Tyre prices and recommendations? (Oct 2019 Facelift spec)

[BahnStormer]

choices need to be made soon....

Yoko Fleva 701's now seem to be around in FL OEM sizes, for £320, fitted. More road focussed.

Nankang NS2R's not available in 215/45/16's + 185/55R15....  not that I can find anyway....

Nankang NS2's for £155 + fitting... but then only 205mm rears.... lovely and cheap, much more road-focussed.

Then the spanner in the works: Yoko AD08RS's are on special £360 incl fitting from a decent local garage!

The NS20's look like phenomenal value, but road focused and I'm after something for summer: I already have 2 full sets of wheels with all other bases covered with two good sets of Continentals: general purpose Premium Contact 2's and TS860S winters...

[Bossworld]

Avon ZV7s come in the proper FL sizes for around £250 fitted.

[Zxrob]

I have recently fitted Toyo TR1 all round on my facelift , 225/45/16 and 195/55/15, not done to many miles on them yet but happy with them, spirited road use when I can, no trackdays (yet)

Rob

[BahnStormer]

Avon ZV7s come in the proper FL sizes for around £250 fitted.

Thanks, but those look very road-focused and panned in reviews: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/104042/avon-zv7-review

I have recently fitted Toyo TR1 all round on my facelift , 225/45/16 and 195/55/15, not done to many miles on them yet but happy with them, spirited road use when I can, no trackdays (yet)

Rob

I saw these - got excited and then realised the only option is to go for non-standard tyre sizes... and I don't want tonnes of extra rubber, I just want progressive, predictable grip....

AD08RS's are still winning it for me in terms of a road legal, track capable summer tyre...

[Bossworld]

Avon ZV7s come in the proper FL sizes for around £250 fitted.

Thanks, but those look very road-focused and panned in reviews: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/104042/avon-zv7-review

I have recently fitted Toyo TR1 all round on my facelift , 225/45/16 and 195/55/15, not done to many miles on them yet but happy with them, spirited road use when I can, no trackdays (yet)

Rob

I saw these - got excited and then realised the only option is to go for non-standard tyre sizes... and I don't want tonnes of extra rubber, I just want progressive, predictable grip....

AD08RS's are still winning it for me in terms of a road legal, track capable summer tyre...

I've absolutely no issues with them on my car, nor the ZZ5s on my Cooper S with a lot more power than the MR2.  'Panned' is one interpretation of that review, but I take your point you don't want road tyres. 

Still if nothing else, shows there's a dwindling supply of the stock sizes from various manufacturers.

[BahnStormer]

I've absolutely no issues with them on my car, nor the ZZ5s on my Cooper S with a lot more power than the MR2.  'Panned' is one interpretation of that review, but I take your point you don't want road tyres. 

The review wasn't a great one - either the quality of the journalism or the appraisal of the tyre: on everything except cabin noise, they came 8th/9th/10th (out of ten?)... and the comment was that every else had moved they game on a lot in the last few years and these were feeling dated... and the review is from 2018.

I try to avoid assuming that if a manufacturer has one good/bad set of tyres, the rest of their range will automatically follow... so I try to find reviews that suit my use-case as closely as possible.

So on that note, I should treat the only online review of the ZV7's with a pinch of salt as they reference "Texas heat" and presumably NOT with a lightweight roadster... so I'm sure they're a decent road tyre for the MR2 in Blighty and certainly seem decent value.

Overall it's a pretty lightweight summary of a review and I can't find the full test that it references anywhere. I've found a few other high-level summaries, where the Zv7's come out fairly well, but I can't date those or verify the uses for those test either, so if other people have these on MR2's, it would be good to know if they're a good alternative road tyre as Nankang NS20's and Premium Contact 2's are the more frequently used... so this would be a good mid-point / alternative any of our other regular brands stop producing (or if the Conti PC2's get any more expensive!)

Still if nothing else, shows there's a dwindling supply of the stock sizes from various manufacturers.

100% agree on this - and most of those that are left are pricing themselves for low-volume niche buyers - all the the high-end brands are now over £300 for a set in FL sizes, sometimes over £400 :|

edit: added a few reviews.... AutoBild 2017 and 2018 tests: note that none of these are in MR2 sizes (320d and in one case 225 width tyres), so not ideal. Although the ZV7's consistently get towards the lower end of the grouping (16th/17th out of 20). The only other direct comparison with tyres for our cars - V701's get panned (in a much larger size) and slightly above the ZV7's in the smaller size.... I'm not going to count the "similar" reviews, such as the Conti SportContact6 as a proper reflection of where the SportContact2's might place - I know they change the rubber compound and tread patterns as they move through the different ranges, so  it's no real indication of what is good for our cars.

[JB21]

Just fitted a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 5's to my FL wheels. 195/50/15 front 205/45/16 rear. They also come in in 215 and 225 for the rear.

Not tested them properly yet but they seemed grippy on the few miles I tested them even with the mould release agent still not burned off yet. I must say though they did dumb down the sharpness of the car but that's to be expected given they replaced Nankang AR1's which are super stiff.

[BahnStormer]

Just fitted a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 5's to my FL wheels. 195/50/15 front 205/45/16 rear. They also come in in 215 and 225 for the rear.

Not tested them properly yet but they seemed grippy on the few miles I tested them even with the mould release agent still not burned off yet. I must say though they did dumb down the sharpness of the car but that's to be expected given they replaced Nankang AR1's which are super stiff.

205 rears should keep you honest on the accelerator I thought about those sizes for trackday tyres as it'll allow more throttle adjustability on the rear without increasing the power... but I'm also wanting them for road use, so sticking to OEM to keep insurance less complicated.

[JB21]

Just fitted a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 5's to my FL wheels. 195/50/15 front 205/45/16 rear. They also come in in 215 and 225 for the rear.

Not tested them properly yet but they seemed grippy on the few miles I tested them even with the mould release agent still not burned off yet. I must say though they did dumb down the sharpness of the car but that's to be expected given they replaced Nankang AR1's which are super stiff.

205 rears should keep you honest on the accelerator I thought about those sizes for trackday tyres as it'll allow more throttle adjustability on the rear without increasing the power... but I'm also wanting them for road use, so sticking to OEM to keep insurance less complicated.

They'll only be used for track commuting and wet track days so should do a job. MK3 race cars run this stagger so shouldn't be to bad.

[Bossworld]

edit: added a few reviews.... AutoBild 2017 and 2018 tests: note that none of these are in MR2 sizes (320d and in one case 225 width tyres), so not ideal. Although the ZV7's consistently get towards the lower end of the grouping (16th/17th out of 20). The only other direct comparison with tyres for our cars - V701's get panned (in a much larger size) and slightly above the ZV7's in the smaller size.... I'm not going to count the "similar" reviews, such as the Conti SportContact6 as a proper reflection of where the SportContact2's might place - I know they change the rubber compound and tread patterns as they move through the different ranges, so  it's no real indication of what is good for our cars.

At the end of the day, tyres are a massively subjective consumer good, which is why it's great we have these discussions.

What I value more, and I think you made this point further up, is other people's reviews from real-world usage.  To take an example, Peugeot used to fit the Pirelli P6000 (which you'd think from a premium manufacturer would be great) and they were known to the 306 community as 'ditch finders'.   Equally, Toyo seem to be a go-to tyre for both the 306 and MR2 due to low cost, despite repeated comments about soft sidewalls and having to bump up the PSI.

By the same token, I wouldn't have considered Nankang if it hadn't been for Carolyn singing their praises, but I value her opinion and may try them if I wear out the Avons while the car is still mine.   

Appreciate you won't be buying them but before I got removed from the UK FaceBook group, there were a few people on there running with the Avons, though to your other point, they may not be tracking their cars.  I went with them following a positive experience from the ZZ5 (18" wheels on the Mini hence the change in product line as they don't do the ZV7 in that size).  Maybe apples and oranges but equally, there there does seem to be a marked difference between Nankang's track-orientated tyres and the day-to-day ones.

So in summary, who knows lol

[SV-3]

My Mk3 came with the ZV7's and I had already put ZZ5's on my daily driver - all my cars are rwd.

My priorities are Wet Grip, Noise Level and Price.

So far I am quite happy with the Avons and can only compare them to the Yokohamas on my Mk1 for what that's worth.

Fortunately, I'm not having to look for a tyre that satisfies anything other than driving on public roads and I doubt if the tyre exists that can meet all the driving conditions that people want e.g. Road/Track/Sprint/What day of the week is it?/Non OEM wheels and suspension setups/et al- it's all too subjective.

[tricky1138]

Avon ZV7s come in the proper FL sizes for around £250 fitted.

Thanks, but those look very road-focused and panned in reviews: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/104042/avon-zv7-review

I have recently fitted Toyo TR1 all round on my facelift , 225/45/16 and 195/55/15, not done to many miles on them yet but happy with them, spirited road use when I can, no trackdays (yet)

Rob

I saw these - got excited and then realised the only option is to go for non-standard tyre sizes... and I don't want tonnes of extra rubber, I just want progressive, predictable grip....

AD08RS's are still winning it for me in terms of a road legal, track capable summer tyre...

I have to agree with you, I still think the RS will be better than any of the others at that.

You have your summer and winter tyres, so get your road legal, track capable tyres!

Oh and do tell us what you think of them as everyone running AD08R's are wanting to know how good / bad they actually are!

[BahnStormer]

You have your summer and winter tyres, so get your road legal, track capable tyres!

Oh and do tell us what you think of them as everyone running AD08R's are wanting to know how good / bad they actually are!

That was kind of the plan... except I know I'll keep the "track" tyres on for most of summer, so they need to very reasonable in the wet, etc... as I want to be ready for any potential impromptu trackdays.

Sadly any meaningful AD08R vs AD08RS comparison is a non-starter as that was a different setup: BC Racings on my 2007sable, while I've got Koni/Tein suspension in the 2006black... according to WIM, it's a near identical suspension geometry setup, but obviously slightly different height and completely different spring rate and damping: it would be an unfair tyre comparison if I was driving them back to back.... and the sable was written off 6 months ago...