Iāve only got low mileage on my 2 year old soft top.Ā Itās a 2.0S mk 5 and now needs new rear tyres (Iām about 1.4mm off legal).Ā Front tyres still have 3-4mm tread on.
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As I havenāt a clue about what to get, Iāve been on the tyresonthedrive, Black Circles, EventTyres and Halfords websites and they all seem to be pointing me towards āmore of the sameā - i.e. factory fitted Bridgestone Potenza RE050AĀ
I've been looking at the Bridgestone Weather Control A005 and wonder if anyone has any experience of this tyre on the rear?Ā Wet grip seems to be better than the Potenza, but at the sacrifice of Wear.
I struggled a bit last winter, and without shoving 24kg of unused cat litter in the boot my car ran like a labrador on lino in mm of snow.Ā And of course, I live up a hill!Ā I know this is supposed to be part of the fun of owning an MX5, but Iām a 50 year old blonde and if itās bad this year, Iāll be leaving the run around in the garage and catching the bus!
Any thoughts anybody please?Ā Car is used to commute 8 miles each way to work daily, mainly on motorway and A roads if that helps with a recommendation.
Any guidance please? And please donāt tell me to sell the car and get a Range Rover!
Well, I have Bridgestone Potenzas fitted on the MX (on it when we got it) and I shanāt be having them again.
Donāt like them at all, horrible noisy things. Trying Kumho next going by reports Iāve read from other MX drivers.
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These cars do struggle a bit in the snow. If its icy then wifey leaves her car at home and we take my car having parked it up the road overnight. We have hills in and out of our house and it can be treacherous ā¦ admittedly rare though.
Thanks for the suggestion. Any particular Kumho tyre? I presume itās ok to have a different tyre on the back to that on the front, providing they are in pairs?
Canāt advise you on the tyres, but if you pm NickD our in-house expert Iām sure heāll give you excellent advice.Ā Be sure to give him the exact year/model of ā5ā you have.Ā Best regards.
Obviously you havenāt heard about tyre rotation? Front to back and vice versa, but always on the same side. - In other words, right front (offside) to right rear (also offside) and same for nearside too. It should tell you this in the owners handbook.
NEVER mix tyres either, all tyres on an MX5 should be same make,and same type, the car needs perfect balance and tyres are your main link with the road, and your health depends on all being the same.
Nick will give you his opinion on which tyres are best, but thereās no such animal (yet) as a mk5. - typo error?
If the car is two years old, then it may be a Mk 4 (most likely) as Mk 3ās finished about the same time as Mk 4ās came out.
Too late now for rotation, but bear it in mind before you wipe out the rears on the next set.
Bit heavy on the āgoā pedal Sue? tyres used for commute only should last better than this, rear wear indicates wheel spin, which points to a heavy foot. A 2 litre car doesnāt need this, thatās why itās equipped with a gear shift. It also has better ālow revs torqueā, which is the motive power that drives the car.
Assuming that all roads you drive on arenāt as bad as rough sandpaper, but good tarmac roads?
And as a ānewbieā on our forum, you need advice about keeping the roof drains clear, as neither the dealer or your handbook tell you about this. There are other pointers you may find helpful, but thatās why we exist , to help new owners realise the car is worth looking after, - which from other comments in your post, indicate that you do love the car.
All posted with good intentions, though it may seem critical to you. - Not my intention.
I managed to wear out the rear tyres on my Jaguar XF in 12k miles and never managed to spin the tyres, mainly because it was automatic and while I drive enthusiastically, Iām sympathetic to the mechanical bits. I put it down the several roundabouts on the dual carriageway close to where I live which means plenty of 70mph stretches followed by the flipping roundabouts that get in the way. Jag was on Pirelli which is the same as my X5, although for some reason theyāre holding up better on the BMW which is faster and heavier.
Iāve recently fitted a pair of A005 Weather Control tyres on the rear of my Mk2. So far so good, Iām very happy with them. I run my car over the winter months in Scotland, so always fit winter tyres all 'round (I have a spare set of wheels for this). The only time I get stuck is when the drifts are too deep to get throughā¦I donāt expect the A005 to be as good as a dedicated winter tyre in the snow, but it will certainly beat a summer tyre in cold/slippery/greasy conditions and is clearly very good in the wet and dry. Well worth a try Iād say!
Apologies. Still getting used to this forum interface and hadnāt been notified of a message. Clearly I have my notification settings wrong somewhere.
On the Volvo matter, youāre a cheeky fu**er! I will reply to your PM.
I have run MK2 and MK3 over the last 5 years on winter tyres in winter and PS4 Michelin in summer and so do not understand why anybody would run all weather tyreĀ
Other than the layout for a set of winter rims the running cost is the sameĀ
Why compromise in summer with all weather and the same for winterĀ
Use summer tyres for (yep you guessed it) summer and winter in winterĀ
That way you get the best of both worldsĀ
After all you only have a contact patch of a4 paper on your carĀ
The 5 is a very capable car in the winter with the correct tyres and no need for extra weight in the bootĀ
Thereās low mileage and thereās low mileage. Latest official figures quote average as 7,900 miles a year. Look at the figures for cars typically chosen as company cars and it will be higher. I want to say Vauxhall Cavalier but thatās showing my age. With MX-5s particularly among people on this forum the average will be lower. Not unusual to find 25 year old MX-5s in enthusiast ownership with under 50k. Would be helpful to know the figures for your car.
When you say 1.4mm off legal do you mean 1.4mm away from the 1.6mm legal minimum? This would indicate 3mm of tread left on the rear and 3-4mm on the front so not a huge amount left on all of them. While it may be perfectly legal to drive a car on the road with 1.6mm of tread on all the tyres there will be nowhere near the grip of a new set particularly on snow and ice. I wouldnāt want any less than 2mm on any car of mine particularly if winter was approaching.
NickD will undoubtedly give you the best advice anywhere. I went with his advice on my Mk3 and he fitted a full set of the Kumho KU39s. His tyre knowledge is very good. More importantly his knowledge of which tyres suit the MX-5 is off the scale. I could have spent twice the money and finished up with something that wasnāt anywhere near as good on the car. If they still made the KU39 I would be fitting them on my Mk4 without hesitation. When I do need a set Iāll be going with his recommendation again even if itās a brand Iāve never heard of.
Have to say I love the comment about āhandling like a labrador on linoā. Priceless. As you also appear to favour the use of a number of bags of cat litter as ballast and from other comments it would suggest that what we have here is a blonde crazy cat lady with a wicked sense of humour and an MX-5. Think we are going to like having you around, could be fun.
