Various Opinions About Tires
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 10:26:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: trop@sj.fore.com (Troy Pummill)
Subject: new 'various tires' file...
General Ranking of MR2 non-competition tires:
SuperTires
-----------
Yokohama A008s, A022, and AVS I
Bridgestone Potenza S02 and RE71
Pirelli PZero
Toyo Proxes T1
High Perf
---------
Dunlop SP8000
BF Goodrich T/A ZR
Goodyear Eagle GS-C
Pirelli P7000 and P700Z
Performance
-----------
Yokohama A509
Dunlop D40M2
Snow
----
Haakas NR-W (urban/slush)
Haakas NR-10 (unplowed, accumulated snow)
Competition
-----------
Yokohama A008RS-II
Hoosier Radial
BF Goodrich R-1
Specific Tire Rankings:
>From "Performance Handling, How to make your car handle,
techniques for the 1990s" Don Alexander....
A-Traction, Dry
B-Traction, Wet
C-Snow/Mud Capable
D-Wear, Highway/Street
E-Suitability for Competition
F-Ride Comfort
G-Responsiveness
H-Tunability
I-Speed Rating
A B C D E F G H I
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pirelli PZero 4 5 3 4 3 3 5 5 Z
Pirelli P700Z 3 5 3 5 2 4 4 4 Z
Yokohama AVS-A+4 3 4 5 4 2 4 3 3 V
Yokohama A008 5 1 1 3 5 2 5 4 Z
Yokohama A022 3 3 2 4 2 3 4 3 V
Potenza RE71 5 3 2 2 5 3 5 5 V/Z
BFG T/A R1 5 2 1 2 5 3 5 5 Z
BFG T/A VR4 4 3 2 3 4 3 5 4 V
1=poor
2=moderate
3=good
4=very good
5= excellent
The other thing is that he categorizes the tires and
rates them with a note: "All ratings are very
subjective by the author". Well, subjective or not I
found them useful. Here are a few based on some of
the tires I've seen listed on the digest. The book was
published in 1991 so I expect some of these tires are
older models.
SNOW Tire Rankings (from Thomas Funder, thfu92ab@hp4.econ.cbs.dk):
Tire brand and size Snow Ice Noise rating Dry road Wet road
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BridgeStone Blizzaks
195/?/14 on all four 5++ 5++ 4 2 4
Pirelli Winter 190
185/60-14 5 N/A 2 2 3
Bridgestone WT11
185/60/14 4 4 5 4 3
Continental TS 770
185-60 R14 4 4 3 4 4
Dunlop D40 M+SN/A 4 3 4 2 2
N/A
Dunlop SP Winter
Sport M2
185/60/14 4 3 3 4 3
Fulda Kristall 4
185/60/14 4 5 4 5 4
Hoosier g/t slow rated
205/50 fr. 225/50 re. 4 N/A 4 1 3
Dunlop D60 A2
185/60 R14 3 1 4 4 5
Michelin XM+S 130 3 3 2 4 3
185-60-14
Falken
205/60-14 2 N/A 3.5 2.5 3.5
Pirelli P700-Z
205/50/15 2 1 3 4 4
Sears Roadhandler
205/60/14 2 1 3 3 2
Various Opinions About Tires
From: silver@bokonon.UUCP
Added comments from others in the MR2 digest group
Overall comments
----------------
Farzaan Kassam (fkassam@direct.ca):
I'm kind of jumping into the middle of this so I hope that I'm not
repeating what someone else has done, but out here in Western Canada,
I have a very good relationship with the local Pirelli distributor.
Every year for the last couple of years (except this year),
the local dealer has used my Talon (pretty much a race car) as a basis
to test Pirelli tires against the competition. We used the g'analyst
by Valentine as the measuring tool as well as light timers (same as used
in auto-x). It's extremely accurate and repeatable. Anyhow, here are the
results we got from the different tires we tested. I'll comment on feel and
whatnot after the raw data.
All G-figures measured with a g'analyst made by Valentine and light timers.
Skidpad was consistent from run to run, no temp changes, no surface changes.
Controls were put into place to ensure that this had not changed significantly
over the day.
Street compound:
Pirelli PZero 1.05g
Dunlop SP8000 1.01g
Pirelli P700Z 0.98g
Yokohama AVS-II 0.95g
Potenza S-02 1.03g
Potenza RE71 0.92g
Goodyear GT+4 0.90g (not bad for an OEM tire eh?)
Goodyear ZR50 0.91g
Pirelli P210 Snow 0.80g
Race compound:
Yokohama A008RS-II 1.12g
Hoosier Radial 1.29g
BFG R-1 230 compound 1.22g
Keep in mind that the car was setup for racing, -3 degrees camber up front
and -4 in the rear. The local dealer liked using my car because the AWD
made it idiot proof to get consistent results. He also used his own car
a BMW 535 for testing a non-optimal suspension setup car with the above tires.
He did not test the Race Compound tires on his car.
Ok, I am going to ramble now a bit, so hopefully I can get the things we
noticed across without blurring things up too bad :) See, I've already
started!
The PZero was the fastest tire around the skidpad. It was also the most
skittish one. The second you passed the limit, the car would lose grip
instantly. The S0-2 was the next. This is one awesome tire. Reasonably
gradual break away, good ride quality, excellent grip and good wet weather
holding. It had the best aquaplane resistance of the higher end tires
tested. For the lower cost, the Dunlop SP8000 was hard to fault. It had
great stick, albeit with a lot more steering input and less communication
from the steering wheel. With the Dunlops, it felt like the car wouldn't
stick, but if you turned it in more, it just hung on and hung on. Because
of the price and the numbers, I ended up buying Dunlops for both the Talon
and my Porsche. To give you an indication on how setup the car was, the
stock tire registered at 0.90g (GT+4). A stock Talon that was driven by
one of the dealers was run around the skidpad and registered 0.85g (GT+4).
The big surprise of the day was the P700Z. It kicked all of the high end
tires butts on the BMW! It seems to work much better than the ultra
high performance tires when the suspension is not optimal (ie, camber
change, bushing deflection, etc.). The PZero was the worst on the BMW
of the top three (S0-2, SP8000, PZero). It seems to require dead on
alignment and suspension settings to maximize its use.
The Yokohama tires did poorly in this test and it was disapointing for me
as I used to be a big Yoko fan. The AVS just was too hard of a tire to
match the new big dogs. It had great response, but other than that, it
got kicked pretty bad. The AVS tire felt very much like the Yoko RSII
race tire, but the grip just wasn't there. (BTW - all tires were
shaved so that there would be very little time needed for break in) The
AVS was also horrible in the aquaplane test.
Another big surprise were the new generation race tires. All I can say
is "WOW", they performed. The new Hoosier was outstanding. After a few
laps around the skidpad, I had to stop because the oil pressure guage
was starting to go down from the g'forces. The Hoosier worked great
on my car (this was also the tire we used when we raced the Talon and took
four 1st, one 2nd, one 3rd and one 5th this year in the series). The R1
didn't feel like it was working well with the car setup (too much camber
for it), but the numbers that came out were damn good. Maybe it was just
a perception thing. The Yoko once again was outclassed and this year's
Nationals showed that too.
Kip Anderson (kca@!interserv.com):
Regarding the above:
Without disputing the results (they probably fairly accurately indicate relative
performance), the one thing that concerns me about the testing was the
alignment issue.
The way I understand it is that alignment was not changed for any of the tests
a side from the differences between the competition prepped AWD and the BMW.
Two ends of the possible extremes IMO.
Many who have used the P-Zero or the BFG R-1 will contest that they are
rather sensitive to alignment and pressure changes.
It's conceivable, as alluded, that neither setup was optimal for any one tire,
or perhaps only optimal for 1 or 2 tires, thus some shifting of the numbers
may be possible.
It's also possible that a tire such as the AVSi may consistantly produce a
moderately high grip throughout a very wide range of alingments and pressure,
whereas the P-Zero may only excel only within a narrow range of conditions.
BF Goodrich T/A Z/R
-------------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 220
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles):
Average cost per tire: $100 (195 50 15); $132 (225 50 15)
Jeffrey:
The BFG Zs are good tires. I'd rank em a step above the D40M2.
Bridgestone Potenza RE71
------------------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 140
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 15k
Average cost per tire: $80 (195 50 15); $108 (225 50 15)
Performance Car rated them tops, at 8579 points. Modern Motor
rated them second, at 85 points. Best V-rated tire for wet/dry.
Excellent high-performance tire; also good in wet. Great in dry and
rain; not so hot in snow. Good performance in dry and wet. Excellent
tires; last over 60k miles. Never found a better all-weather tire.
Good traction in dry and wet; definitely not all-season (compound
freezes).
Jeffrey HoSee (jhosee@linkline.com):
They wore out pretty quickly w/ very mild abuse on them.
I think I got about 15k miles on them and they're down
to the wear indicators. And the car was aligned
upon installation. The ride and dry grip was good.
I didn't think the wet performance was that great.
It was a hard tire to predict. This tire doesn't like gravel. :(
Bridgestone RE010
-----------------
Jeffrey:
Special mention. Apparently someone said this is an OEM tire
in Europe for the MR2. Cool! They're really expensive though.
Anyhow, these same tires are available for the Integra Type R.
Kinda gives you an indication of the level of these tires.
Definitely worth a try, although the Type R explicitly says
that treadlife will be significantly shorter.
Dunlop D40M2
------------
Speed Rating: V and Z
Treadware Rating: 200
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 6-12K ?
Average cost per tire: $85 (195 50 15); $120 (225 50 15)
"Killer tires." (Er, I think he's happy with 'em ;-) Excellent
in wet and dry; lousy in snow. Performance Car rated them sixth,
at 7789 points (though they won Performance Car's evaluation one
year earlier). Modern Motor rated then first, at 94 points, and
said they were generally excellent. Excellent high-performance tire;
good in wet. Far better than MXVs on Prelude. They just plain stick
to the road on RX-7. Very happy. Far better than Gatorbacks. Drive
well on Thunderbird Turbo. Thunderbird SC driver very happy, even in
wet. Feel better in rain than XGT V4. Lousy in snow on Supra. Last
only 6-12k miles, little grip, lousy in wet. Extremely sticky; very
sure-footed in wet; highly recommended. Excellent tire in dry and
wet; stiff and noisy.
Dean (deanbear@earthlink.net):
The D40M2's provide good traction and excellent cornering power. The ride
quality was really good as well. They're Z-rated (V-rated in some of the
smaller sizes), and they have a 190 UTQG treadwear rating. Good in dry or
wet conditions. They track the road really well. No tire squeal under hard
cornering. They haven't seemed to wear much since I bought the car. Keep
in mind that most of my experience with this tire is from the front of the car.
Troy (trop@hitachi.com):
The D40M2 provides plenty of stick for me and tread life will be reported
later. Most notable, the D40M2 responsivness is poor compared to the
A022. It is true that these may be the two ends of the spectrum, however,
the difference is easily identifiable.
In addition, mileage is excellent. I've had a set on the fronts for 25k miles
and they are still going strong. The backs were on for 20k and still had life
left when one took a bit of metal in the sidewall.
Dunlop Sport 8000
-----------------
Speed Rating: Z
Treadware Rating: 200
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles):
Average cost per tire: $125 (195 55 15), $162 (225 50 15)
Far better than Eagle GT+4; less roll, far quicker steering response;
much better road feel; better wet and dry grip; less comfortable ride.
NOT for winter use. Excellent tires on Supra; great traction for
take-off and cornering; pretty quiet; good in wet.
Dean (continued):
Since then (around August) I replaced the rears with Dunlop SP Sport 8000's.
I was intentionally trying not to mix brands. This combination of D40M2's in
the front and SP Sport 8000's in the rear make for a really FUN car.
If you can spring the extra money (and if they have your size) get the
SP Sport 8000's. All sizes are Z-rated with a 200 UTQG treadwear rating.
Also, good behavior in dry or wet conditions. This tire is like a super D40M2.
Jeffrey (on Integra FWD):
Well, Dunlop 8000s will last a good 24k miles with autocrossing. ;D
(more comments from Jeffrey)
Well now I have the Dunlops on (195/55, 225/50)
I'm pretty pleased with these tires. I feel
they give good feedback and do quite well in the wet.
They handle cold, heat well... and they age gracefully.
Ride is good.
Brad Burns (continued):
>What tire would you rate next to the A022 for responsiveness and
>holding power?
The Yokohama AVSi would be my next choice. The Dunlop SP8000 is also
very good and costs about the same. The SP8000 isn't as good in the wet
as the AVSi but is quieter and should last a little longer.
Phil Cutajar (cutajar@ibm.net):
> SP8000: 200 treadwear. Asymetric tread design. Pretty stiff sidewalls.
> Very good dry hold. Will work with any setup. These are the most
> forgiving of the bunch [Ed. re: AVS-I, PZero). Breakaway is very predictable
> and gives you lots
> of warning. Wet traction is the best of the bunch, but NOT outstanding.
> Driver should still be cautious on wet. Tread life is marginally better
> than AVS-i (8-12000 on rear). This is arguably the best compromise for
> street/Auto-x use.
Troy Pummill:
I replaced my back D40s with 8000s because the life of the D40s was really
good and the 8000s and D40s have the same treadwear rating. The first couple
hundred miles they were really squirmy, but they settled down. They grip
much better than the D40s. Good ride, not too noisy, gradual breakaway with
good warning. Unable to determine responsiveness until the fronts are 8ks
too.
Michelin XGTV
-------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 180
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95: 195 55 15; back ?
Average life (miles):
Average cost per tire:
Last longer than the owner expected for a performance tire. Good
tire in its category. Fine in the rain. Happy with performance for
the money. Great, particularly on wet roads. Hard ride and noisy.
Excellent in wet and dry; terrible in snow; short life. Comparable to
A008 or RE71.
Michelin XGT V4
---------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 220
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95: 195 55 15; back ?
Average life (miles):
Average cost per tire:
Not an all-season tire; said to be made out of rubber that gets hard
in cold weather. Dry performance is unspectacular but good; okay in
light rain; suck big-time in heavy rain; not too bad in light snow;
lousy on slush. Good in dry; deadly in rain, decent in snow, deadly
in slush; mediocre on ice. Squeals like a stuck pig.
Nitto NT-450
------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 300
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 40 (45k treadwear warranty)
Average cost per tire: $105?
September issue of Turbo & Hi-Tech Performance:
Page 50, Caption: "The Best of Both Worlds"
This is an article about the Nitto NT-450 tires. They are very
impressed with the performance, wet traction, longevity, and the
low price. Tread wear is rated at 300/A/A (?), I think this is
estimated at 40k miles. V speed rated. Unfortunately they only
come in 15" & 16", 50 & 55 profiles
I have 205/50-15 NT450s on 15x7-inch wheels. I believe that is the
smallest size NT450 made. I am not unhappy with them, but one must realize
what they really are, which is an all-season, moderate mileage compromise
radial with a 45,000 mile warranty. Not a bad tire at all, but not even
the same kind of tire as BFG stickies, RE-71s, or AVSis.
The handling could be better. The water evacuation channels
are very deep, and the tread blocks are long, narrow, and tall. As a
result, they deflect sideways under load, making turn-in a little
"squishy," similar (in characteristic, not degree) to riding a mountain
bike that has been aired down for traction. Slip angles are high, and grip
is limited. I think grip is limited more by the flex in the tread than by
the compound. In autocross use, this will generate a lot of heat and I
would expect them to chunk quite quickly.
I wouldn't expect them to outperform an AVSi. However, no AVSi will
ever go 45,000 miles.
Jeffrey (jhosee@orion.davd.com):
I asked a local speed shop who carries Nitto about these tires.
"How good are Nittos?"
"They're good!"
"So I should buy them over Yokohama AVSi? And they're cheaper..."
"Oh no way, AVS in a heartbeat."
Toyo Proxy T1
-------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 180 and 200
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 12.5k
Average cost per tire:
Ryan (anisker@titan.tcn.net):
Just had to re-tire my 93 MR2 and if your using the stock 15'' rims, I
strongly suggest the Toyo Proxes T1's.....(this rim size is hard to find
tires for!)
All the other tires are quite old technology (Dunlop 8000SP, Yokohama AVSI,etc
Supposively for the first few miles the Yoko's give a bit (very little)
more grip, but after that they start to go away. In wet conditions, the
Toyo is definately the fastest tire of the bunch by far.
I spoke to a guy that track tested all the tires for an MR2 and said the
Toyo actually had more grip than the Yoko's.
Bill Chen (mrtwo@interlog.com):
I disagree. Though I do admit that the grip on the T1 is very good when
new, they were considerably fast. While I admit, I probably drive my
mkII a little harder than most (weekend drags at the local strip), I've
had them for 7 months and they have worn down to the wear indicators.
And that's rotating them front and rear (both 225/40 16). And at $315
CDN I definitely do not plan on getting them again. Just my opinion.
...but the tires wore completely down to the indicator bars
in 20,000km (~12.5k mi). There wasn't any track driving although I'd drag race
her on the street on about half the weekends of the summer months. The tires
are so worn that now when I floor the car into it's powerband, the
wheels have got to be straight or the rear end really wants to come out.
I'm going with Yoko's next I think.
Yokohama A008P
--------------
Speed Rating:
Treadware Rating:
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles):
Average cost per tire:
Performance Car rated them third, at 8294 points. Modern Motor
rated them fifth, at 69 points. Great traction; poor tread life.
Not bad in rain; useless in snow. Great in dry; terror in wet.
Excellent street tire.
Yokohama A008R
--------------
Speed Rating:
Treadware Rating: 160
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 15-20K?
Average cost per tire:
Excellent rain tire if tread not worn. Excellent dry tire; expect
15-20k miles; not great in rain. Nothing sticks better. Definitely
not good for rain. Great in wet, better in dry.
Brad Burns (continued):
Competition tire, surprisingly good in rain
Yokohama A022
-------------
Speed Rating: V
Treadware Rating: 120
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 14-25k (best is 55k on front)
Average cost per tire:
OEM tire on 94T/others?
Sohel Ameer (sohel@nsc.com);
The front tires are stock and I've put abt 25k on them.
I changed the rear ones at 20k.
Brad Burns (BurnsJB1@central.ssd.jhuapl.edu):
Yoko A022s: super responsive, awesome dry tire
the A022 was designed to 'preload' the suspension in order to
improve steering response. It also has very large tread blocks which
don't squirm like those on most tires and this also improves
responsiveness.
...Driving on A022s, period, will spoil you.
They are the most responsive
tires I've ever used. I currently use Yoko AVSi's as my street tire of
choice because they come in lots of sizes, have super wet and dry
performance, and are reasonably priced for their performance level. But
the A022s were even better than the AVSi's in the dry. The A022's down
side is that they don't last very long (as you've found), they are only
fair in the wet, and they are only available in a very few sizes. FWIW,
the AVS is an asymmetrical tire and the A022 is a unidirectional tire
(if this matters for anything).
Jeffrey (continued):
The A022s are special tires. The smaller tires need to be installed
on the front, and the bigger sizes on the back. I believe
it does say this on the tire itself. The NSX and MR2 do come
with these tires as OEM. I have seen a new Stealth with these
tires on and presumed them to be OEM as well.
One Integra GS-R (FWD) friend installed the 215/45/16 on all corners.
He said he likes the tires on the front end of his car,
but the back side got really twitchy feeling (very unsettled)
during hard cornering.
So just be careful when you buy these tires, the fronts stay on the
fronts and similarly with the backs.
Yokohama A509
-------------
Speed Rating: H and V
Treadware Rating: 160
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95: 195 50 15; 225 50 15
Average life (miles): 11-20k (best reported 50k)
Average cost per tire: $100 (205/50VR15); $115 (225 50 15)
Good recommendation for wet and dry. Handles water well. Mentioned
as a cheaper, but not inferior, substitute for Dunlop D60M2 and Yokohama
AVS. An RX-7 driver find them noisy, good on wet roads, and relatively
long-lasting. Gradual breakaway, good wet performance, relatively quiet,
says someone else. Another happy owner says better than Michelin MXV,
lasts over 50k miles. Not a great tire. Outstanding rain tires.
Great tire for the money. Compared to MXV, dry and wet traction are
both better. Good recommendation - good in wet; quiet. Best set
of tires; quiet and sticky.
Matt G:
A509 205/50VR15: $98
Yokohama AVS A+4
----------------
Speed Rating:
Treadware Rating:
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles):
Average cost per tire:
Perhaps a better choice for all-weather use to the Yokohama A509.
Available for wet, dry, or intermediate use; pick one that's most
appropriate to your local climate. A good recommendation with no
details. Car & Driver rated them 2/8 dry, 5/7 wet, 5/7
overall, below average on snow. Awesome grip in dry, predictable in
rain, reasonable snow traction for a high-performance tire. Reported
to be much better than A509. True all-season performance tire. On
Audi Quattro Coupe, handle great in dry, good ride quality, quieter
reasonably quiet. Much better than MXVs. No complaints in wet, great
in dry. Good tire in dry and rain; decent ride.
Yokohama AVS Intermediate
-------------------------
Speed Rating: V or Z
Treadware Rating: 160
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 11-20k
Average cost per tire: $135 (205/50/ZR15) (from $110-$160 depending on size)
Very good in dry, very quiet, very sticky, fairly good in wet, short
life. Wore away quickly, marginal snow performance, OK in rain, poor
on-center feel. Not a great tire. Better than MXLs; feel squishy at
first. Good tire. Good in wet and dry.
Matt G:
I LOVE the AVSi's on my car; they're great wet OR dry. It looks like I'll
get 20k+ on the front tires, and around 11k miles on each set of back tires.
AVSi 205/50ZR15: $134
Andrew Adams (comparing AVSi to the D40M2):
I bought 4 AVSs last week, and it's like having a new car. I talked to
several different salesmen, all of whom said the AVS was a better tire. So
did the 911 driver I talked to at my last Autox, who was on D40M2s. I can
do stuff in Mr Two I've never been able to do before with 509's or Michelins.
They blow my old 509's and Michelin XGTV4's away.
Kevin McLeaster (comparing AVSi to D40M2):
I had D40M2's in 15" on Progressive Pro 15's, on my 91 Turbo. This is the
first set of 15" tires I've had on the car, 205's front and 225's back.
I don't think that I liked them as well as my 14" Yoko AVSI's, 195/60 F,
205/60 R.
The D40's definitely don't wear any better than the AVS's despite the 200
vs 160 UTQG difference. Bottom line, get AVS's insted, IMHO. Personnally,
I'd by Yoko A-509 over D40's.
Dean (more continued):
If tire life is not a concern to you, Yokohama's are really fun!
A509's if you're on a budget, AVS-i if you're not. I've tried both Yokohama's
on my 83 Celica GTS and the A509 has very similar performance to the AVS-i
(in my opinion). Both have 160 UTQG treadwear ratings which contributes to
their stickiness.
Brad Burns (BurnsJB1@central.ssd.jhuapl.edu):
love 'em. Have them on my Legend and '94T.
Great wet and dry. Noisy. Worthless in snow or ice.
Phil Cutajar (continued):
> AVS-i: 160 treadwear rating. Asymetric tread design. Pretty stiff
> sidewalls. Very good dry hold. Will work with any kind of setup.
> Reasonably forgiving, their breakaway is a little more gradual than
> P-zero, but still breaks away pretty quick. Wet traction is not very
> good, driver must be aware and take precautions. Tread life is
> marginally better than P-Zero (7-9000 mi on rear).
Yokohama AVS U+4
----------------
Speed Rating:
Treadware Rating:
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 40K?
Average cost per tire:
One driver who hadn't really pushed them yet said they were very nice
in rain and snow. Two good recommendations; no details. True all-season
performance tire with 40k mile life. Pretty satisfied so far. Love 'em;
great in wet, dry and snow; quiet; last over 45k miles. Better all-round
on Integra than Eagle GT+4, XGT, MXV, XGT H4, HP41, or Comp T/A. Beat
the hell out of MXV and Eagle GT+4. Handle well in rain and snow on
Integra. Pretty good on Integra, though front wheels still spin on
wet starts. One of the best all-season high-performance tires; long-
lasting. Good snow traction; excellent lateral traction; predictable
handling; good in rain; stable at high speed and in cornering; not
too noisy; ride is sporty but not too harsh.
Perelli PZero
-------------
Speed Rating: Z and W, Directional and Assymetric avilable
Treadware Rating: 140 A A
Sizes for MR2, pre 93: none stock
Sizes for MR2, 93-95: none stock, only in 16 and 17 diameters
Average life (miles): 10k, tops?
Average cost per tire: $93-$400/tire
[Ed: According to the www.tirerack.com, the appropriate configuration
for a mid-engined auto is directional fronts and assymetric rears
(to handle aquaplaning). The smallest directional front is 16", therefore,
it is likely that some of the PZero users are going assymetrical front
and back.]
> P-Zero: 140 treadwear rating. Very stiff sidewalls. Asymetric
> tread design. Excellent dry hold, but require an agressive
> setup to get the most from them. They will break suddenly and without
> warning when they reach their limit, this is probably due to their
> square shoulder design. Wet traction is not bad but not good either,
> driver must be aware and must take adequate precautions.
> Tread life is probably the lowest of the three [Ed. re: AVS-I, SP8000, P0].
> I would not expext more than 6-8000 miles on rear. 12-14000 on front.
Goodyear GS-Cs
--------------
I can't really give them a fair review. I had Patrick Smith's
old abuse set to drive on. They seem to ride harsh and a tad noisy.
They also wear a little quick too. The dry grip is good (but I'd choose
other tires over this one first) and in the rain they're a little
scary. They don't seem to age gracefully and don't like
excessive heat/abuse. They don't give a really good warning before
you exceed thier limit. I had two dances of spin left-right-left
on these tires. I'd skip em and get Dunlop 8000s. :)
H-RATED TIRES:
B. F. Goodrich Comp T/A HR, HR4
-------------------------------
Speed Rating: H
Treadware Rating: 360 A A (40k mile warranty)
Sizes for MR2, pre 93:
Sizes for MR2, 93-95:
Average life (miles): 30-40k
Average cost per tire: about $65 for all sizes
Car & Driver rated them 3/8 dry, 3/7 wet, 3/7 overall, below
average on snow. One good recommendation; no details. Good
all-purpose tire. Cheaper and better than AVS; a little noisy; good
in dry; spectacular in water, slush, etc.; estimated life 30k miles.
Runs rings around MXV in wet, dry, and life. Good dry performance;
excellent in wet and snow; long life. Better than P6 in rain, snow,
ice; slightly numb on-center feel. Recommended as all-round tire
except in particularly snowy areas; fairly quiet; terrific dry grip;
slightly numb on-center feel on Merkur Scorpio. Best all-round tire
as compared to MXV, A509, AVS Intermediate, RE71; fantastic wet
traction and excellent on snow for a non-snow tire; estimated life
over 40k miles. Great in rain, far better than MXV in snow. Great
in wet and dry; expect them to last a long time. Great on dry; good
on wet and snow; noisier and rougher ride than Eagle VR. Excellent
dry; good wet; not great but manageable on snow. Pretty good in light
snow on Volvo 740 turbo; not really recommended for heavy snow. Ride
a bit stiff. Much better than P6, but less progressive breakaway.
Rev H, 1/16/98