Thanks everyone. It’s a daily driver, not too many miles but the occasional longer trip. Quite spirited driving, motorways and A & potholed B roads. Will be in all weathers.
Is it better to go to one of the bigger companies like Kwikfit, or buy online at somewhere like Black circles (assuming I can check they’re less than a year old), or go to a local garage?
I’ve always heard good things about the Michelins but there’s quite a big difference in cost so if there’s an alternative with close performance without the name, that would be ideal.
What do you think about putting 215s just on the rear wheels?
Having said that I’ve never had a Toyo tyre fitted to any car I’ve owned, just reading on experience from others about Toyo, some from that have experienced them.
Yes you shouldn’t take it as they are a bad tyre by just reading reviews. I read a good deal about car stuff etc before making my own decisions, re tyres, parts even the cars themselves.
Back to tyres, my opinion of course.
Kumho… On my 3rd set of these, even had a set fitted to my daily driver, not an MX-5.
Rainsports… Had them on my Mk2 and very impressed with them. Would choose them again if I couldn’t get the Kumhos.
Avons…but half worn when I experienced those on a car and went off pretty quickly thereafter. Probably ok when they were new, seemed to go hard and lose grip even though part worn.
Bridgstones… They came as a fitment on the NC, I think I’ve read more negatives than positives on those.
Had them on my daily driver, yes a very different car but they were noisy, harsh ride and just seemed to go hard after around 10k miles
I’ve had some nondescript tyre brands on cars in my time driving, most have been ok, they were round and black in colour and most importantly kept me on the road😁
I haven’t taken that view when choosing tyres more recently, well since owning an MX-5 over the last 15 years. My neighbour says it doesn’t matter he has three different brands of tyre on his car, two I’ve never even heard of and all with various tread depths. Don’t do it with an MX-5.
I had Kumho PS71’s fitted on another vehicle through Blackcircles just before Christmas. The 4-digit code on the tyre walk suggests they were less than 6 months old at the time they were fitted.
I’ve always had 215/45/R17 Uniroyal Rainsports, until I bought a mk3.75 with brand new Michelin PS4’s fitted with the same size. Thought the Michelin’s were nearly as good until the temperature got hot at around 30 degrees in the summer. The tyres seemed to slide around in the heat. They certainly didn’t last any longer either (15,000 miles on a daily driver), and at around £50 per corner more, I’m going back to Rainsports
Khumo PS71, bought a few weeks ago via Black Circle and fitted by Pro Tyre in Sheffield… £338 and my car is much better as my Avon Zs had plenty of tread but we’re 7 years old. I think for the money they are good value.
“What do you think about putting 215s just on the rear wheels?”
I’d stick to the same size tyres on all four corners.
Kwik Fit, personally I’ve never used them.
I’ve used a local garage for fitting tyres before on my daily driver. They used to be a fitting centre for Blackcircles but gave it up. For reasons explained about time/profits and other work they had etc. I asked them if I got the tyres how much would they charge to fit? They quoted at the time £14 per corner, my maths told me it was around about the same as finding a Blackcircles fitting centre elsewhere in the town.
I then asked of them, can you get the tyres of my choice and fit them. Yes they could and very swiftly (next day) received a set and fitted them. Thrown in a tracking check (all good there) it cost £12 more for the set than going elsewhere in the town.
So give your local garage a shot at quoting for supply/fit.
I’ve noticed the AA and Asda tyre fitting websites can’t quote on Kumho. Maybe they can’t compete on price or just want to promote certain brands, who knows?
Check out the Tyre Reviews You Tube channel. The guy is a real tyre geek (in a good way) and does some really thorough comparison tests of lots of different types of tyres. I am sure that this will point you in the right direction.
Thanks for all the information. I’ve done a lot more research too so thought I’d share my findings as of August 2023 with the club.
Michelin PS5s are widely recommended and obviously a safe bet. The chap on the Tyre Reviews YouTube suggests that the new Continental Premiumcontact 7s are better overall, especially in the wet. The RAC had the best price for these fitted.
BlackCircles recommend the Kumho for £85. They’re a pretty decent midrange tyre. An alternative is the Toyo TR1, better reviewed than the Proxes Sport and only a little more than the Kumhos. I’d assume either would wear out faster than the Michelins, Continentals or Goodyears.
In the end I went for the GoodYear F1 Eagle Asymmetrical 6s which are very well reviewed and are currently 15% off at National (recently acquired by Halfords) with the TYA-2 code. There’s also a code for half price alignment so I ultimately paid just over £470 for the full set fitted and aligned. For what I’ll be using the car for, that seemed the right choice. National/ Halfords price match, and did a good job, took about two and a half hours. They were 2023 made tyres.
Websites to check prices…
National/ TyreShopper/ Halfords
BlackCircles
Asda Tyres
RAC
AA
Maybe ATS Euromaster, especially if you can get their 60 plus discount.
Hotukdeals occasionally have tyre offers too.
I paid £335 fitted for PS71s in Feb via Blackcircles, 215/45/17.
I think there was a discount code at the time. I have been more than happy with them. They’re used in all weathers and have included some Prescott hill climb and Curborough sprint use as well
Well my go to has been the BMW star rated Pirelli P zero. Yes more money than you suggested, but they are utterly superb. Great in general UK weather, mine have:
-put in track times competitive with a cup2 equipped mx5 of same spec
-stood up well to a wet -2 track day at donny
-refused to overheat even after 10+ Laps at a 30 degree blyton park
-after 8 track days, still had enough tread to pass an MOT
-come in OEM size
-always been readily available
No one seems to talk about them, but there’s a reason the taxi’s at “the ring” use them, they take some serious punishment!
Had some 215 45 17 Pilot Sport 5’s fitted today through Black Circles. The discount codes yo-yo day by day. I got 15% but they are at 10% today.
The date codes on the side walls are all 2823. I make that only a few weeks ago.
I switched from the Pirelli P Zeroes (205) my car had when I bought it to Falken FK520s (215) a couple weeks ago.
Managed to get these delivered for £280 and fitted for free by my grandfather, but even if paying to have them fitted I think these tyres represent decent value.
So far the road noise seems lower, wet weather driving is brilliant and dry too. Haven’t seen too much of the TCS light at least! Aquaplaning resistance also seems pretty good.
With the old P Zeroes I’d felt the rear wheels lose traction on a wet roundabout even driving very placidly. Not at all with the FK520.
Time will tell how long they last but I’d recommend them! At least from my limited experience of tyres
Mazda do seem to be trending away from Bridgestone, possibly to save a few quid. My new Mazda 3 has 18" Toyos and my old CX-5 had 19" Toyos. I’ve always been quite happy with Toyos, having first had them years ago (Proxes CF1) on an Octavia, where they were noticeably better than the factory tyres.
On my 3rd set of these, even had a set fitted to my daily driver, not an MX-5.
but half worn when I experienced those on a car and went off pretty quickly thereafter. Probably ok when they were new, seemed to go hard and lose grip even though part worn.
They came as a fitment on the NC, I think I’ve read more negatives than positives on those.
