Well as i am changing the tyres it seems the only decent tyres i can find are the Pilot Sports - although i have read differing opinions on these.
I don't really want to alter the rolling radius of the rears by puttting the F1's on but they really are SO good.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
James.
I suggest you fit the same make and model of tyre front and rear, I suggest you dont believe all the hype you hear about what fantastic tyres the F1's are, they're good, but they aint that different to most of the other performance tyres in that market sector, and I suggest you take a look at w www.mytyres.co.uk (http://www.mytyres.co.uk) w .
Incidentally, having driven both Pilot sports and and F1's on the same car, I can honestly say I couldn't tell the difference...
They will be the same all round so guess its the GDS-2's for the front.
I have driven the GDS-3's and 2's and they are the best tyres i have ever used.
My dad's XJR has the Pilot Sports and he has had no prob's with them.
When i was on My Tyres the only ones it came up with were the Yoko A022's and the stock Yoko's???
I also see you can get 225/45 GDS-2's what difference will this extra width make to the car as it was suggested that it'd not make a lot s:?: :?: s:?:
ok, having read your previosu coments;
going down to a 215/40 isn't so bad, ride will suffer ever so slightly, but acceleration will get better.
GSD2 and GSD3 aren't too bad if you use them together, but I'd avoid if possible.
225/45 in anything is bad, as acceleration will suffer, you wan't 225/40 if going for a 225.
I've nerver personally tried teh pilot sports though the old pattern had some good right ups.
however like Goodyear are doing with teh F1's the old and new patterns are being sold alongside each other in slightly different sizes. Make sure you get teh same tread pattern as with teh Pilots they are totally different and you don't want to mix them.
Again, what I was told only, however it's been said that the Pilots need a heavier car than the roadster to give thier best as teh compound will take forever to warm up with little weigth on them.
Pilots, have stiffer sidewalls than F1s, and are a little heavier.
other alternatives are Pirelli P7000 (no experience) whihc are availabnle in stock sizes, or Toyo Proxies, Falken ZE512 whihc are available in 195/50 for teh front and 225/40 for teh rear.
I know that one of the tyre manufacturers (Can't remember the name) produced a special range of tyres for the Lotus Elise which were designed for a sporty car with a low body weight - maybe worth having a nose round some of the Elise forums and see what they are using
I think you will find that was Bridgestone!!! We already have those on some of the cars!!!
Yokohame LTS Advan Neova is what yoru thinking of.
very very good, but minimun of £400 per set, and only available in 195/50/15 and 225/45/16
Are they the ONLY tyres put on the Elise Mark, cos I am sure I have seen a few with RE040's on them!
Mk2 Elise uses RE040 but these are available in so many sizes that they aren'tr really elise specific.
Ahhhh....fair point!
The only thing with going to a 40 profile is that i think the wheel arch gap is too large anyway and this is only going to make it worse right?
Kwik Fit s:shock: :shock: s:shock: just sorted me out actaully.
Got 2 Michelin Pilot Sports in 215/45/16 for £250 the pair, inc vat and fitted etc etc
Best quote i'd had so far was £300 and had tried over 20 places!!
Jesus, I only paid £160 a full set of Toyo's! s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
Each to their own I suppose, but seems a bit excessive when the Toyos are just as good, look better and are that much cheaper!
........but aren't the right size s:roll: :roll: s:roll:
I personally have the F1's GD3 all around, and I'm VERY satisfied!!!
195/50 R15 front
215/40 R16 rear
I second that xdesign - i've got F1 215/40/16's on and it improves acceleration no end. The arch gap is a little bigger than with 215/45's but not really noticable. Every '2 should be lowered anyway! :lol:
Quote from: "John Woodward"Each to their own I suppose, but seems a bit excessive when the Toyos are just as good, look better and are that much cheaper!
Yeah, but bigunn is loaded s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s8) 8) s8)
Quote from: "bigun007"Kwik Fit s:shock: :shock: s:shock: just sorted me out actaully.
Got 2 Michelin Pilot Sports in 215/45/16 for £250 the pair, inc vat and fitted etc etc
Best quote i'd had so far was £300 and had tried over 20 places!!
ouch did you try etyres?
are you running pilot sports on the front as well? I'll be interested to see what you make of them, as I think your teh first roadster to try them.
Yeah it'll be Pilot Sports all round - altho am still considering the GDS3 route as its being lowered next month.
The Kwik fit bizarrly had them in stock so i didn't need to commit!
Etyres were £124.02 btw
Can't find F1's for the front either - have tried 185/55/15 195/50/15 195/55/15
if you mean at etyres or aywhere come to that.
etyres sorted me out with 195/50/15 GSD3 a few weeks ago. Though apparently they are proving a nightmare to get hold of at the moment.
Quote from: "bigun007"Can't find F1's for the front either - have tried 185/55/15 195/50/15 195/55/15
That's weird! I have 195/50 R15 front. Maybe they're not available in UK?
Can't they order them for you?
Quote from: "markiii"Quote from: "bigun007"Kwik Fit s:shock: :shock: s:shock: just sorted me out actaully.
Got 2 Michelin Pilot Sports in 215/45/16 for £250 the pair, inc vat and fitted etc etc
are you running pilot sports on the front as well? I'll be interested to see what you make of them, as I think your the first roadster to try them.
That´s right, not even the French got them in the Mr2. I looked at their site and could not found a single one that uses them. That's kind of strange, and probably there are a good reason for that s:roll: :roll: s:roll:
Quote from: "pp"Quote from: "bigun007"Kwik Fit s:shock: :shock: s:shock: just sorted me out actaully.
Got 2 Michelin Pilot Sports in 215/45/16 for £250 the pair, inc vat and fitted etc etc
are you running pilot sports on the front as well? I'll be interested to see what you make of them, as I think your the first roadster to try them.
That´s right, not even the French got them in the Mr2. I looked at their site and could not found a single one that uses them. That's kind of strange, and probably there are a good reason for that s:roll: :roll: s:roll:
Probably due to high price me thinks s:? :? s:?
I HAVE to reply to this, today i was in one of the worst storms i have ever driven in (about Edinburgh), people stopped by the side of the motorway and visability was about 50ft with rain lashing about, lightning and thunder simultainiously flashing right in front of us. The motorway resembled a ford (the driven down the wrong way s:wink: :wink: s:wink: ) and not once did it think my tyres would fail. I actually said to my wife "£ for £ these F1's are the best mod anyone could do" s8) 8) s8) Im saying this 8 months after i bought them.
Now i owned my spyder for 2 months with the bridgestones and spun out twice in this time, I was very nervous of damp/wet conditions since my previouse experiences have tought me that even at 20 or 30mph you can spin out if you dont have grip s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
My Eagle F1's are the best thing i have bought for my '2 costing £300 all round (shop about) i would buy them EVERY time now and recommend anyone concerned about grip to buy them. ( Eagle F1s are the second best dry tyre you you can buy commercially and the best wet tyre you can buy for our '2, i dont recall the best brand for dry driving but do recall clearly that that brand was significantly poorer in the wet for only tiny inprovement in the dry)
As you can see i like my tyres now, but once upon a time i was like you s:P :P s:P s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
Quote from: "vibratingsky"Eagle F1s are the best wet tyre you can buy for our '2
Have you driven the '2 with S03's?
They have
huge wet grip. They actually grip more on wet than the stock Yokos on dry, according to some GTech tests. Now I haven't driven a '2 with F1's, but I have driven Mk1 MR2 with both. F1's didn't even come close s:? :? s:?
Edit: DMAN typos
I havent tried the SO3 but did seriously consider them.
My choice was decided by a German Independant company which had tested a large sample of tyres and demonstrated the results. each tyre was rated out of 5 for about 10 different conditions. I recall that the F1's scored highest i could find for wet grip (for the road) and second highest for dry, the drawback is that they are not cheap (£320 i was offered locally as a special discount including fitting).
SO3's were my second choice i believe.
Whatever you choose you will get your money back £ for £ in performance, and security and grin factor.
I totally agree.
The F1's are the most expensive tyres I've ever put on a car, but they are the best tyres!!! Especially in wet! The grip is better than dry!!!
Does anyone know why MrT fitted 45 profile tyres on the 03 update to 16" wheels, as I would have thought 40 profile would have been the correct change when going up from 15" and 50 profile? s:? :? s:?
all gearing dependant, 45 is slightly bigger that the 205/50 and 40 slightly smaller, change teh gearing and you get comfort and looks.
Thanks for that Mark! So if you were upgrading a pre-03 5-speed car to 16" rears (but staying with 15" fronts) what tyre size would you choose, 215/40 or 215/45? s:? :? s:?
sounds like your having teh same dilema as me.
215/45 will slow you down slightly in acceleration and increase top speed as the rolling radius is bigger.
215/40 has the reverse effects as teh rolling Radius is slightly smaller.
I've gone for 195/50/15 up front and 215/40/16 at the rear, but only because I wanted F1 tyres. And that was teh best compromise for me.
Assuming you go for the stock 185/55 upfront I'd go 205/45/16 rear, if your tyre choice supports it.
My reasoning being.
1. Keeps the stock 20mm front to back stagger.
2. 45 profile will be slightly more comfatable.
3. rolling radius is almost exactly the same as your stock combo.
This all assumes that your only upgrading for cosmetic reasons. If your trying to change teh behaviour of the car, or are limited by your tyre of choice, you may have to make other compromises.
m http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html) m will help you see the differences involved.
Thanks for that Mark, it's a big help. s:D :D s:D To be honest I was thinking of the same set up you have ie: 195/50/15 with 215/40/16 as I am looking at 6.5" rims up front and 7" on the rear.
Cheers.
intriguing,thats the same wheel sizes I'm using.
It just seems like the best combination to me...
what tyres are you looking at?
I still haven't decided, it's a nightmare!
I had Goodyear F1's on a Westfield I had a few years ago but I guess they will have been re-designed since then. Do you recomend them? Someone else suggested Yoko A022's to me, do you know anything about these? The other option is the new Toyo which if they are like the old ones will be quite light which is always a bonus...
The new F1 D3 is a very very good tyre, I've had them before. A022 may well be good in the dry, but as a semi slick cut race type tyre I wouldn't hold my breath in teh wet.
Quote from: "Tem"Have you driven the '2 with S03's?
They have huge wet grip. They actually grip more on wet than the stock Yokos on dry
I'd second that about S03's.. Made a similar switch on my previous car (from some-strange-make remoulds.. remoulds! Nutcase previous owner..) and found the S03's had more wet grip than the previous (dodgy, I know) tyres in the dry..
But I still preferred the Toyo Proxes - slightly less dry grip than the S03's, but more progressive.
Very different car, though (much, much heavier), compared to the 2, so all this is just rambling, really.
I'll get me coat.
Aaron, self confessed Toyo lover s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
Quote from: "markiii"I've gone for 195/50/15 up front and 215/40/16 at the rear, but only because I wanted F1 tyres. And that was the best compromise for me.
Same here!
Happy with the result!