Am looking forward to the Nurburgring this week on the Yokohama Parada 2s this week, am also sure the RSRs are a great tyre too, I just dont feel the huge,
nay, enormous price difference the RSRs are can be justified by the poor folk` like me…
We had Toyo T1Rs onboard for last years trip, I dont have too much bad to say about them either, except they just dont last long enough, as for the supposedly horrific sidewall flex, well pictures say far more than words:
Dr. Eunos
Er, was I promoting the RS-R?
I can sell you PS2’s no problem. I have a part worn in the garage that still has 90% tread which you can have for £15 including postage if you want, that is how much I personally rate them.
My point was, and it comes from my personal experiance, that having used the PS2 found it to be below the all round performance of a T1R and really a rather disapointing tyre. I am sure you will get on alright with them at the Ring as it does not really stress tyres.
Is the RS-R over priced? That’s not for me to say, it’s less than a 888 and more than Turanza.
You’ll find a similar thread over on CivicLife forum. Most peeps agreed about them over heating too quick and there danger in the wet. Each to their own I say. We all have different preferences. Me? I’d rather pay the same price as ps2’s for exalto2’s or even cheaper T1R’s.
Umm, we have to be careful that we are comparing apples and apples here A tyre that may overheat on a front heavy FWD car like a Saxo where the front axle is doing nearly all the work (accelerating, braking and cornering) will not behave the same way on a RWD car with a 50/50 weight balance
I used to have a Sylva/Fisker Fury kit car They weighed in at about 600Kg (considerably less than a MX5) and the general concencus was that Yoko’s were the best tyre for those cars And the front tyres especially were run at very low pressures (less than 20 psi) I’m aware that the MX5 is heavier (at about 1000Kg?, mines a Mk2) and that could move the goal posts, but looking to see what a said tyre does on a FWD or 4WD car is surely irrelevant
The post is about on-line tyre reviews. Dr Eunos posted that he had bought some Prada Spec 2 tyres and believed them to be great. That is fair enough. I posted, very much in-line with my earlier comment that you will get every opinion under the sun on tyres the moment you ask for an opinion, that in my experience they were not great.
There then was an intimation that I had a vested interest in posting, which while I sell tyres, does not mean I don’t have an opinion and experience of the track and tyre performance.
In my experience on this car, which you can see the tyres in the picture, they were really nothing special at all, and we felt at the time worse than the the T1R’s that they replaced and worse than the Proxy 4’s that replaced them. Admittedly RaceWorx got a hard life.
You will also find a post in the Saxperience thread from a MX-5 owner saying similar.
At the end of the day it is just my opinion, buy which ever tyres you like, it is your choice.
Phew - this thread is technical, in-depth and unnervingly compelling even though most of it goes over my head.
I like the black round ones.
“…The post is about on-line tyre reviews…”
Nick
I do entirely understand what you are saying but the title of the thread is “Best tyres…” and subject IS MX5’s so surely we are talking “The best Tyres…for an MX5”, aren’t we?
Secondly, I don’t have a problem with someone who sells tyres having an opinion about what tyre is the best for a particular car Surely for the benefit of his business, he/she would want to find out what the best solution to a “problem” (or at least an oft asked question) is so he could give the best advice, be found to be giving good advice and thence having one more satisfied customer How he finds that information, be it via customer feedback or personal experience is a consideration, but a secondary one
And my point here is that some good tyres cost £36 but last only 7000mls , some tyres that are a heck of a lot better in my experience and only cost £43 and will easily outlast the cheapest good tyre and then there are other tyres that cost double the price again but certainly dont give double the performance, which I am sure are good tyres nevertheless are also available.
Pound for pound the Yokohama Parada Spec 2 @ £43 ea delivered (Demon Tweeks) represent, in my opinion and if you really enjoy your driving, the best compromise of (in no particular order) - performance, looks, value, longevity, noise, ride, quality of manufacture of 15" tyre you can put on an MX5 as an all season-tyre today.
If you live in an area of the UK where it hardly never stops raining then by all means get a specialist rain tyre , but be aware also that your dry weather grip will be compromised.
I think the above comments regarding heavily-nosed front wheel drive cars such as Civics and Saxo`s being less suited to a tyre which suits the MX5 are very relevant and correct, a tyre which has a good degree of side flex is more suited to an MX5 than a front-driver, loose the flex and stiffen the sidewall and you also get a heavier un-sprung mass and a lot harsher ride for the road.
Anyway, folks will ultimately always vote with the wallet
Yeah but the guy above was giving feedback about his PS2’s on an MX5??
Ive driven an S2000 also with 17" PS2’s and still didn’t rate them tbh.
My comments on longevity and heat on my VTI are both relevant though, I had 3 tread patterns on that car. The PS2’s wore out rapidly. That would be the same regardless of vehicle. The tyre would still heat faster on an MX5 than the other tread patterns I compared too, regardless of driven wheels or weight.
I don’t buy tyres with my wallet. I like to try all brands out, out of curiosity, as tyres is my career. I still usually end up with Exalto2 at more cost than PS2 or T1R’s.
Just ahd a look on Wikipedia MX5 weight 1065 Kg S2000 1299 Kg That’s nearly a quarter more (its actually 22%) As I mentioned a few posts ago, Yoko’s are very good on light cars Maybe the S2000 is too heavy - and she IS heavy Its more than a convertible Series 1 jag E type!
Just noticed you were bleeting on about the Michelins at £65 a corner, (God knows how much they are this year and you are also in the trade) last August in this thread from last year Noel. I also notice someone on that thread running Yokohama Parada ss had got some 28,000miles out of a set<img border="0" title="Whistling" alt="Whistling" src="http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/animations/eusa_whistle.gif" /> You obviously feel that you know your stuff when it comes to tyres but are you seriously advising people that Michelin Exalto2 represents a better choice at an additional £88 per set (last years price) ?
Dr. Eunos
Dude £65.58 is the fully fitted price for Exalto2’s from my work place. I pay the same price as the public. Also from the 4th of June they are on offer for a further 20% discount when you purchase 4. Hardly expensive. THIS years prices. Available at every branch. You paid forty something supplied only?
Parada’s are homologated on NO oem cars for a reason. Michelin are the MOST homologated brand in the world, as well as being the most expensive. I guess car manufacturers do it because they like to waste their money too.
Yes, I always recommend Exalto’s for small coupes and hatchbacks. Out of all the treads I’ve tried they are still the best all rounders. Provided you can get them in a size where the price difference isn’t massive, ie 195/50, then yes I think they’re worth the small extra outlay. My previous car, a 330ci M Sport, was £258 a piece for Michelin’s, that was a huge chunk more than Goodyear F1 aestheticals. So I plumped for those instead. Didn’t change the fact Michelins originally fitted were better, I just couldn’t afford them. Having driven loads of Porsches with different tyres at the Porsche centre @ silverstone during a tyre test event, I found the conti and Goodyear a close second. so went for the best I could afford. If your happy with the Parada’s, good, enjoy them. I didn’t. Simples.
Had to look up “Exalto2” Is there a rule on here that you can’t call the same tyre the same name more than twice? 
Anyway, as a piece of mild relief I found this review
“Michelin pilot exalto is a very good tyre for dry and wet roads. Basically fly round a corner and they just grip grip grip. I dont exactly drive slow and ive still managed 16000 miles which is very reasonable but will need replacing soon. Only draw back is the price, £100 a pop just for a fiesta. I had pirelli neros and there is no comparison to the exaclto. I would definately buy again but Im going to try uniroyal rainsport 2”
So which is he going to do? Buy again or replace with Uniroyal?
Think you really have to be careful with online tyre reviews, generally the people who can be bothered to fill them out are usually the type of people who really dont have a clue what they are talking about, and then other people who also dont have a clue read them buy the tyres with the most starsand then some of them also fill out a tyre review form, its like a disease evolution in reverse
If it’s of any use as a recommendation, all the below guys chose Michelins.
Primarily specialising in Michelins means we generally work on some pretty tasty cars. I can’t say I’ve ever sold a Conti, Bridgestone, Uniroyal, bf Goodrich or any of the other brands we sell to a ‘proper’ motor. That alone speaks HUGE volumes to me.
Michelin also didnt get it quite right when F1 went to Indianapolis if I recall…
All lovely cars (well most of them) but quite irrelevant The tyre requirements for a Rolls Royce or a Hummer (why would someone want one of them, with or without wheels?) are completely different to those of a small relatively light sports car The fact that Michelin have their tyres fitted to cars that are “worth” 100 times what my MX5 is worth does not impress me. What I would like to know is what works best ON AN MX5 ! 
BTW Taff
The link on your postings
" http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/t/42529.aspx"
doesn’t appear to work (for me anyway)
Taff- really? Michelin were the most dominant tyre during the 2005 season, winning by a large margin more races than Bridgestone. They chose to remove all cars from the event as that season tyres had to last an entire race, unlike the previous 4 years ( which Michelin tyres won that race), meaning they had insuffient test data to ensure the tyres could consistently withstand the forces for an entire race duration. That’s a good decision made in my eyes. Michelin are the most successful Motorsport tyre in Le Mans, Rally, endurance, GT series and Formula 1 in the last 50 years. Their Motorsport reputation isn’t up for debate really nor relevant.
Cars above question- The same way they perform on the above cars. Good all round performance. Taff asked why I ‘bleeted’ on about them and asked if I felt they justified their price tag. He also said he doubted online reviews.
The tyre requirements for an MX5 are different I agree, which is why the tread patterns offered by Michelin are different for Porsches and MX5’s. Michelin were asked by Mazda to create a specific tread pattern, Preceda, for the MK3 for that reason. The Exalto’s were also made in conjunction with Renaultsport and Mazda for their lightweight sports cars and then fitted oem on later NB’s, clio trophies,cups,182’s etc.
Personally I won’t put Exalto’s on my 5 as I plan to attend car control days and I love kicking my rear end and whilst ultimately not being as good overall, I feel T1Rs give the most progressive break away at the limit and I can source them for £26 each trade price. I also like to try different tread patterns with each change.
Like I’ve said over and over, you like your Parada’s, happy days. You shared your view. I didn’t like them, I shared mine. I haven’t questioned your reasoning on your chosen tyre.
You questioned the price of them, I answered. You questioned my recommendation on lightweight cars, I answered. You questioned my justification of their quality vs price- I answered. You questioned their integrity (F1) I showed expensive cars who choose them.
You like yours, enjoy them ; )