4 yrs and this is my first post!

R

raghtal

Member
I've been lurking for so long I think its time I posted something. I have a stock Sunlight Silver P5 that I got in May of 2001, just went over 100k, and will be fully paid for in 2 months. The stock Dunlops (SP5000M - P195/50R16 83V) I have are finally dead (guess I got lucky with my set, I keep reading about some pretty quick tire wear) but I've been riding on some good Hankook W400s in the winter. They've exceeded my expectations. I'm now shopping for some new performance tires. I'm a daily commuter, and the roads I drive on are sometimes uneven, but its mostly major highway and a bit of arterial roads to work and back each day. I was looking for something that had a good wet weather rating, and good wear rating, but would be sticky enough to keep me on the road in sharp turns and accelerations at the tail end of on-ramp turns. I'm the first to admit that I brake late and accelerate too soon ;-)

I've done some preliminary research, and I'm really liking the Ventus Prime line from Hankook (K105). I'm also looking to go up from 16" to 17", and if I do, I'm looking at new rims too (my stock rims are getting some pitting occuring so I think its time to get rid of them for something new to go with my new tires). I don't want to lower or change my car set up in anyway (althought its not me doing the work, its my trusted mechanic who swaps my tires/rims on/off each season on my P5 and my 01 Integra).

My questions are:
1) experience people have had with this kind of changeover; going from stock 16s to brand new 17s, and not changing the bolt design or ride height or spring compression or anything

2) experience people have had with Hankooks, or any other Y rated tire.

3) if someone can tell me what these rims are -> http://tinyurl.com/hb3kh I just love the look of that P5
Thanks a lot everyone. Sorry for the long post. Guess its 4 yrs worth all rolled in to one ;-)
 
I like the rims.....looks sweet. Four years? The ultimate lurker. Glad you got involved. (thumb)
 
raghtal said:
just went over 100k...........The stock Dunlops (SP5000M - P195/50R16 83V) I have are finally dead
Click to expand...

Holy crap, you got 100,000 miles out of the stock tires??? Or have you been replacing them with the same type of tire?

I doubt going from 16 to 17 will be much difference, although technically it will probably hurt performance (more rotating mass near the outer edge of the spinning wheel, more unsprung weight), unless you get a lighter wheel which can be $$$. Personally I'd recommend you go wider rather than taller.

As far as Y-rating, I doubt you need that high a rating (186 mph+): Z rated will be fine (149 mph+). I liked my Kumho ECSTA Supra 712s, although I like my Yokohama AVS ES100s more (but they wear out faster). Both handle well in the wet and are fun on the track.
 
registering said:
Holy crap, you got 100,000 miles out of the stock tires??? Or have you been replacing them with the same type of tire?

No, original tire. I've been good to them, and not driving them in winter has helped (winter here is 4-5 mnths out of the year)

I doubt going from 16 to 17 will be much difference, although technically it will probably hurt performance (more rotating mass near the outer edge of the spinning wheel, more unsprung weight), unless you get a lighter wheel which can be $$$. Personally I'd recommend you go wider rather than taller.

Yeah, I was reading a lot of postings where 17" inch performance turned out to be sucky. I do agree about going wider rather than taller, and if so, sticking with 16" just makes sense when you think about the physics...

As far as Y-rating, I doubt you need that high a rating (186 mph+): Z rated will be fine (149 mph+). I liked my Kumho ECSTA Supra 712s, although I like my Yokohama AVS ES100s more (but they wear out faster). Both handle well in the wet and are fun on the track.
Click to expand...

Ah, I'll look in to the Kumhos and more Z rated tyres. I had read about Yoko tire wear not being that good in comparison to other brands, but I'll check around some more. I gotta hurry, the snows all gone and its spring!
 
Welcome!

I'd recommend the Kumho Ecsta ASX but you don't really need an all-season since you have snow tires. They have an excellent treadwear rating though. Check out tirerack.com, they have a great tire comparison tool that lets you sort by price, treadwear, or any of their user rating categories.
 
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Welcome. You really deserve the award for putting 62k miles on those stock Dunlops (in Ontario, no less) and you're still alive to post about it.
I barely got 20k on mine and I was never so happy to buy new tires in my life.
 
The Kumho ecsta asx are the tires i have too. they have great grip and amazing wet traction! haha, well i say that coz i was rolling on the dunlops, the crappiest wet traction ever. I lasted about 50000 on them. I was holding out for some rims, but i cudnt anymore, since it started raining alot, and i practically had no tread left on the dunlops.
 
shad0wSS said:
The Kumho ecsta asx are the tires i have too. they have great grip and amazing wet traction! haha, well i say that coz i was rolling on the dunlops, the crappiest wet traction ever. I lasted about 50000 on them. I was holding out for some rims, but i cudnt anymore, since it started raining alot, and i practically had no tread left on the dunlops.
Click to expand...

Yeah they seem like pretty nice tires. I only have one of them though, it is my full-size spare. It's mounted on the passenger side rear right now though because I got a bubble in the sidewall of one of my Ecsta MX summer tires.
 
I may see what kind of deal i can get on some Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s. I got a deal on some x-ice tires for the Integra, so it can't hurt to try.
 
raghtal said:
I've been lurking for so long I think its time I posted something. I have a stock Sunlight Silver P5 that I got in May of 2001, just went over 100k, and will be fully paid for in 2 months. The stock Dunlops (SP5000M - P195/50R16 83V) I have are finally dead (guess I got lucky with my set, I keep reading about some pretty quick tire wear) but I've been riding on some good Hankook W400s in the winter. They've exceeded my expectations. I'm now shopping for some new performance tires. I'm a daily commuter, and the roads I drive on are sometimes uneven, but its mostly major highway and a bit of arterial roads to work and back each day. I was looking for something that had a good wet weather rating, and good wear rating, but would be sticky enough to keep me on the road in sharp turns and accelerations at the tail end of on-ramp turns. I'm the first to admit that I brake late and accelerate too soon ;-)

I've done some preliminary research, and I'm really liking the Ventus Prime line from Hankook (K105). I'm also looking to go up from 16" to 17", and if I do, I'm looking at new rims too (my stock rims are getting some pitting occuring so I think its time to get rid of them for something new to go with my new tires). I don't want to lower or change my car set up in anyway (althought its not me doing the work, its my trusted mechanic who swaps my tires/rims on/off each season on my P5 and my 01 Integra).

My questions are:
1) experience people have had with this kind of changeover; going from stock 16s to brand new 17s, and not changing the bolt design or ride height or spring compression or anything

2) experience people have had with Hankooks, or any other Y rated tire.

3) if someone can tell me what these rims are -> http://tinyurl.com/hb3kh I just love the look of that P5
Thanks a lot everyone. Sorry for the long post. Guess its 4 yrs worth all rolled in to one ;-)
Click to expand...
First off, welcome! Well, officially that is. :) And that is some pretty good life you got out of the dunflops... I think I made it to about 55-60k km before the inner sidewall blew on one of them. Also, kudos to you for running winters... are they on your stock rims (ie, you swap tires over spring and fall), or are they on a separate set of rims/steelies? If you are looking to upgrade rims, and don't have dedicated rims for the winters yet, just keep the stockers. Trust me, it just makes the swap that much easier and quicker.

To answer your questions...
1) I went from the stock 16's to 17's and had no problems. In fact, if you stick to 205/40r17, your speedometer will be almost bang on. Check out www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html to determine what will/won't work for you. Since you are not dropping the car, you should not have to worry about any issues with rubbing.
2) No experience with Hankooks, sorry. I will be getting Falken FK-451s in a few weeks for my summer rims... I've heard nothing but good reviews about them, so I'm hoping they'll work out better than my previous summers (Falken Ziex ZE-512s). Check the rims/tires section for other peoples' recommendations on tires, etc. tirerack.com, tiretrends.ca (out of Vancouver), discounttire.com, 1010tires.com, there are plenty of sites out there with info and reviews.
3) I LOVE bronze rims... and those would look amazing on your car. (thumb)
 
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