I am looking for a set of tires that will have good traction off the line, good cornering, and decent riding in bad weather (since winter is comming up). I just wrecked my car about a month ago because my tires are bald and i took a corner too fast when it was wet, so i'm thinking its time to get some new tires. What is everyones recommendations on brand/size? I dont want to spend a butt load of money if i dont have to. Thanks a lot.

Tom

Kumhos

you want em cheap and high performance? Those don't get any better!

Originally posted by tg200ser
I am looking for a set of tires that will have good traction off the line, good cornering, and decent riding in bad weather (since winter is comming up). I just wrecked my car about a month ago because my tires are bald and i took a corner too fast when it was wet, so i'm thinking its time to get some new tires. What is everyones recommendations on brand/size? I dont want to spend a butt load of money if i dont have to. Thanks a lot.

Tom

What kind of tires did you have before? I had some cheap Yokohamas long time ago and that thing just didn't want to grip after they were worn out. I have Kumhos right now and I'm pretty happy with them. I liked Dunlop/Sumitomo tires too. There are so many good tires to list and same time bad ones too. www.tirerack.com should have tire review section and i think it is helpful.

i love my Bridgestone Potenza S-03's. they handle wonderful in the rain. not sure about the snow. you'll need to go down to a 50 series to get 'em, but it's worth it, IMO. the Kumho Ecsta 712 aren't bad either. i don't think they got as high ratings as the potenzas, but they are a bit cheaper.

If you need to drive the car in snow, stay FAR AWAY from the Kumho 712's, they are notoriously bad in snow. My neighbor has them on his A4 Quattro, and even with the 4wd it's a handfull in the snow.

Chris

I got the sumitumos, and they are pretty good, I know I paid somewhere around $50 a piece for them, and they were 225-50-15s too :)

As for staying away from the Kumho 712s for snow driving... I would have to say that is obvious. :p They are summer tires, not all seasons.

I don't think I would trust *any* summer-only rated tire in the snow... :D

225s fit underneath our stock fenders? Or did you slip up and mean 205s? (Just wondering, don't get mad!)

I would suggest that you buy seperate tires for summer and winter. All-season tires are a compromise in both seasons. Personally I am on my second set of Kumho 712's for the summer, and I slip on a set of Yokohama Gaurdex in the winter.

Originally posted by Crimson_Phoenix
As for staying away from the Kumho 712s for snow driving... I would have to say that is obvious. :p They are summer tires, not all seasons.

It would be obvious to most people, but this guy is in Missouri, and he said he needs decent riding in bad weather (since winter is comming up). That means snow, and you answered that he should get Kumhos, without specifying which model. I just wanted to point out that the 712's are horrible in the snow. Better safe than sorry, right?

Chris

I stand corrected, I obviously read the orginal question incorrectly. :p

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. ;)

thanks for everyones replies...

What type of kumho's would you reccomend if not the 712's and how much would they be?

red95ser- How much do your Yokohama Gaurdex run? How well do they perform with cornering and off the line?

The main thing i am looking for is good traction off the line and in cornering. I will most likely be taking it slow in bad weather now anyway since i just got in a wreck and threw about 500 out the window. I forgot what the brand of tire i am using right now is, it's whatever i bought it with. The guy before me put these big 205/60/15's and some cheap american racing wheels on the car. I am keeping the wheels for now, but i am getting sick of the tires scrapping the fender well. So thats another reason i need new tires. Well thanks again--- Tom

Needless to say the gaurdexes are not a performance tire, they are designed to work well in the snow, which they do. Performance wise they are pretty soft in the sidewall, so they don't handle that great, but once again it's a winter tire. I think I paid like $60 a tire for 195/60/15s. I run 205 Kuhmos but in the winter you want skinnier tires.

I just purchased Kuhmo ecsta 711's(205/50/15) for the B14 wheels. They are great tires. I have driven with them in the rain twice and have also raced with them once. They grip pretty well and dont wear as much as they should(mostly spinning 1st and 2nd by accident). Great tires, great price- have a good one!

i had the Kumo 712s for about 5 mounths and they ware fast(at least in my case) i now have Falken Zeik 512s and they are good so far.......

toyo proxes fz-4 is an excellent all season tire. it's a v rated tire which is oe specs for our cars and the tires just handle awesome. it's really kind of hard to get an all season tire that would perform good in the snow. i would suggest just getting snow tires for the winter and get performance tires for the rest of the season.

I've been running Yokohama ES100's in 195/50-15 for a month or so now on my miata, same size we're using on the 200SX SE-R(which has Yoko AVSi's). Got them at Tire Rack for $53 each! Plus, they threw in an HPI radio-controlled car (retail value $140) for free.

The guys at Tire Rack sponsor, and hang out at Miata.net and we 1st found out about ES100's last winter, and I waited -- almost bald on the OEM Michelins -- until the new Yoko's were available. They recommended them highly over the Kumho 712's.

Owners' feedback is strongly positive on cornering, braking and ride, but only so-so on accelleration. I also think the turn-in is slightly less crisp than the Michelin Pilots, just in case you auto-x.

I think they're a deal, and would consider them for our SE-R when the time comes.

[raisinghand]Me too!

I found the ES100 on TireRack, and since it was so new there was no customer feedback, and very little info. Intrigued by the low price, super cool tread design, and free RC car (all horrible reasons to buy a tire), I checked Google, which led me to Mitaforum.net

Now, we all know how picky Miata guys are about handling, and the fact that they were generally impressed with the tire, combined with the low price etc pretty much sealed the deal for me.

I've had them for about three weeks, and am pleased with them. They're so much better than the Eagle RS-A (Really Suck Ass) that were on the B14 wheels that I bought.

I had been considering the Kumho 712 -a tire that people either love or hate, some people start by loving it, and grow to hate it- , and the Falken Azenis -too big, too heavy, a little to radical.

If you're looking for a very good tire at a bargain price, check out what the Miata dudes have to say, and read the customer feedback at Tire Rack.

Now, off to Ebay to list that free RC for sale. :)

Here's a direct link to two threads regarding the ES100's at miataforum.com

http://www.miataforum.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=005220;p=3

http://www.miataforum.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=005745

Chris