Tires

I am sure others will respond eventually, but the OEM 15/16 staggered tires are shrinking. If you do not include all-season and extreme tires, I believe you are limited to the BFGoodrich Sports Comp 2, the Dunlop Direzza 102, and the new Yokohama Fleva. Of course if you include Extreme tires the Bridgestone Potenza RE-71 is higher priced option. Some Spyder owners are getting creative with their "near OEM" sizes: 205/50/16, etc. But they are still limited with the 15's on the front. Yes, 17" are an option, but I have not researched them. Others can comment on that.

No more S-drives? I'm gonna be sick. I've been doing the S-drives in these sizes:

- 195/50 R15
- 205/45 R16

It's been great but to be honest doesn't look all that great. The rears are visibly smaller.  I'm too dang old to care about how things look. Well almost. I still won't tolerate ears on the soft top.

@mark-g

yes I was going to go with them Bridgestone Potenza RE-71 are my likely choice if they exist when I am ready to buy My current tires are 8 years old (RE11) have close to 30K on them and they look near brand new. I however know better than that

T, you can get the BFG COMP2 in a 195/50-15 for the front, and 205/50-16 for the rear. The 205/50-16 is ~ .5" bigger in diameter than a 215/45-16. They are very good tires.

Go to yokohamatire.com .  Search for tires by the sizes I listed above. Look at the Advan Fleva V701 that comes up. Those look EXACTLY like the S-drives. What do you make of that?

The Yokohama Fleva are the "marketing" replacement for the S-Drive. Different rubber compound - different tire. To my knowledge, no reviews on how the Fleva compare to the S-Drives.  I think Dev has staggered 16/17. Hopefully he can respond to this tread.

You can always go to 205/50/15 in the front if you don't mind the "feel". 

Posted by: @mrsponz

The Yokohama Fleva are the "marketing" replacement for the S-Drive. Different rubber compound - different tire. To my knowledge, no reviews on how the Fleva compare to the S-Drives.  I think Dev has staggered 16/17. Hopefully he can respond to this tread.

You can always go to 205/50/15 in the front if you don't mind the "feel". 

If I remember correctly, T has 195/50-15's on the front. That size is readily available from many companies.

If T is willing to spend the extra cash on Extreme Tires, and it would appear so if he likes the Potenza RE-71, then his options have definitely expanded:

Direzza III; Ventus RS-4: Toyo R1R; Yokohama A052 .

So depending on what tire he likes, he might have to go with 205/50/16 (instead of 205/45/16) as you mentioned.

Posted by: @mrsponz

If T is willing to spend the extra cash on Extreme Tires, and it would appear so if he likes the Potenza RE-71, then his options have definitely expanded:

Direzza III; Ventus RS-4: Toyo R1R; Yokohama A052 .

So depending on what tire he likes, he might have to go with 205/50/16 (instead of 205/45/16) as you mentioned.

T and I spent some time drinking, eating and looking at the boats(+ a few lovely ladies) at a local reservoir Saturday. We talked about tires, among other things. That's why I mentioned COMP2's. I "brokered" the deal that got him his RE11's 11 years ago, but alas, I no longer have pull at the Firestone/Bridgestone store ☹️ 

Time will tell 😀 

I would strongly consider the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500. Very good all-rounder and the best thing about them is a responsive side wall. These are made by Bridgestone  for the European market. Probably the best tire value for what they bring. 

Edit: scratch that it looks like they don't cary them in 15"  and I wonder if they ever did. 

Posted by: @mrsponz

The Yokohama Fleva are the "marketing" replacement for the S-Drive. Different rubber compound - different tire. To my knowledge, no reviews on how the Fleva compare to the S-Drives.  I think Dev has staggered 16/17. Hopefully he can respond to this tread.

You can always go to 205/50/15 in the front if you don't mind the "feel". 

 I didn't catch this. 

 I can tell you that 16/17 is nice for looks but very hard to find tires that I want so I don't raise the height  of the car and change my gearing.  Larger wheels depending on quality and price will just add more unsprung weight to the car which is not good.  I did find the tires which are the Falken 615k and they are extreme which is nice but too much grip. 

 If you can find near stock tire sizes that is the best option.   

Hey Dev, I have to ask a multiple part question. What do you mean by too much grip? When you are doing your "spirited driving" do you like the sound of "screeching tires" to let you know you are near the limit of adhesion? I am serious and not joking. I had to go 205/45/16 rear when one of my 040's blew out and  I did not have my 185/55/15 040's for very long so i never grew really familiar with their "feel". I had the opportunity to go 16" "staggered square" with the RS3 (205/45/16) front and 215/45/16 (615K) rear, and got really used to them. I never had a problem with the mix front/back brands so I just figured they were very close in performance and handling (I know - bad can of worms here).

Now I am running Sport Comp 2 (205/45/16) front and back and have not come across anything I could not handle - both in spirited driving and the occasional panic move (emergency maneuver) (another bad can of worms). However, I would like to save some un-sprung weight and am toying with the idea of going 205/50/15  all around. 

I hope not-a-miata and his frog are doing ok and that we did not lead him in the wrong direction. I would feel really bad about that.

Posted by: @mrsponz

Hey Dev, I have to ask a multiple part question. What do you mean by too much grip? When you are doing your "spirited driving" do you like the sound of "screeching tires" to let you know you are near the limit of adhesion? I am serious and not joking. I had to go 205/45/16 rear when one of my 040's blew out and  I did not have my 185/55/15 040's for very long so i never grew really familiar with their "feel". I had the opportunity to go 16" "staggered square" with the RS3 (205/45/16) front and 215/45/16 (615K) rear, and got really used to them. I never had a problem with the mix front/back brands so I just figured they were very close in performance and handling (I know - bad can of worms here).

Now I am running Sport Comp 2 (205/45/16) front and back and have not come across anything I could not handle - both in spirited driving and the occasional panic move (emergency maneuver) (another bad can of worms). However, I would like to save some un-sprung weight and am toying with the idea of going 205/50/15  all around. 

I home not-a-miata and his frog are doing ok and that we did not lead him in the wrong direction. I would feel really bad about that.

What I mean by too much grip is too much grip for the street to have fun at reasonable speeds that I have  to drive  so fast that it would be considered reckless driving.  I usually never take my car to the limits where the tires are screeching and my tires even when I purposely kick them out for a little fun are dead quiet. Some tires give you audible warning very early and some don't. Tires are so good these days since the introduction of the Spyder especially in the extreme category that the bar has been raised so much that you cant get that fun feeling of driving near the limits without driving too fast for the road that if you mess up at high speed it becomes dangerous.  It gives me an ominous feeling so I have to pull back for that reason, not because my car is not capable. 

 If you have shot suspension, crapy alignment  or other things going on you might reach those limits early to even notice.  Once you have your suspension dialed in with a good set of dampers and other mods then car can then fully utilize the full potential of the tires.  

 Extreme tires  are often a bandaid to correct overly stiff suspension from the like of BC and other cheap coil over systems that the car will never balance out or be fun to drive.  

 The most important part of any car is having it confidence inspiring enough to keep pushing until you feel the boarders of those limits and then pull back.  What I find is more important in a tire is stiffer side walls that have less compliance so I can feel the responsiveness car which makes things lively and interesting. Sadly  most tires these days don't have those nice side walls like what the car came with because of plus sizing. 

These days when  I try to shake my car loose by making a very sharp right hand turn into another intersection the whole suspension leans in as I hang on for the ride which feels ridiculous. 

One of the cool things I really liked about my car when it was stock was the reward of driving well. Now its just too much grip  that I cant get that thrill without doing something stupid that would get myself or someone else killed.  

I dont see how we could lead not-a-miata in the wrong direction. The advise we gave him was textbook  and his alignment was spot on.  

It does sound like his car needs new dampers.  Im convinced now that spending $2k on a quality set of coilovers is like getting $20k worth of an upgrade.  It really raises the bar more than any other modification.  

Posted by: @mrsponz

 I did not have my 185/55/15 040's for very long so i never grew really familiar with their "feel".

   I love that size for the front because it made the car lively. People complained about understeer but that is because they do not know how to transfer the weight of the car  which is what makes the car rewarding to drive.  You can also just add a little bit of negative camber and the problem would be solved.   One thing that you can never get back is the sharp turn in like a shopping cart.   The rotation around U turns was unreal.  

 I had those sizes when I want to the Dragon and it didn't hold me back in the least.