Dry grip is fine, but wet grip isn't great. The car's mapped but can wheelspin in 5th when it's wet. Road noise is high and comfort isn't great either. Wear rates are better than previous tires I've tried (conti sport contact 2 10,000miles, goodyear F1 eagles 12,000miles and Falken 452's 12,000miles). Done 6,000 miles so far and hardly even begun to wear!

Goodyears were the best of the bunch for noise, comfort and grip. Maxxis are at the bottom for everything but wear rates.

On my third set on a souped up Alfa Romeo 159 on 19" rims. Tried q few others but keep coming back to these. For the price - stunning. Forget Bridgestones or Pireeli on the Alfa, these are the ones!

bought these tires on recommendations I have read on the net (including this site) and I haven't been dissapointed. they replaced the OE conti 2's on my fabia 2 vRS (1.4 TSI). I have recently been on a long lakes meet with briskoda, and really pushed these tires in wet ans dry conditions, along roads like hartside pass (lots of straights followed by hairpins ect).. in short they are a BARGIN for the price!

DRY: Incredible. don't think I have had as good a dry tire as these. ultimate cornering grip is huge, and when you reach the limit they are very progressive, no snap away. my car is standard, and i managed to keep up with a sorted (200+bhp front rear anti-roll bars coilovers ect ect ) octy I vRS on these roads without issue! (although in the wet he was better!) also an exact same car as mine, but fitted with dunlop SP maxx tires was mullered due to the extra grip provided by the maxxis victras, a passenger in both cars commented that mine was a "completeley different car" compaired to the vRS with the dunlops! the only difference was the tires!
Dry traction was also very very good, being able to get on the power in the corners without getting messed up and activating the XDS also made it quicker! amazing.

WET: I thought given the dry performance wet would be shocking (yokohoma style) but it isnt. wet grip is as good as the conti's was. traction and cornering not nearly as good as the dry, but up to all the other tires I have tried (conti's pirellis toyo's ect) they also hold the really cool progressive characteristic at the limit. there is no drama, just easily controlled.. there is cirtainly not the trade off I expected considering the dry grip! only time they struggle is in cutting deep water... simple solution, avoid the deep puddles!

wear: I can't comment I have done about 2000 miles in them now, they took about 500 miles to "bed in" and give up the grip.

comfort: a bit more niosy than the contis, if you do alot of motorway miles and have no tunes on, you probably won't want these. actual comfort? mine are 205/40's so really not designed to be soft with that profile!

buy again? definatly.

summary: with the OE contis on the back and these on the front, it has transformed the handling of the car, instead of 'designed' understeer, it is now much more 'pointy' and go-kart like, much more fun!

reccomended.

My only criticism is one of road noise of these tires, Excellent value for money, very long lasting, and although I drive gently, I have not found them lacking in emergency braking situations or on faster roundabouts, wet or dry. My car wears the n/s front tire more than the o/s but the n/s has done 20000 miles and is still a millimetre or so above the wear bar. My mechanic tells me that these tires are on the hard side, but with a big heavy car I have found them to perform way above expectations. They replaced a pair of Dunlop SP Maxx which, although the factory fitment, did not last as long and were more than twice the price(and had a similar tread pattern)

very good tire drives well in all condition loads of grip

Good tires. But too noisy at low speed and not the most comfortable ones. I'm gonna change 2 of them with 40000 km. and I'm gonna try the MA-Z4S Victra. We'll see which ones are the best ones.
The grip in dry conditions is very good, but in wet conditions it could be better.
In short, i'm pretty happy with them, but i'm gonna try with two MA-Z4S Victra.

Great tires. Gained good traction at all times and under harsh braking they gripped well. due to hard compund they lasted about 18000 miles with combo of town and motorway driving with the odd thrash through the country lanes. I do like these tires but availability can be an issue at times.

I had to buy new front tires yesterday [late July 2010] to pass NZ's requirements [wof]. Uneven wear on the inside [which one can't really see ], I couldn't find anything online of any substantial use on the brand I was offered which is Maxxis.Therefore I am offering this info as a 1 hour user!
Mazda 3 , 2.3 has a road noise problem and apparently a 'scalloping problem' on tires. I haven't had a wheel alignment done for at least a year [my car is 2005]. Reports are Mazda 3s are hard on tires.
My previous tires were from new supplied by dealer Bridgestone Potanza [spelling may be wrong] 250 x 50 x R17. I have done 36, 000 kms mostly suburban but maybe 20% on Auckland's motorways which are a mixture of smooth and horrible cheap rough stoney chip surface. The latter surface creates a lot of road noise which I never noticed in my previous car [much beloved Honda Civic GTI].
So far I cannot report on road noise but I instantly noticed that these tires make the car so much more manoevreable - I can now get into supermarket/public car parks dead straight whereas before I was always parking on an embarrassingly amateurish angle.
The other advice I was offered is - inflate tires to around 36 psi not 32 as per the Mazda manual. Get them aligned every 6 months or so - at least once a year. Some tire suppliers offer a 6 month check for free. That way you will save a lot of money. My 2 front tires were $215 each with alignment extra. Some suppliers offer alignment free and check ups free but they had not offered Maxxis tires - Bridgestone and Toyo. If I had realized the alignment and Mazda wear and tear were such a problem the original tires would have lasted another 2 years.

First off i have a very agressive driving style.

Bought these tires because they were cheap. They wear quickly and are horrible in the wet, they can be good in the dry after they've had time to warm up. I bought some Dunlop SP Sport Maxx to replace them and now i just use the maxxis on the rears for fun.

Where to start, fantastically priced tire, grip is very good if not excellent in the dry, only had them sliding once in the wet, but that was deliberate on my behalf, after crashing in the bloody car park in the wet ( 20mph ) on Goodyears, I was rather sheepish about driving in the wet in this, my first BMW, and a 328 sport to boot.
Anyway, the only fly in the ointment is the wear rates, I'm gutted, just looking for a 3rd set of rears in less than a year, and I dont have a lead foot, mostly m'way driving at 80mph, I do over 30k a year, and a generous estimate of 7k per tire just isnt good enough.
I've had the tracking checked and all sorts, fronts are still top bollox after 25k, but am eating rears at the same rate of knots as my m'bike!. . .. sheesh!!!

Where to start, fantastically priced tire, grip is very good if not excellent in the dry, only had them sliding once in the wet, but that was deliberate on my behalf, after crashing in the bloody car park in the wet ( 20mph ) on Goodyears, I was rather sheepish about driving in the wet in this, my first BMW, and a 328 sport to boot.
Anyway, the only fly in the ointment is the wear rates, I'm gutted, just looking for a 3rd set of rears in less than a year, and I dont have a lead foot, mostly m'way driving at 80mph, I do over 30k a year, and a generous estimate of 7k per tire just isnt good enough.
I've had the tracking checked and all sorts, fronts are still top bollox after 25k, but am eating rears at the same rate of knots as my m'bike!. . .. sheesh!!!

I got a set of rims that came with a set of Maxxis Victra MA-Z1 tires, and from the first 2nd-gear-left-hander, I immediately noticed that the "AA" traction rating on the tires are not just for show. My Civic's rear end tucked nicely into the turn and steering response was quite good. I tried a couple of S-turns and the tires gave me the grip I needed that my old (and nearly bald) tires couldn't.

On the expressway on my way back home, it started to rain hard, and I wanted to see if the V-shaped tread pattern was any good on wet roads. I took the car up to about 120-130 km/h, and the car just went straight ahead, ignoring the puddles all over the road.

Dry and wet braking are good. With my old Dunlop Le Mans tires I couldn't brake as late as I wanted to; however, with the Maxxis Victras, late braking became less risky as the car responded well to brake inputs.

Overall, I would say that the Maxxis Victra MA-Z1 tires give you good value for your money. It's a tire that I have recommended to a lot of my friends who regularly drive on race tracks (since the Victras have relatively good grip and are rather cheap), and a tire that I will definitely buy again.