I own 87 TII and thinking about getting sticky tires.
I alway had 205/55 R16 on my car, and i don't know if i shuld go larger one like 225/45 R16 on the stock wheel.
not sure how does it drive with the stock shock with tower brace(es).
any opinion?
let me know.

 

Im using yokohama es100s and they are pretty amazing for street tires.
Im running them on aftermarket 17s at 255/45 in the rear.
definitly go with a little wider, my handling increased quite a bit compared to stock.

 

I am using Yoko S306, they are pretty damn sticky but I don't have much to compare to.

 

you might wanna stick with 55's on a 16" rim.

but if you wanna go with a 45 then here's a good tire.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

also, if you go with a 55 then look at this...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

both are very nice tires and you will not be disappointed. i'll be going with those bf goodrich's once i get new tires. if you wanted to not spend THAT much on a tire, then danny is right about the yoko's. keep in mind you might find those tires cheaper elsewhere. that site is just a reference.

 

Sir Rupert remember my post about me choosing tires? I ended up getting Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's in 205/55/VR16, they were only $66 dollars each, they are good so far but I haven't really driven the car as it is awaiting a brake master cylinder, this Saturday i'm going to autocross with these tires, so if this thread is still up i'll give a review. The review of the yoko es100's on tirerack.com were good but almost all with the warning of they're fast wearing rate.

 

the people who get higher milage out of their tires are the ones who take care of them

let us know how they come. i've had better luck with the 711's more than the 712's though.

 

my poor butt got micheline ct'rs

 

Tire choice is very personal. You have to decide wheather you want all season or summer tires, and what is most important to you for characteristics of the tire. This will hugely influence what a "good" tire will be to you. Some people will run drag radials or R compound tires on the street. This is extreme, but some people love it. Others run el crapo tirs and think it's ok. When I was looking for tires I decided I wanted a summer high performance tire that was inexpensive, weared at a decsent rate, was faily sticky, and would handle track abuse. I decided on a 280 or so wear rating. I'll try to give some suggestions based on my research for several different kinds of tires.

Compared to "real" high performance tires the ES100's suck and the 712's suck compared to the ES100's.

High performance all season: Falken Zeix 512's
High performance summer: BFG G-Force Sport, Fuzion ZRi, Bridgestone Potenza RE750
Ultra high performance summer: Falken FK-451 (I have these and love them), Toyo T1-S, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW (soon to be replaced by the T1-R) (Compared to these tires that have the same wear rating the ES100's suck and the 712's suck compared to the ES100's).
Max performance summer: Falken Azenis (there's a new one available now), BFG g-Force T/A KD, Kumho MX
R compound: Toyo RA-1

I suppose my best advice to you is be very wary of cheap tires, they probably aren't any good. Whatever you get, make sure that you ask around about them.

Remember, your tires are the only things between your car and the road, so it's money well spent and you get to have more fun with better tires.

 

i tell people that alot. most just don't even think twice before they get the cheaper/crappier tire. if you're going to spend a few hundred on a set, then why not spend that extra 100?

 

well said.

 

I have the Goodyear F1 tires on my FC. They where good on the track and are really good in the rain. Keep the overall diameter as close to the overall stock diameter. The 225 55 16 tires will be to tall, make you car slower, and make your speedometer read slower than you are actually going. I run 215 45 17 tires and the overall diameter is 24.6".

 

meh, it'll only be an ~11mm difference. his speedo shouldn't really change.

 

My first set of tires were es100s and I thought they were pretty good for the money. Then I got a set of Toyo T1S and the es100s suck so bad compared to them. Price wise the toyos were not that much more expensive than the es100s for the big jump in performance.. There is a thread in the tires/suspension forum that compares the T1S to the S03s. Ultimately it depends what kinda driving you want to do and your budget.

Play around with this to figure out what tire size you should get to keep it close to stock diameter.
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

I have the BF Goodrich KDWs (1st version with the more normal looking tread pattern), and they are a great tire for wet and dry conditions. Just take it easy if it is cold out so they warm up first.

 

so far, my kumho ecsta 712's ride well, I tryed a few drag launches on a secluded road and they'll hold alot of grip, but when the start to slip I get wheel hop or chafing or something. I should be able to autocross this saturday if my car stops hesistating so severily, I think my hesistating is the spark plug wires so im gonna get some autolite wires because I don't have time to get good ones. Maybe the hesitation is something else because if there is a high load on the electrical system it stutters really bad, like while im rolling down the window, have the heat and headlights on, and press the brakes it almost dies, and the tach stops working for a long time. sorry to mess up this thread right now I don't got time to start a new thread or search. thanks, Zach

 

intresting

 

I would also recomend the Falken FK-451's superb street grip dry or wet, and on the drag track, my 265's hook insanley better than my 225 dunlops did. On the dunlops I could only manage a 2.2 60ft and with the Falkens I've manage plenty of 1.9 60ft's. And that can't be the size of the tire working alone.