[yellow92]

Whats up guys and gals, its that time. I have decided to keep my stock 14's, and I need tires BAD!!! I have some crappy Wal-Mart tires on it that came with it right now, and they pretty much suck. I drive my Miata daily, but I also enjoy taking my car to the limit (alot of good twisties around here). My dad wants me to get something that will last more than 20,000 miles, but quite frankly I will be paying for them now that I am home for the summer, so I fell like getting a high performance summer tire. Some of the choices so far would be the Toyo T1-R 195-55-14 $85, Falken Azenis RT 615 $65, Hancook Ventus Rs2 $60, and the Falken Ziex Ze 512 $35. I am open to any other suggestions as well. Thanks alot!

 

[freedomgli]

Azenis have the most grip wet or dry. Hankook are close to RT215 but are just a smidgen more gentle ride given equal inflation pressure. I don't know how they compare to RT615. Toyo are good if you have a girlfriend or want a little less agressive tire that still grips decent. They are not the tire of choice for people who use their car everyday and don't drive really aggressively all that often. Ziex are poop as far as performance is concerned. I've never noticed performance tires being loud since that's all I've ever had. It seems to me that the minivan driving next to me in the adjacent lane has tires that howl a whole lot more than my RT215s. Beware that Azenis will make you drive like an idiot on the street but are really fun. That is until you drive on real race tires. Then Azenis are just like any other street tire.

 

[kung fu jesus]

daniel,

we don't know if you have to ever drive on snow or not.

if yes, the falken 512 may be what you want. it should get the mileage your dad wants. i had two sets on my honda and both lasted 20-30k miles.

the other tires you listed are higher performance, but i wouldn't drive them in the snow or ice.

 

[benthevegan]

512's if you want them to last a while, rt-615's if you want the stickyest.

 

[freedomgli]

Everyone knows that summer tires are not for winter driving. If you want a lame Miata get Ziex. If you want to run circles around stock S2000s get Toyo Proxes RA1. If you want a good street performance tire get Azenis and don't look back. If you don't care about lap times but still like to drive hard most of the time get the slightly cheaper Hankooks. If you don't drive hard almost all the time get T1R and you should be happy. Simple. Don't fret over tire choice. This isn't a do or die situation. They're all relatively cheap and they'll all wear out sooner or later giving you the opportunity to try another tire that maybe suits your personality better.

 

[CrimsonMX5]

AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[djsqiigles]

R compounds on the street is a complete waste.

I run toyo T1-R everyday on the street and i love them and push them hard, even using them as fronts on the track.

They are decent price, good grip, awesome water traction, and over all just give you that Good drving Feeling.

If you don't care too much about SUPER Grippy tires, just get some Es100's. I had them on my stocks and they were fine, last along time and are cheap.

Lots of options out there.

Again, don't waste good money for Azenies for the street. They have terrible wet traction.

All of my opions are from real life experience.

-Paul

 

[freedomgli]

Just tell your dad that the stickiest tires are the safest tires. Play up the braking performance aspect. I know several people who run RA1 on the street but they're weekend toy cars that are driven to work on occassion not daily drivers. RA1 are best suited for track days and can be used for auto-x in a pinch but you'll be slow. I don't think Azenis are a waste for the street. If anything, I sometimes wish I had stickier tire than my RT215 but they're fun to slide. My Azenis are about half worn. I drove through torrential rain today across several sections of road that had very poor drainage and standing water 2-3" deep. I didn't hydroplane at all at 45mph despite creating a huge water spray and hearing that noise that sounds like an automatic car wash jet spraying your wheel wells. I think they have excellent wet weather traction.

 

[CrimsonMX5]

Just tell your dad that the stickiest tires are the safest tires. Play up the braking performance aspect. I know several people who run RA1 on the street but they're weekend toy cars that are driven to work on occassion not daily drivers. RA1 are best suited for track days and can be used for auto-x in a pinch but you'll be slow. I don't think Azenis are a waste for the street. If anything, I sometimes wish I had stickier tire than my RT215 but they're fun to slide. My Azenis are about half worn. I drove through torrential rain today across several sections of road that had very poor drainage and standing water 2-3" deep. I didn't hydroplane at all at 45mph despite creating a huge water spray and hearing that noise that sounds like an automatic car wash jet spraying your wheel wells. I think they have excellent wet weather traction.

:lol:

 

[yellow92]

Wow alot of different views here, but the Azenis have always been in the back of my mind. I want the stickiest tires out there so yea im goin for em... Freedomgli, you said your Azenis were half worn, how many miles do you have on them?

 

[djsqiigles]

Cool.

They are a great tire, just not super practical. Thats all im trying to say.

 

[yellow92]

Yea im really not going for super practical, I just want something that fits my driving style the best.

 

[freedomgli]

djsquiggles brings up a good point but I find it ironic when he talks about "practicality". Homeboy runs some of the most ridiculously awesome wheels on the street.

If your car is daily driven you have to budget around $750 / year to run Azenis RT615 since you'll only get 8-10k miles out of each set. My car is a weekend only car so I'm not as sensitive to wear rate. Rather, I want to maximize my thrills for the few hours each week I get to spend behind the wheel. I don't hesitate to take my car on longer road trips (1000+ mile round trip) with the Azenis but I don't drive to New England from November to March to avoid getting trapped.

 

[benthevegan]

When you guys are talking about the azenis having bad wet traction are you talking about the rt-215's or the rt-615's. I know the 215's suck in the rain but I thought the 615's big claim to fame was that they had dramaticly improved the wet traction.

 

[freedomgli]

I'm still running RT215 on my 14" Enkei wheels on the street and I think they have fine wet weather traction. I honestly don't know where people get the idea that they're bad in the wet. Sure, they've got big tread blocks but that is what makes them stick so well rain or shine. I think the water evacuation grooves are perfectly adequate so long as the tire isn't at or near the wear bars. But by then you should already have a set of fresh rubber sitting in your garage waiting to be installed.

 

[djsqiigles]

yeah, my set up is alittle excentric.

Thanks

I ride the Streets Homie!

 

[boogie van]

I have BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW tires, they came with the car. I dont know how long they are supposed to last really, but these ones look fairly worn. inside edge is worn down more, due to the aggresive alignment. the tread depth is pretty shallow across the tire, to the point where I was worried about driving in the rain.

No problem. I can break the tires loose in the rain, but they handle the rain in general quite well, much better than I expected given how they are worn. I actually was driving in a downpour yesterday afternoon and had my kung fu grip on the wheel worrying that I might hydroplane. I hit many patches of standing water and again, not a problem.

these are the only tires I have driven on though, my spare set of azenies on the stock wheels has 1 thats flat, but those tires feel crazy sticky. If I dont get a 4th by the next CDC autocross in Manassas Ill definately put 2 of them on to run. I probably wouldnt opt for them for daily driving though, I drive the roadster every day to work so I want the tires to wear slower.



AND yeah I just realized those BFGs are only 15"+ so dont really help your 14" predicament

 

[Boily]

YA know youse guys are talking about tyres and no one said any thing about Bridgestone S-03's , having woren down 3 sets I lover dem but , they were never made in 14" which was a real shame and it seems now that Bridgestone isn't making them in 15" anymore either .

Anyway I just put a set of Toyo Proxy4's on my car and they seem to be a purty decent tyre , took a run with the LVMOC club through the Poconos this past weekend and tho not as gripy as the S-03's they hung in there purty good , of course I haven't ran them in the rain as of yet but than again nuthin beat the S-03's in the rain I think they'll do just fine . so if you like check with Toyo they may make them in 14" and if so I would concider them as a good everyday tyre .

 

[metalhead]

I have also had great success with Toyo Proxes 4...excellent wet traction, quiet, decent handling, & reasonably priced. Not sure about 14" sizes however and whats available.

My Miata pals all run Azenis alot but constantly complain of very short tread life and poor wet traction by comparison. Due to both these issues some have added another wheel/tire set with better wet grip/wearing rubber to their collection.

 

[giryan]

What about Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D2s?
Do you not get them in the States?
They're really good
They are more expensive than the Toyos though :/