Looking at running a set of Continental extreme contact sport 02s....is there a better new tire out there? Trying to keep it close to how Mazda intended them to drive/ride/handle when new. Not many options for stock size nowadays.

 

Do you intend to drive it how mazda intended when New? If the answer is no then your tire choice will not impact the driving experience the way you are thinking it will. Buy a good summer tire and enjoy the highway. Tire rack is a great resource

 

My car has Continental Extreme Contact Sport tires on stock wheels. For comparison, the previous set of tires on the car were Hankook Ventus RS2 also on stock wheels. The Continentals have a softer sidewall, less road noise, and at autocross events it feels like they probably have less grip than the RS-2s did. So if you're doing around-town sportscar stuff but not chasing trophies or doing serious track days, I think the Continentals are a good choice. The only reasons I would avoid them is if you need a set of tires that works well when the temperature is below freezing, or if you can't stand the sound of the sticky tires grabbing debris from the road and flinging it up into the wheel wells.

If you want something even stickier, I think Bridgestone RE-71RS or Yokohama A052 might be worth looking at. Grassroots Motorsports has published a lot of tire information, I think this page has been updated for 5+ years now as new tires get released: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ar...-buyers-guide/

 

what’s a good tire like the continental that won’t fling road rebris around? I’ll take a look at the article