Before you say "Search the archives" I did. Not much found.

I have to replace my tires soon, for the first time since I've owned the car. And I have stock rims (I will never change rims, I love the stock look of the rims).

I was told by a couple people "Get Nitto 555, they are the best for the price"

But checking Nitto's homepage and Tire sites online I see they don't offer a 225/50/16. The only tire they offer for a 16" is 205/45. Wassup with that

So who has had good/bad experiences with what tire? What's your favorite you would recommend? Opinions/advice are appreciated. Thanks

 

i have these...but they are regular tires..none of that NITTO or BFGoodrich tires.........i like them...
245/45/16s

 

I will be getting Bridgestone Potenza SE-03 Pole positions. I spent a half hour at tirerack.com reading people's reviews.

 

BFGoodrich KD or KDW
Bridgestone RE730, or S-02/03 or A032R for a streetable r coumpound tire
Yokohoma AVS Intermediate (if you can still find any) or A-520
Pirelli P-7000 or P-ZERO (very expensive)
Toyo T1S or RA1 (another r compound street tire)
as for size either 225/50 or 245/45 is good on the stock rim (16x8)

 

I always ran Goodrich Comp-TA ZR's until I got a set of TOYO PROXE T1-S's. I was very skeptical at first. They certainly look radical, but more importantly, handle extremely well on the street! I 'd highly recommend them.

 

how wide can you go with stock wheels? 265? or less

 

I didn't see anyone mention them, but if you got the cash to burn, I am absolutely in love with the Yokohama Advan 032R's! I'm totally spoiled now and could never go back to a normal street tire. Definitely the single biggest performance gain you can get since it drastically affects cornering, launching, and stopping. They'll make you feel like superman out there. You can find them under the competition section of Tire Rack for something like $160. 245x45x16 fits very nicely on the stock rims. They are apparently one of the best race tires you can run on the street since they have great wet weather traction a the expense of a little dry traction (compared to a Hoosier or Victoracer). Sticky as hell, but the downsides are that they may not last more than about 8000 miles if you race a lot, and they are noisy. If you read the reviews on Tire Rack you'd think they're horrendously loud, but I promise you if you have an exhaust or hi-flow you won't even notice the noise. Plus, now I think the noise is a little cool cuz driving down the highway they're screaming "you don't wanna mess with me!"

 

245x45x16 is the widest and that is be better way to go.

I would go with the Bridgestone S-03 or the Nitto 555r drag, but the nitto wouldn't really be the best tire for the rain.

All though tailhappy seems to like the yokohamas, they sound pretty cool I might try them.

 

I had the Dunlop 8000 on them, but I have switched to the Yokohama AVS radials. I like those much better.q

 

All around wet/dry sticky with reasonable life. Bridgestone S-03 are excellent and so are Dunlop SP9000 - I have the Dunlop and can't say enough, I went with the Dunlops because of price advantage at the time. IMHO

 

I second that! S-02 if you can find any, if not then S-03 is fine.

 

Does anyone know the weight of any of these tires? Mazda, when it designed the FD, went to a lot of trouble to have the tire companies design tires that didn't go over a set weight limit. If the tire weighs too much, you increase the unsprung weight and the rotating mass, both of which hurt performance.

When people talk about tires I almost never hear the weight of the tire discussed. When I replace my tires I'm going to be looking for one that doesn't go over the 23 pound weight limit Mazda set.

 

i got the 245-45 t1-s and beleive it will stand up against any tire-perhaps some that cost close to twice as much. btw, besides great handling wet and dry, they are quiet and ride well.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Yeah, I looked at the Nitto 555-R but I live in Florida, so I can't have something with so little tread as it rains a couple times a week all summer.

I think I'll check out those Yokohamas. I've had Yokos in the past and they held out well, so I know its a good brand...

 

Just to follow up on my post, I had Pirelli P7000's before the Yokos. They had a 320 treadwear vs 60 for the A032Rs and there's no comparison. I do anywhere from 1-3 autocrosses a month and a couple of track days a year, so I'm after pure performance at the expense of everything except wet-weather performance. That's what made the decision for me. But these are the first competition tires I've ever owned, so there certainly could be something better. However, when strolling around the paddock at VIR during a race, I saw lots of A032's being used for rain tires....

If you don't race in some fashion, I think the A032's will probably be overkill. But it's pretty cool to be able to go just as fast as you ever could on the street and have a huge safety margin for avoiding that dog in the road! Before I decided on the A032's, I was very close to getting another set of Yoko AVS Intermediates. Had them on another car and was very pleased. They have about a 160 treadwear, last a little longer, and are still sticky for a street tire. Best, though, is that they are (well as of a couple weeks ago) on closeout at Tire Rack for like $60/tire! There's lots of diehard fans of them out there.

Sorry, I have no idea about weights!

Hope that helps....

 

Tailhappy, I had Pirelli P7000's they are poopy. Didn't last for long and traction was always a problem. I am about to throw on a set of Michelin Pilot XGT Z4's when I get my rims done, unless someone wants to buy those off me... like $450 for 4.

 

i second that

 

The Kumho ecsta 712 is not a bad wet/dry tire for the money. The Tire Rack has them priced well.

 

KUMHO EXTAS SUCK *** sorry dood..if your car is bone stock then they will probably hold just enough to keep you on the road.

however...the yokohama intermediates (autocross tires) have been hooking up for me very well.

when i used to run the kumhos id spin all the way through first and second gear...the yokos put a stop to that.

j

 

I have nitto drag radials on stock rims 225/50/16 tire size. They work great