I’m just after some advice and/or user experience of driving your ‘5’ with Pirelli P6000 fitted.
I had them fitted to my ‘5’ last September when I took delivery of my gold SSR alloys.
Shortly after having fitted them, I lost control of the car in the wet and totalled it. I stripped it down, and now have the gold alloys with the new brand new tyres (they’ve done less than 500 miles!) fitted to them.
The second ‘5’ I bought has original alloys, and some budget tyres with plenty of tread left on them.
What I want to do is fit my gold alloys back, as they finish the car…and go really well with the BRG/Tan colours.
Would you recommend me fit the Pirelli P6000’s back? I’ve read plenty of horror stories since buying them.
My other option was to find a garage that will swap the tyres and wheels over.
hi marc, havnt tried pirelli p6000 my self but cant see them being a bad tyre in production for almost 20 yrs, and to be honest no one realy posts positives, google any thing, sounds as if they just werent run in, but if youve lost confidence in them no choice but to change. goochie
Sounds like you were unlucky and all the mould release had not worn off the tyres. They really need about 500 miles to scrub them in properly. The P6000 has had some good reports on the forums, although personally I would go for Goodyear F1 GS D3
Having had P6000s on my first and latest MX-5, but Goodyear F1s on the two in between, I would say the P6000s are fine, a good tire, but the F1s have a bit more grip and create slightly less road noise.
I think I’m going to swap them over today and give them a go.
I’ll just have to ‘reign’ myself in, and be careful for a few hundred miles to bed them in properly. At least we’ve got some nice warm, dry weather at the moment which should help.
Where I bought them from recommended them as a very good sports car tyre…
mr muppet sorry meant on a mx-5 this being a mx5 forum, and wots wrong with the design? oh u love a fight dont ya lol, if they werent up to scratch they wouldnt hav stood the test of time, goochie
I had some new P6000s on the front of my last car (an old German hatch) and moved the cheapy budgets to the rear. On the way home the road was greasy from a recent shower. The back gave way and car swapped ends on a narrow lane. The only damage was a having to drive for miles to find a place to turn around. After finding myself catching the tail on a motorway slip road soon after, I had P6000s put on the back too, and I wouldn’t go near budget tyres again. My 5 has Yoko Parada 2 all round, and I made a prat of myself on a roundabout in the wet before they were run in. So I’d say brand new P6000s are grippier than run in budgets, and brand new Yokos are slipperier than either (the Yokos now grip like the gravity on Jupiter).
Hello, I have had Pirelli P6000’s on normal cars and a Turbo Nissan and I would not recommend them. They are really not great tyres. I personally would fit Goodyer F1’s or go for Toyo TR1’s. The Pirelli P6000’s are not a good tyre. I will try and find the AutoExpress tyre test I have on my PC for you as a PDF. Rob
You’re saying they are good despite not having driven on them. Someone might spend a couple of hundred quid based on your recommendation when there may well be a tyre, possibly even one designed recently, which is better in every important respect.
I have them on the Ford Focus and have been very happy with them, I even insisted on them when they needed replacing. Wet handling is very good and the tyres are very predictable.
Although I have no experience of them on a 5, I would certainly try them belore buying new ones if I already had a set.
Pirelli P6000 were fitted to my 5 when I bought it. The first thing i did was change the alignment but I still wasnt happy with the car. it was very nervous in the wet and grip in the dry was not that impressive either. I decided to change all 4 tyres- even though the rear 2 were nearly new. Went for Bridgestone RE720 and they sorted out the problems i was having- they were a very nice grippy and progressive tyre and predictable in the wet. I am now on Goodyear Eagle F1s which are very grippy but dont have quite as good feel as the bridgestones- even on higher pressures.
What i’m basically saying is i would not recomend these tyres for the MX5 based on previous experience. There are much more suitable alternatives around. my shortlist would be Goodyear Eagle F1, Toyo T1R, Goodyear Hydragrip and Vredestien Hi Track or the Vredestiens above that. Unfortunately the Bridgestones that I originally got are out of pruduction now otherwise I would have definately recommend them.
Have them on all four corners of my 5 - never had a problem. As long as they are all well matched in terms of tread etc and aligned then ‘losing it’ in the wet my be down to driving style and the nature of rear wheel drive as much as tyre choice.
Having said that, confidence is a big factor and if you have lost confidence in these tyres you are likely to attribute every little problem to them and therefore probably won’t enjoy your driving experience until you change them. I would imagine that much of this is placebo effect and the scientist in my is already trying to work out ways of testing this (“geek!” I hear you shout! [;)])
Tyres seem to be a fairly subjective thing with the one guarantee being that people will disagree over choices. If you ever visit a photography forum and read the ubiquitous ‘Canon vs Nikon’ debates then you will see what I mean. Rather than saying "they are both pretty good, but I prefer this one, one becomes the choice of the true visionary artist, whilst the other is the choice of satan’s paparazzi! Reading through the tyre reviews online you get an equal number of ‘terrible in the wet but wears well’ and ‘great in the wet but went through them quickly’. Just goes to show that everyone has their own story. The one factor that does seem to keep popping up is that not too many people would buy again (excluding motorway drivers).
Lastly, if you are anywhere near Bracknell then Bracknell Tyres and Batteries will fit 4 Toyo’s for £170. Hope than helps…
My girlfriend has P6000 on her mark 1, ok in the dry but loose of grip in wet is scary. She is upgrading from standard 14" to 15" and going to fit Toyo proxies which are awesome in any conditions.
A little after posting this, I went and swapped all of my original wheels (and budget tyres) to my gold SSR’s with the Pirelli rubber.
I’ve driven in heavy rain and although I’m taking it carefully - that maybe more done to gaining my confidence back - I’ve not yet had any wheel spin or loss of grip.
I’m the dry, they’re good tyres, I’m more than happy coming round a corner without lifting off - but I am always more careful in the wet now…
I wouldn’t buy them again, and certainly next time will look at getting Goodyear F1’s or Toyo TR1’s. However, I’m not feeling that I need to go and replace them before they’re worn.
my last MK2 had P6000 on them, to be honest, they are rubbish considering the price and performance in dry they are ok (not particularly grippy), in wet they are quite bad I skid from time to time at low speed (well not fast at least!)
then I moved on to eagle F1, expensive but much better in both wet and dry… good tyres some say they give better fuel economy but I doubt it?
then I moved on to Toyo T1R, just as good as eagle F1 in both wet and dry, cheap as chips (ebay 15" £122.99 delivered to your door) price of budget tyres performance of premium tyres, but it wears quickly compare to P6000 and F1
Now due to the wrong delivery I have Yokohama Parada on very very good grip in dry, not yet tried in wet but apparently not very good. cheap tyres similar price to Toyos dry grip on parada is better than Toyo imo, I just fitted them today not pushing hard yet but I can already tell the difference
your choice is correct, don’t go with P6000. For the same price you can probably get 2 Toyos
difficult one this, I have P6000s on my Mk2 and they seem fine, and the wife has cheapies on her mk1 and has never had any issues. Isnt it just a case of driving within the limitations of your car and set up? I have a Mini Cooper (proper one!) on 12" Falkens, and these have no grip at all and yet I can throw it around know just what the break away point is. If you insist on arriving at a corner with excess speed hoping your tyres will save you, its not really the tyres fault is it?
