Been out of the loop for a while. What's the current 15" weapon of choice? Is everyone still gaga about the Toyos, or has the herd moved on? I liked the Dunlops a year or two ago and they're even wider now.

steve

Toyo R1R 195/50/15

http://treadzone.com/tireDetails.aspx?tID=5451&tab=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jason Flores]

Lets just confuse the heck out of him..

We vote Bridgestone RE-11

so there you have it...all clear now after mako jeff and I cleared it up?

[Michael Palero]

And if you want to be JDM a la Mike Yanase, you can run the new Falken RT-615K
I'm sure you'll get plenty of extra attention as all your instructors will try to get in your car to check out the new tire

[Jonathan Lugod]

Hankook RS3 - best bang for buck

[Craig Naylor]

At the San Diego Tour on Sunday the top 5 cars (depth of trophies) had only .246 time spread between them. (Sat was a different story)

We sat on:
Hankook R-S3 (225/45/15)
Bridgstone RE11(205/50/15)
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec (205/50/15)

After the Tour & Pro we all felt that though none of us ran the Toyo, many did last year, and the Toyo is still probably the best tire in the cold / winter temps in So Cal. But the other three would be better dealing with any warmer months needs. So far as the three of them, we felt based upon S.D. result, that there all even. The Pro's times were more varied, but there were more variables involved there too. No one felt their tires were a limiting factor on their times.

If you have the tire budget, switch with the weather, or just put the money on the table and deal with the Toyo short life issues.

If not, our group consequences was the three above are a draw. The comment on the 195 size, only if your driving a FWD Honda. Otherwise go with the wider options, you'll want the extra grip.

And FYI, the name change went from STS2 to STS not ST2.

Or are you asking about SK2? If you are, and are limited to the 5.5" or 6" factory rim with, then a narrower tire might be appropriate.

[Leonard Cachola]

And FYI, the name change went from STS2 to STS not ST2.

He's in STS.

[Jeff Stuart]

No Kumho love huh? Well, I'll throw Kumho Ecsta XSs into the mix. Not as good in the wet, but much more affordable! I got mine for $89 a corner.

[Mako Koiwai]

Or are you asking about SK2? If you are, and are limited to the 5.5" or 6" factory rim with, then a narrower tire might be appropriate.

... although Tim Albin might disagree

275 on 6.5"

[Leonard Cachola]

... although Tim Albin might disagree
275 on 6.5"

I believe Tim took those off and ended up running the 245s instead.

[Mako Koiwai]

There must be a reason the XS is not loved ... even though it did well in this Car & Driver test (first in the dry): http://tinyurl.com/koal9l

See "auto cross times in the Dry"

[Mako Koiwai]

245 is still a lot wider then 195

[Leonard Cachola]

245 is still a lot wider then 195

True. And, since it was a stock '99, those are 6" wheels, not 6.5."

[Mako Koiwai]

... and maybe 285's ?

[Jonathan Lugod]

Wider does not always mean better. With street tires you need to balance size and wheel widths. It is important to make sure the sidewall is happy. Rcomps are able to get away with this with their stiff sidewalls. Again look closer at the wheel recommendations.

This is my recommendation for tire/wheel combo for 15" sizes.

195 = 6.5-7.5"
205 = 7-8"
225 = 7.5-9"

[Jonathan Lugod]

There must be a reason the XS is not loved ... even though it did well in this Car & Driver test (first in the dry): http://tinyurl.com/koal9l

See "auto cross times in the Dry"

Braking and acceleration. At least for the civics, i felt they broke poor. Lateral grip was good but not very confidence inspiring. The other crops are better at this. The tire was too unpredictable for my taste. Driving in the wet was a scary experience as well (freeway) on full tread.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Toyo's have a short life.
Summer, I very well might change away because they hate heat.
Sidewalls are sloppy and vague even with just a 195 on a 7.5" rim. They are just that way. I couldn't tell the diff between 7" and 7.5" with the 195's. But they generate a lot of ultimate grip. And they recover well if you can get used to the vague feel.

It seems to me that the Miata's in STS can take advantage of the wider rubber better than the ST Civies can.

I haven't tried them, but if I had an STS Miata I would probably go with the 225 Hankook RS3's. They last FOREVER. They are cheap. They are seem to be heat tolerant on both ends of the spectrum. Would seem like a good choice. I might try them in the summer when things heat up.

[Steve Ekstrand]

I should say....

If you want to give the 225 toyos a try, I'll make you a sweatheart deal. $250 for two fresh new shaved 225-45-15 toyo r1r's and I'll throw in two nearly fresh 16 run shaved 225's with it. Try them out cheap and see what you think. I can drop them off to you most anytime. We're what? 5 minutes away from each other?

[Craig Naylor]

Or are you asking about SK2? If you are, and are limited to the 5.5" or 6" factory rim with, then a narrower tire might be appropriate.

... although Tim Albin might disagree

275 on 6.5"

Theres a big difference between the stiffer R-compounds, and the soft sided street tires. Case in point, the Civic's and CRX's ran 225 on the stock 14x5.5 rims with lots of success. The ST prep they prefer the 195's on 15x7.5 rims. Different tricks needed to accomplish the stiff sidewall effect, due to the differences in intended tire usage by the manufacture.

[Mako Koiwai]

Toyo's always seem to have extra soft sidewalls ... the Dunlops and Yoks seem to be noticeably stiffer

[Jeff Wong]

The Pro's times were more varied, but there were more variables involved there too. No one felt their tires were a limiting factor on their times.

What do you mean by more variables?

If you have the tire budget, switch with the weather, or just put the money on the table and deal with the Toyo short life issues.

Short life issues? We had approx 150 runs going into the Pro Solo that lasted all 3 sessions + challenge runs, they worked great.

If not, our group consequences was the three above are a draw. The comment on the 195 size, only if your driving a FWD Honda. Otherwise go with the wider options, you'll want the extra grip.

Besides bench racing on the interweb, has anyone tried testing back to back a 225 Toyo R1R vs a 195 Toyo R1R on a STS Miata?

[Jeff Wong]

Toyo's always seem to have extra soft sidewalls ... the Dunlops and Yoks seem to be noticeably stiffer

If the Yokohama AD08 was suppose to have a stiffer side wall, they sure fooled me, running the 225 Toyo R1R and the 205 Yokohama AD08 felt very similar.

[Leonard Cachola]

My experience with 205/50/16 Dunlop Z1 Star Specs has been a mixed bag - good tread life and easy to handle at the limit, but with one caveat: my last three sets have had chunking issues - could be due to my driving, but two other forum members have had issues as well (Tim Aing and Andrew Bingham) and we all drive street tire stock cars, so this might not be an issue with an STS car. I'm going to be moving to a new brand after the current set on my car is done.

[Craig Naylor]

The Pro's times were more varied, but there were more variables involved there too. No one felt their tires were a limiting factor on their times.

What do you mean by more variables?

If you have the tire budget, switch with the weather, or just put the money on the table and deal with the Toyo short life issues.

Short life issues? We had approx 150 runs going into the Pro Solo that lasted all 3 sessions + challenge runs, they worked great.

If not, our group consequences was the three above are a draw. The comment on the 195 size, only if your driving a FWD Honda. Otherwise go with the wider options, you'll want the extra grip.

Besides bench racing on the interweb, has anyone tried testing back to back a 225 Toyo R1R vs a 195 Toyo R1R on a STS Miata?

In order.

To start with, he asked about a STS Miata. I think we can all agree setup on the Miata, and the Civics are different? Well maybe not, you challenged everything I stated, and I'm only copying within a limited budget.. others.

Variables. On Sunday in SD we all felt we put on the table what we had to offer.
El Toro: Chipped ECU vs. non-chipped ECU definitely played with launch, and the tight turnarounds, not so much in SD.
Course: definitely more challenging, and cone intensive at El Toro.
Red Lights. Nuff said!
Everyone of us felt we left something on the table. Look at time differences between lf. & rt. for every driver. While I believe one side was a smidgen faster than the other, our times would not show that.

Life span: Probably where the Miata & Honda differences show up. (only guessing here) Admittedly I didn't run the Toyo's last year. All of the other trophy cars at the Tour Pro did Toyo's last year. This was their finding. I know Mike Heintz corded a tire by the completion of the El Toro Pro, and needed a complete new set of tires for Wendover. The Dunlops I borrowed, had NO visible wear following one NT + 2 Pro's, and every local event between.

Had one entrant at SD on the 195's. He stated in his opinion, they had less grip than the 225's. Several of us "feel" (as in seat of the pants), that the wider tires work better. Don't think any of us (Miata types) have access to testing equipment to do back to back empirical tests.

Now that I answered all these questions you disagreed with me on.... other than bench racing... what experience do you have on the TOYO's and the other tires mentioned in a Miata?