Tyres

26 PSI is ok for comfort (standard Mazda value)
Most tyres work better (in terms of performance) with 28-31 PSI or so. Says Werner.

Standard 185/60-14 = 475kg/tyre rating

Basic rule is a 205/55 will fit on the 5.5" rim and a 225/50 will fit on the 6" rim, and that's as much as you can get out of the stock rims. (US racing where you have to keep the rim stock size)

This website has a program that calculates tire circumferences and presents comparative percentages between them. http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi

And for size calculator; http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.htm

Spec

Side

wall

Radius

Dia

Circ

Revs/

Mile

Error

  

185/60-14

4.4in

11.4in

22.7in

71.4in

887

0.0%

Standard tyre

195/50-15

3.8in

11.3in

22.7in

71.2in

889

-0.3%

The best for N/A

205/50-15

4.0in

11.5in

23.1in

72.5in

874

1.5%

  

215/45-15

3.8in

11.3in

22.6in

71.1in

892

-0.5%

UK SE

215/50-15

4.2in

11.7in

23.5in

73.7in

860

3.2%

 

225/45-15

4.0in

11.5in

23.0in

72.2in

878

1.0%

 

205/45-16

3.6in

11.6in

23.3in

73.1in

867

2.3%

  

215/40-16

3.4in

11.4in

22.8in

71.5in

886

0.1%

215/45-16

3.8in

11.8in

23.6in

74.2in

854

3.9%

NSX - limited

225/40-16

3.5in

11.5in

23.1in

72.5in

874

1.5%

  

 

Reviews

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bland2/accessories.html

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/max.jsp
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/uhp.jsp

http://www.tyres-online.co.uk/ had the following to say on ones I’d go for;

For 14" sizes try;

"Bridgestone ER 20
Auto Bild magazine (3/98) of Germany rated this tyre very highly against five other brands they tested in 195/65 R 15V size. They praised the improvement in wet handling from its predecessor and said it offered generally good handling and exceptional comfort. The ER 20 also came top in the 65 series for wet braking whilst handling, aquaplaning and rolling resistance were all described as exceptional. It was also ranked first out of nine brands tested by the German magazine, Auto Zeitung (7/98). They found it gave the best performance for aquaplaning in a straight line and for low rolling resistance as well as being well above average in all other areas. Auto Motor und Sport (3/98), another German magazine, found this tyre's performance satisfactory: it scored the best braking result in the test but it dropped points for extreme tread wear."

"Goodyear Eagle Ventura
This tyre was voted top out of six family car tyres by Autocar (11/99). It performed the best in the wet, winning the wet handling and braking, straight aquaplaning and aquaplaning curve tests. Unfortunately it came joint last for dry handling and was only average in the coast by noise and
rolling resistance tests. The Ventura was also noted for its wet performance by Revs (12/99) who found the tyres gave more grip the harder they were pushed. The magazine stated that the tyres gave good feedback for fast cornering as well and rated them top for speed in the wet."

"Goodyear Eagle F1
Max Power magazine (12/98) rated this tyre second behind the Bridgestone S-02. It was considered best for wet handling but its performance was let down by a below average result in dry braking and only average wet braking. The Eagle F1 performed well in Autocar's test (11/99) but again came second to the S-02. Similarly, it was best in the wet but scored poorly for dry handling and coast by noise"

For 15" go for SO2 (now SO3) or the F1

"Bridgestone Potenza S-02
In their trial of performance car tyres the S-02 came top out of 10 brands tested by Max Power magazine (12/98). They state that the only area where it didn't excel was in dry handling. In particular the magazine praised the tyre's good looks as well as its gradual and balanced cornering. The S-02 also came joint top with the Goodyear Eagle F1 in Autocar's (11/99) high performance car tyre test. It performed well in all stages of the test, particularly wet handling but scored poorly for coast by noise and rolling resistance."


"Yokes - great in the dry, quiet, fairly soft ride, good life, lethal in the wet once part worn.

Bridgestones - as good in the dry, plus the feedback is better, a bit noisier, harsher ride, life unknown at the moment, but very, very good in the wet. High initial grip and very progressive breakaway when pushed beyond the limit" Richard Foster on changing…

Maxpower group test on Golf Gti with 195/59-15 tyres;

Tyres

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

Bridgestone S-02

1

3

2

1

7

2

1

Goodyear Eagle F1

9

4

7

4

5

1

2

Pirelli P7000

7

1

4

3

4

3

3

Fulda Extremo

6

2

9

5

2

2

4

Dunlop Sport 9000

4

5

5

2

8

8

5

Toyo Proxes T1 Plus

3

6

3

7

6

7

6

Continental Sport Contact

8

7

8

6

9

6

7

Michelin MXX3

4

9

6

8

1

5

8

Yokohama A520

2

8

1

9

4

9

9

Avon ZZ1

10

10

10

10

10

10

10
               

Key

A = Dry Stopping from 40mph

B =Wet Stopping from 40mph

C =Dry Stopping from 70mph

D =Wet Stopping from 70mph

E =Dry Handling times

F =Wet Handling times

G =Overall Position in test

Numbers shown are the respective positions

 

Life of tyres?

20,000 miles from Treadwear 200 tires (SP8000)
15,000 miles from ~140 (A509)
~9,000 miles from 60 (A032R)

 

Snow tyres

"My conclusion is that Winter tyres make a tremendous difference in snow and slush and allow you to use the car when others (with "summer" tyres) cannot. They make little or no difference on ice. For more northerly or higher parts of UK they may well be worthwhile - but it really means investing in 2 sets of rims." Harding <barry@diplomatic.co.uk>

"The tyres are remoulds, made by Kingpin at Wem, Shropshire. They are quite chunky and are marked with 3 snowflake symbols, so they are presumably designed for snow. They are surprisingly quiet, despite the chunkiness. I have no worries using remoulds for winter use as they are never used for high speed motorway use at this time of year, in my case. For years I've used remould snow tyres on various front wheel drive cars during the winter and have found them brilliant. This is the first time I have tried using a rear wheel drive car with 4 snow tyres and I think they will work fine. I went through the 4x4 stage from 1979 - 1989 with Daihatsu, LR90, Range Rover and Cavalier 4x4, so I think I have quite a lot of experience getting about in the snow. I hear what people say about Kosher snow tyres but they are expensive, they are very smooth and I think they are a compromise to reduce road noise. My remoulds cost GBP30 a corner inc balancing (add vat) and I reckon they will last for two Dec - April seasons. The 14inch alloys I bought from John Dakin look great - I would not like to drive around with steel wheels for 4 months every year." William Morgan

Track tyres;

…very favourable to the Kuhmo Ecsta on the track. Take a bit of tracking down (but they're not expensive

Colway Formula 2 tyres - designed for tarmac rally stages

Bridgestone/Firestone UK Ltd.

Athena Drive, Tachbrook Park, Warwick, CV34 6UX

Tel: +44 1926 488500 Fax: +44 1926 488600 Stephen Holford stephenh@bridgestone-tyres.com

http://www.firestone-eu.com/fs/sz40.htm

Toyo

Toyo Tyre UK, Toyo House, Shipton Way, Northampton Road, Rushden, Northants

NN10 6GL Freephone 0800 033 044 Tel: 01933 411144. Fax: 01933 410945.

Toyo say 7J-8J for 215/45-15 – no wider he says – Impreza on 205 is OK

Dunlop Tyres

Paul on 0121 384 4444