Need help with new tires and brake pads

[akrisamar]

Hi

I have gone through 2 sets of tires in 30000 miles - 1 track day, 1 autocross, and many very spirited drives on mountain roads over 2 years. First set was stock, second set was the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 pole Position and now I am looking for my third set.

Any recommendations for affordable summer/all-season tires for this kind of usage that will last longer?

Is this tire good? - General Exclaim UHP

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y

Also, any recommendations for affordable brake pads for my kind of driving with less brake dust than our stock pads?

Thanks!

 

[melan47]

i am a big fan of the fuzion(aka bridgestone) and the nitto neogen. both are very sticky for street tires with decent tread wear ratings. the fuzion is directional and the nitto is not, so it can be rotated left to right. nitto can be found at discounttire.com and fuzion can be found at tirerack. i have used both these tires at track days and auto cross events. there are no doubt better tires out there, but you are going to pay considerately more. hope this helps.

brake pads - i have run the hawk hps pad in front and they are a great replacement. you will see considerately more initial bite and less fading at the track. dust is less than stock.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

I have been running winter/AS and then a summer tire. I have 26K on the car now and have only smoked out the stockers which are being replaced with Parada Spec2's (already in the garage waiting to be mounted on my new MS6 rims). But the Yokohama YK520's have been great for my winter tires. They dont hole shot great but oddly enough they brake and turn awesome!

 

[MikeHTally]

You might want to look into Yokohama YK520s or Kumho SPTs. Good grip and supposedly decent tread life.

 

[HotSnatch]

I've been researching tires a lot, looking for the best bang for the buck in terms of dry/wet traction, price, and tread life. So far all signs for me are pointing to the Goodyear Eagle GT. The reviews have been really good (from tire rack, etc.). It has good grip, amazing grip in the wet, its cheap (about $140 bucks for 18 inch), and it has 400 tread wear rating. I think the only downfall of the tire is that it isn't very comfortable on inconsistent pavement. Plus I really like the tread.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=5


Other tires I am considering:
Kumho SPT - Cheaper but not nearly as good in the wet, and probably less life.
BFG Geforce Sport - Great dry grip, but less wet grip. Price the same.
Goodyear F1 GS-D3 - Amazing all around, but 200 bucks a tire.

Hope this helps.

 

[ericm]

I've been researching tires a lot, looking for the best bang for the buck in terms of dry/wet traction, price, and tread life. So far all signs for me are pointing to the Goodyear Eagle GT. The reviews have been really good (from tire rack, etc.). It has good grip, amazing grip in the wet, its cheap (about $140 bucks for 18 inch), and it has 400 tread wear rating. I think the only downfall of the tire is that it isn't very comfortable on inconsistent pavement.

I have a set. I mostly drive mountain roads and we sometimes get light snow. I didn't want to drive on the stock tires in snow.

The GTs steer more heavily than the stock tires... the car loses some of that twitchy go-kart feel and you need to move the wheel just a little more to initiate a turn. It's not objectionable, with the stock tires the car steers almost too quick. They stick just as well in the dry and better in the wet, especially when it's in the mid 30s or colder. I think they are a bit quieter on rough pavement, and I can't tell a difference in ride.

I'd get another set of the GTs, and that's not something I'd say about the stock tires. Costing less and wearing better is icing on the cake.

The GTs also are almost the same size as the stock tires (in 215/45) while most other tires that size are smaller. The car's already geared too low- I didn't want to get tires that would lower the effective gearing further.

 

[HotSnatch]

You've pretty much sold me on getting these tires once the stock ones wear out (only 2800 miles so far...).

 

[wmherman@mchsi.]

The car's already geared too low- I didn't want to get tires that would lower the effective gearing further.

Thanks for the info on the tires.

Speaking of the car being geared too low, I agree. I wish 6th gear was more of an overdrive gear for cruising the interstate at 80ish. I guess Mazda wanted to make sure we'd have the power we needed, regardless of speed.

I have a pair of C5 Corvettes, both with 6 speeds. They turn only about 1,450 RPMs at 65 MPH. However, I have absolutely no power at that speed without downshifting. But on the other hand, they get considerably better fuel economy than my Speed 3 at cruising speed.

 

[creina1221]

I have the blizzak's for winter and they were expensive, but I couldnt have been more satisfied. As for the summer tire, I have the Rays engineering wheel w/ the toyo proxes tires, same size as stock and they seem to have held up more in regards to tread life and overall performance than the potenzas.

Good luck