Tyres - your opinions much appreciated please?

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 19:14

I've got the original Yokos on my 2 and have clocked up just under 5k on them from getting the car in sept 03. They seemed to be fine until the weather changed and now they scare the living crap out of me. Am very seriously considering changing them at the weekend and have been reading through previous posts etc to try and get an idea of what's best...

Basically I'm looking for something that'll keep me on the road, especially in the wet (not fussed about track use at this stage in proceedings). Price isn't an issue as far as I'm concerned with tyres.... from what I can tell the tyres that alot of you seem to favour are Goodyear Eagle F1s, or possibly Bridgestone SO3s. Have heard good things about Toyos but maybe they're not as suited to the 2?

So, bottom line - dya recommend the Goodyears? am getting a bit blown away by all the techie stuff so keep it simple? please? s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

havent yet looked at prices so any clues here would be useful (just about to start shopping around..)

(incidentally - as Yokos only have 5k on them I'll work out a way of getting them home then refit in the summer i think.)

markiii · January 8, 2004, 19:18

Sandi,

wet weather theres not a lot too choose between F1's and S03's as long as you can get them in teh right sizes.

However as theres every chance of snow at this time of year I'd avoid the S03, as it's useless in the extreme when snow is about.

Toyo proxies are a good bet if you want F1 like without the price, though I have heard they take rather a while to break in.

try w www.mytyres.co.uk w for teh best prices.

markiii · January 8, 2004, 19:19

just reread and it appears you have an 03, in which case the S03 isn't available in the right sizes anyway.

Cue Kris, as we've been discussing F1 sizes for 03 wheels a lot.

aaronjb · January 8, 2004, 19:23

Quote from: "markiii"Toyo proxies are a good bet if you want F1 like without the price, though I have heard they take rather a while to break in

They also have the most release agent on them I've ever seen.. I had a set fitted to my 300ZX, and when I was trying to exit the tyre shop I ended up disappearing down the road very sideways - and that was when I was trying to baby it on fresh tyres!

Once the release agent was gone though, they were fantastic. 300ZX is a much (much) heavier car though, so I can't comment on them on the '2.

Aaron

markiii · January 8, 2004, 19:25

cue Liz, who has and loves them.

Slacey · January 8, 2004, 19:31

Quote from: "markiii"cue Liz, who has and loves them.

They're what I'm buying next for the 17's

filcee · January 8, 2004, 19:34

ISTR that the proxies aren't available in a size that fits the '03 rears. Or has that changed now?

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 19:41

i changed my yokos on the back to pirelli p600 and they were amazing in the wet.

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 19:42

thanks fellas - all very useful so far!

am having a look at prices at the mo, can't find Toyos for the rear so looks like you could be right Filcee. Will also ring Elite in the morning and see what they can come up with (their site not finished!) - know they'll look after me there! s:)

s:)

markiii · January 8, 2004, 19:46

don't mix your tyres.

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 19:47

HI!

Im either going to be going for a 195/50/15 & 225/40/16 setup on the car with F1's but im awaiting Goodyear getting back to me about mixing their D2 & D3 versions of the F1 as they a slightly different and you cant get those tyres in the same model... Otherwise you could use 185/55/15 on the front and have the same D2 version but that may be understeer city! s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

OR

as Martin has suggest, i may try the Yokohama Advan Neovas (LTS) which were made for the lotus, but JuanSolo uses them and thinks they are the absolute mutts! Only thing is they really aint cheap - a full set will set you back about £450! s:shock: :shock: s:shock: s:? :? s:? s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Im going to have to change mine very soon so will let you know what goodyear say and then make a desicion then.

Filcee... no your right, proxys aint available in the standard 03 rear size and Toyo have told me they dont plan to make one... only choice is to use slightly different sizes like above... just means your speedo will be out by about 1mph at 60 (you will be doing 59mph!).

HTH

filcee · January 8, 2004, 19:52

Quote from: "krisclarkuk"(you will be doing 59mph!).

HTH

My chest will cave in if I go that fast, won't it?

Thanks Kris and swp for confirming what I thought about the Proxies. I did think I read that on here somewhere, but a quick search didn't turn up the original thread.

Quote from: "krisclarkuk"Im either going to be going for a 195/50/15 & 225/40/16 setup on the car with F1's but im awaiting Goodyear getting back to me about mixing their D2 & D3 versions of the F1 as they a slightly different and you cant get those tyres in the same model... Otherwise you could use 185/55/15 on the front and have the same D2 version but that may be understeer city!

Interested to know what the deal is here. I'm sure I won't need to change my tyres soon due to the amount of time I spend on motorways, but it doesn't hurt to start thinking ahead ...

aaronjb · January 8, 2004, 19:52

What is the standard size of the 03's then? I had a quick scan of the big tyres post, and it looked like 205/50R16, which Toyo list on their site..

markiii · January 8, 2004, 19:54

or do D3

195/50/15 up front with D3 215/40/16 at teh rear.

reduce your stagger to 20mm but I reckopn you'll be ok.

ref the neovas, not a bad idea. they will be a little bigger than stock but are a great tyre.

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 19:56

Quote from: "aaronjb"What is the standard size of the 03's then? I had a quick scan of the big tyres post, and it looked like 205/50R16, which Toyo list on their site..

215/45/16 at the rear and 185/55/15 at the front (IIRC)

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 19:59

Quote from: "markiii"or do D3

195/50/15 up front with D3 215/40/16 at teh rear.

reduce your stagger to 20mm but I reckopn you'll be ok.

Sure we wont be in oversteer city with that? think i would rather have understeer than over (from past experience! s:oops: :oops: s:oops: your road mark!!!)

Quote from: "markiii"ref the neovas, not a bad idea. they will be a little bigger than stock but are a great tyre.

aint looked at the details of these yet... will do later though.

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 20:06

have just been outside with a torch and can confirm that correct sizes for 03 are:

Front - 185 / 55 / 15

Rear - 215 / 45/ 16

if it does turn out to be possible I would be very tempted to follow your lead and go for 195/50/15 and 215/40/16 - this means slightly wider, slightly lower profile, yes? i.e. more rubber on the floor. in my simple brain the more contact i have with the road the more likley im going to stay on it and not end up climbing a tree somewhere s:? :? s:?

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 20:08

As Kris points out though, you'll be giving more grip to the front, and increasing your chances of a sideways moment.

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 20:15

ahhh, that's not so good then. maybe I'll stick to the original formula, still shopping around for prices .......

aaronjb · January 8, 2004, 20:20

I seem to recall being told once that wider, lower profile tyres didn't necessarily mean more grip.. something to do with the fact that as the contact patch gets wider, it also gets shorter.. Which is also why you need to juggle tyre pressures as soon as you move away from what was fitted in the factory..

You might well find that those tyres work OK, just by running a little more pressure in the front and a little less in the rear.. (You'll get a longer, wider contact patch on the rear then, and an even shorter, wider patch on the front)

YMMV, of course.
Aaron

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 20:32

errrm - you're talking about the tyres i've already got?

aaronjb · January 8, 2004, 20:34

No, I meant if you went for the slightly different sized ones s:)

s:)

Anonymous · January 8, 2004, 20:38

glad I checked - thanks!! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

thanks for all your help fellas - very much appreciated s:)

s:)

zud · January 8, 2004, 21:50

I've got a 2001 with stock wheels, so maybe not entirely relevant. But, i've recently changed to F1's, and they feel fantastic... particularly impressed in the wet. I don't take too many chances in the wet, but the grip when pulling out of a T junction is amazing.

So i can't advise on sizes, but if you can get F1's then definitely worth considering. I paid £297 for the four, but they were quite a bit more (approx £400) for my mate's MX-5, which has something like

/45/16

markiii · January 8, 2004, 22:10

it's worth remembering thats there is an awfull lot of leeway in tyre sizes.

i.e just because 2 tyres by different manufacturers are listed as identical, does not mean they measure the same.

for example a 195 F1 might be identical to a 185 Yoko?

just by way of example.

195 front 215 rear shouuld be ok.

thats what I'm going for anyway.