tire shopping

I have a friend who is looking to replace her Miata tires. I always get
high-performance summer tires that wear out quickly.
Lots of fun and lots of money when I replaced them every 12 to 15 months.

She is looking for something that lasts longer but still has "decent"
grip. Price is a major factor.

These will mostly be used in central Texas, so cold weather capability
is not really an issue. Her car does see a good amount of driving in the
rain.

Does anyone have a best bang for the buck tire recommendation based on
this? The size is 195/50/15.

Thanks,

Pat

In article >,
pws > wrote:

> She is looking for something that lasts longer but still has "decent"
> grip. Price is a major factor.

On the miata.net forum, the favorite all-season is the Falken Ziex
ZE-912. 195/50-15 is $53 at edgeracing.com.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

also wanting an all-seasons (no place to store a second set) and doing lots
of research, resulted in me buying the h rated ziex 512 in 195/50/15.
i like them, and doubt that you would get better in an all season without
spending well over twice the price. of course they do not have the grip of
an summer tire but i am really impressed with them in the raid. snow, not
so much, but that is not your concern, and it is a miata after all... after
20k still have plenty of tread left on them.
i believe that the ze912 is the replacement for this model and is considered
to be even better.
i got them at www.discounttirecirect.com which was the cheapest reputable
place i could find them. i recall that i had to select them explictly
becuase when you used their make/model search thing it kept insiting on a
plus1 size that wasn't 195/50/15. www.vulcantire.com has them for about $54
plus shipping. also sears sells them.

"pws" > wrote in message
...
>I have a friend who is looking to replace her Miata tires. I always get
>high-performance summer tires that wear out quickly.
> Lots of fun and lots of money when I replaced them every 12 to 15 months.
>
> She is looking for something that lasts longer but still has "decent"
> grip. Price is a major factor.
>
> These will mostly be used in central Texas, so cold weather capability is
> not really an issue. Her car does see a good amount of driving in the
> rain.
>
> Does anyone have a best bang for the buck tire recommendation based on
> this? The size is 195/50/15.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat

Lanny Chambers wrote:

> On the miata.net forum, the favorite all-season is the Falken Ziex
> ZE-912. 195/50-15 is $53 at edgeracing.com.


Out of stock, durn........Time to check other vendors.

Thanks,

Pat

Lanny Chambers wrote:
> In article >,
> pws > wrote:
>
>> She is looking for something that lasts longer but still has "decent"
>> grip. Price is a major factor.
>
> On the miata.net forum, the favorite all-season is the Falken Ziex
> ZE-912. 195/50-15 is $53 at edgeracing.com.
>

I bought the Falken for the last set after burning through two sets of the
expensive Michelin Pilots. Decent enough tires but it takes some getting
used to not having the traction when you push things. On the plus side it
is easier to hang the rear end out. Oh, and rain traction is pretty good.
Same with slush. I came close to finding out what the snow/ice traction
would be at Thanksgiving time but got lucky...

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

I stick with Toyo's. Their T1R's are great tires that last well and are
fairly cheap. Don't know about prices in the States but in Europe they go
for ?50 a tire.

Jeroen
Commissioner Mazda MX-5 Club of the Netherlands


"pws" > schreef in bericht
...
|I have a friend who is looking to replace her Miata tires. I always get
| high-performance summer tires that wear out quickly.
| Lots of fun and lots of money when I replaced them every 12 to 15 months.
|
| She is looking for something that lasts longer but still has "decent"
| grip. Price is a major factor.
|
| These will mostly be used in central Texas, so cold weather capability
| is not really an issue. Her car does see a good amount of driving in the
| rain.
|
| Does anyone have a best bang for the buck tire recommendation based on
| this? The size is 195/50/15.
|
| Thanks,
|
| Pat

jfeelders wrote:
> I stick with Toyo's. Their T1R's are great tires that last well and are
> fairly cheap. Don't know about prices in the States but in Europe they go
> for ?50 a tire.
>
> Jeroen
> Commissioner Mazda MX-5 Club of the Netherlands

The Toyo T1R is a great tire, very sticky in the dry and a great rain
tire as well, but long-lasting has not been my experience with them.

The longest "sticky" life I have seen out of a set of Toyo T1R's is
about 12,000 miles, with replacement being mandatory, (for me), by about
16,000 miles or so.
This has been my experience with every high-performance warm-weather
tire that I have bought in the last 23 years.

Higher grip and higher rate of wear tend to go hand in hand.
The crap tires on a friend's Honda Accord have horrible grip, but they
may last 50,000 miles, maybe even more on the rear.

The driving style and alignment certainly affect tire wear as well, but
I can't see getting 30,000 miles out of a set of Toyo T1R's even if
driven gently with an alignment set to maximum tire life over performance.

I also can't see myself driving gently on those tires in a Miata.
(Lanny will probably back that one up) ;-)

She is looking for something that can go 30,000 miles or more without
replacement, but that grip better than the friend's Honda that I mentioned.

It sounds like the Falken Ziex ZE-912 fits the bill. Chris Muto has a
set with 20,000 miles on them and tread to go.

Another bonus is that the Falkens will perform better in the snow than
the Toyo's, but again, in central Texas, that is only a factor about
once every 4 or 5 years unless she travels north in the winter.

Thanks!

Pat

Christopher Muto wrote:
> also wanting an all-seasons (no place to store a second set) and doing lots
> of research, resulted in me buying the h rated ziex 512 in 195/50/15.
> i like them, and doubt that you would get better in an all season without
> spending well over twice the price. of course they do not have the grip of
> an summer tire but i am really impressed with them in the raid. snow, not
> so much, but that is not your concern, and it is a miata after all... after
> 20k still have plenty of tread left on them.
> i believe that the ze912 is the replacement for this model and is considered
> to be even better.
> i got them at www.discounttirecirect.com which was the cheapest reputable
> place i could find them. i recall that i had to select them explictly
> becuase when you used their make/model search thing it kept insiting on a
> plus1 size that wasn't 195/50/15. www.vulcantire.com has them for about $54
> plus shipping. also sears sells them.


Discount Tire has them for $60.00. That is $28.00 total more than edge
racing, oh well. I will order them today.

Thanks to all who responded.
Also, thanks again to Chris M. and XS11E for helping me get my
newsgroups back for free. :-)

Pat

pws wrote:

> She is looking for something that can go 30,000 miles or more without
> replacement, but that grip better than the friend's Honda that I mentioned.

Errrr....make that 30,000 miles or more, "before" replacement, not
"without".

Late night.......Need coffee.

Pat

Actually they have the 512's for $60 and the 912's for $62 at discount tire
direct.
The 512's are discontinued.
The 912 are supposed to be a better tire, with a stiffer sidewall resulting
in better handeling...
Discount tire has free shipping... so what seems like a bargain price of $54
at edgeracing ends up costing more after shipping ($65 each to me).
Also, Discounttire has them in stock and Edgeracing does not.
Good to have you back in the group.

"pws" > wrote in message
...
> Christopher Muto wrote:
>> also wanting an all-seasons (no place to store a second set) and doing
>> lots of research, resulted in me buying the h rated ziex 512 in
>> 195/50/15.
>> i like them, and doubt that you would get better in an all season without
>> spending well over twice the price. of course they do not have the grip
>> of an summer tire but i am really impressed with them in the raid. snow,
>> not so much, but that is not your concern, and it is a miata after all...
>> after 20k still have plenty of tread left on them.
>> i believe that the ze912 is the replacement for this model and is
>> considered to be even better.
>> i got them at www.discounttirecirect.com which was the cheapest reputable
>> place i could find them. i recall that i had to select them explictly
>> becuase when you used their make/model search thing it kept insiting on a
>> plus1 size that wasn't 195/50/15. www.vulcantire.com has them for about
>> $54 plus shipping. also sears sells them.
>
>
> Discount Tire has them for $60.00. That is $28.00 total more than edge
> racing, oh well. I will order them today.
>
> Thanks to all who responded.
> Also, thanks again to Chris M. and XS11E for helping me get my newsgroups
> back for free. :-)
>
> Pat