Nasty in the wet!

Anonymous · October 12, 2004, 21:22

I'm hoping one of you MR2 experts can help a wee novice like me! s:oops: :oops: s:oops: My wife has just returned from almost spinning the car in the wet when coming off a roundabout s:cry: :cry: s:cry: . I appreciate the MR2 can be difficult in the wet but I was wondering if there is anything I can do to make it safer??? s:? :? s:?

Ive got Dunlop SP Sport tyres on the rear and they seem to have good tread left. I bought the car with 18K on the clock and it now has 20K, I'm assuming the tyres are the originals. Its a 52 plate so doesnt have the bigger 16inch wheels on the back.

Should I change the tyres or fit 16inch to the back (like the newer models) or shall I just tell her not to accelarate off corners???

All help appreciated!!!! s:)

s:)

GSB · October 12, 2004, 21:37

They're not the original rears, which were either bridgestone or Yokohamas.

For best possible stability and peace of mind, the car should have the same make and type of tyres at the front and rear, if it doesn't, the differences in grip characteristics can cause problems with instability.

Also keep a very very close eye on tyre pressures. A couple of psi either way and the cars balance can be thrown off comlpletely. Consider fitting a new set of tyres all round for the winter if you dont want a repeat performance. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · October 12, 2004, 21:50

saying that, they are all buggers in the wet! s:? :? s:?

juansolo · October 12, 2004, 22:07

Driver training. Get her on a skid pan.

Bongo · October 12, 2004, 22:16

Quote from: "juansolo"Driver training. Get her on a skid pan.

I agree.

Also it seems lot's of people don't really take it seriously when warned to "watch it in the wet". (not saying it's the case here, just something i've noticed)

Having said that i noticed that i was all over the shop today when driving down a straight lane in the wet/leaves.

aaronjb · October 12, 2004, 22:22

Quote from: "markions"Ive got Dunlop SP Sport tyres on the rear and they seem to have good tread left.

I was just googling around trying to find the wear & grip ratings on these, but failed miserably.. However, I did find lots of references to them being 'budget' and 'comporamise' tyres.. (which makes them sound like the last set of Dunlops I had a few years back - about as much grip as a set of greased ballbearings..)

Personally, I'd get shot of them sharpish. You didn't say what you have on the front - the originals maybe? Bridgestone or Yokohama? If that's the case, you've probably got grip heavily biased to the front right now.. Get a nice set of Toyo's all round..

Other than that, I'd agree with the others - driver training is good and tyre pressures are very important.

Although everyone seems to say these cars are very tail happy in the wet, they seem pretty docile to me.. s:oops: :oops: s:oops: (Probably clout a lamppost next time I drive it now as penance for that comment!)

I'd hazard a guess that Perry's might well be a tad lairy in the wet mind - but he does have the advantage of a turbo and a big handful more torque than us mere mortals s;)

s;)

Anonymous · October 12, 2004, 23:15

Thanks for all the advice, getting her road trained will be a long task, my immediate task is to protect my pride and joy (the MR2 that is!!!)

Ive got Yoko's on the front and hadnt realised (until now!) that the rears arent originals! There's not much grip on front but I assumed they are designed like this as most grip required is on the back (is this even remotley correct?!!!)

I think the best option may be to buy a complete new set of 4. What would you all recommend? The car is an every day city commutor that gets used on country roads on weekends. Also where is best to get them? If you get them on the net will a normal tyre place fit ehm?

Thanks for all the help! s:)

s:)

MRMike · October 12, 2004, 23:35

Depends how much you want to spend, if you think driver training will be difficult, and you really want to curb the MR2's tendency to oversteer, you could consider investing in a racelogic traction control setup, but your looking in the region of £1,500 - £2k If my memeory serves me correctly.

Darth Paul · October 13, 2004, 09:13

Many advocates of Toyo on this 'ere board. I have Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s on mine. I have no experience of the Toyos, but the F1s are more grippy in the dry than the stock Bridgestones/Yokohamas, and infinately more grippy in the wet. I heard rumour that the grip levels in the wet of the F1s are comparable to the stock tyre's grip levels in the dry... s:shock: :shock: s:shock: Expensive though, but worth it. s:wink: :wink: s:wink: Especially when I know not to cane it out of junctions in the wet but the wife doesn't. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 09:26

Actually i was looking at the race logic traction control plug in yesterday, from a review on circuit driver. About 500 if i remember correctly.

not sure how it'd cope with the LSD though.

As said before driver training, and being very carefull/respectfull in the wet is the key.

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 10:22

Quote from: "markions"Thanks for all the advice, getting her road trained will be a long task, my immediate task is to protect my pride and joy (the MR2 that is!!!)

Ive got Yoko's on the front and hadnt realised (until now!) that the rears arent originals! There's not much grip on front but I assumed they are designed like this as most grip required is on the back (is this even remotley correct?!!!)

I think the best option may be to buy a complete new set of 4. What would you all recommend? The car is an every day city commutor that gets used on country roads on weekends. Also where is best to get them? If you get them on the net will a normal tyre place fit ehm?

Thanks for all the help! s:) s:)

OOooohhhhh........get the tyres changed. Need a set of the same tyres all round. Will make a BIG difference. I have fairly newish Toyo's on mine (about 2K on them) and I have a "moment" the other day (although I actually thought it was quite good fun!!!) and I wasn't actually going that fast (which makes me think there might be something else other than water on the road. s:roll: :roll: s:roll: ). But, I do have experience of the Dunlops on my Mk1s and have to say, allthough they were reasonably Ok in the dry, they were a NIGHTMARE in the wet. If you have them on the rears AND you have two types of tyres on the car, your new 2 is a disaster waiting to happen really. I would get it done before winter really sets in if I were you........

Glad the missus (and the car!) are Ok.........

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 10:37

I suggest Toyo's since they are best bang for the buck. Of course, if you want to spend for the best, F1's or S03's should be your pick...

kanujunkie · October 13, 2004, 11:55

and haveing 16's on the back makes no difference to this little problem, i can speak from experience on that s:cry: :cry: s:cry: definatley helps in the dry though s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

aaronjb · October 13, 2004, 12:36

Quote from: "odub"not sure how it'd cope with the LSD though.

I had their fully adjustable TC on my first 300ZX (sold it with the car though, foolish me!) - fantastic bit of kit, though perhaps overkill on a '2.. Personal preference of course, there are plenty of 300ZX owners that consider it overkill on those, too s:)

s:)

An LSD will make no odds to the TC - it works by measuring the speed difference between front & rear wheels using the ABS sensors (and lots of jiggery pokery) - certainly worked fine on the ZX (ok, so that's a viscous diff, not quite an LSD, but..)

Adjustable slip was great fun - select from 0%-10%-15%-25%-off and have fun.. 0% was utterly safe, and I don't think anyone ever came a cropper - 10-15% meant people tended to drive around with the back of the car dangling out and just expecting the TC to keep them from going full circle. Sadly though, as some found out, it is possible to 'catch' the TC out when it's on the higher slips and get so far out of shape that it can't stop you going full circle..

Fun on the track though - look like an ace driver, but in reality it's all electronics.. s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Oh and finally - for drag work it was best to switch it off, unless you spent a lot of time tuning the launch control upper slip limits (to perhaps 40-60%) and then raised the standard upper slip limit to about 30-35%.

Right, I'm waffling now.. back onto Tyres s:)

s:)

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 22:14

QuoteOOooohhhhh........get the tyres changed. Need a set of the same tyres all round. Will make a BIG difference. I have fairly newish Toyo's on mine (about 2K on them) and I have a "moment" the other day (although I actually thought it was quite good fun!!!) and I wasn't actually going that fast (which makes me think there might be something else other than water on the road. s:roll: :roll: s:roll: ). But, I do have experience of the Dunlops on my Mk1s and have to say, allthough they were reasonably Ok in the dry, they were a NIGHTMARE in the wet. If you have them on the rears AND you have two types of tyres on the car, your new 2 is a disaster waiting to happen really. I would get it done before winter really sets in if I were you........

Glad the missus (and the car!) are Ok.........

Thanks for the help John, appreciate the concern!

If I go to buy any of the tyres you have all mentioned, am I best walking into a tyre specilst and ordering including fitting or should I buy on the net and get a tyre company to fit??

Will look to get this done ASAP as your comments do worry me if the grip is so bad having two different sets of tyres on.

Appreciate the help all ! s:D

s:D

Bongo · October 13, 2004, 22:16

I'd look on the Net at tyre prices, then ring around.

See if you can get them to match the price - or fit the tyres you got from the net for a reasonable price.

markiii · October 13, 2004, 22:19

I wouldn't get S03 in your shoes, they are a great wet tyre, but really really bad in teh snow, since winter is approaching you'll just have the same problem when the snow arrives.

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 22:23

So would you recommend Toyo's?? Exactly what am I seaching for on the net when looking for these?

Again appeciate help!

Mark

markiii · October 13, 2004, 22:28

best bang for teh buck

Toyo Proxies T1-S (or teh new T1-R if you can get them but don't mix)

Pre-03

185/55/15 front
205/50/15 rear

post o3

195/50/15 front
225/40/16 rear

try w www.mytyres.net w

any local kwik fit type place should charge circa £30-£40 to fit and balance 4 tyres.

take it easy when the are first done as proxies need a couple of hundred miles to scrub off the release agent.

Bongo · October 13, 2004, 22:34

m http://www.camskill.co.uk/ m seem to have stock.

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 22:45

This site does seem to have the Toyo Proxies T1-S, about £46-48 a pop. Does that seem good value? Are the new ones you mentioned much different?? s:? :? s:?

markiii · October 13, 2004, 22:50

expect to pay somewhere in the region of £165 for a full set inc vat and delivery.

T1R has a slightly different tread pattern, don't know anyone that has tried them yet, but the T1S will be being fazed out.

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 22:54

Having a wee google around that site you mentioned seems to be the cheapest, but will keep looking as they are comming in at about £190, then need to get the wee buggers fitted!!! If you spot them any cheaper any where else please give me the nod!!! The places that quote full fitting etc come in at about £69 each tyre! Seems bitty expensive for set of tyres! Getting them bough, delivered to me then whisked off to the tyre place seems best?

Cheers mate

Anonymous · October 14, 2004, 09:12

Quote from: "markions"Having a wee google around that site you mentioned seems to be the cheapest, but will keep looking as they are comming in at about £190, then need to get the wee buggers fitted!!! If you spot them any cheaper any where else please give me the nod!!! The places that quote full fitting etc come in at about £69 each tyre! Seems bitty expensive for set of tyres! Getting them bough, delivered to me then whisked off to the tyre place seems best?

Cheers mate

Mark,

I got my Toyo's delivered from mytyres for just under £170 all in. I then phoned a local backstreet garage to fit and it cost me £28. All in all, under £200. Any other tyre and I think you are going to struggle with that to be honest. mytyres were excellent value, came in on delivery time, even though they said they had to track them from Germany and the backstreet fitter was no worse than any large company doing it. I wouldn't worry about delivery and fitting. Delivery is cheap and fitting can be done anywhere really........

Easy peasy!

(P.S. When you consider that going to a local and getting stock Bridgestones fitted for over £50 a tyre (some quoted me full proce of around £80!) and VAT AND fitting on that, you are looking at over £300. I think the delivery and fitting method shows that its a MUCH cheaper way of doing things)

aaronjb · October 14, 2004, 12:23

Quote from: "markions"Seems bitty expensive for set of tyres!

Remember, the tyres are the most important things on your car - they're what keep you going in a straight line, stop you bouncing off walls, other traffic etc.. You get the idea, I'm sure s;)

s;) They're not something you want to skimp on - sure, you could probably get a set of cheap remoulds for £20 a corner, but then.. well - either the car won't last very long or worse, and to be honest, you'd be better off selling up and getting a Fiesta or something cheaper to run s;)

s;) (especially if you're willing to only drive within the limits of a shoddy set of tyres s;)

s;) )

Anyway, if you think that's expensive, the guy in front of me at the tyre place paid £900 for a set of tyres on an M3....

Anyhow, here endeth my sermon s:D

s:D

Nasty in the wet!

Darth Paul