Given
96%
while driving a
Mazda RX 8 231PS
(235/40 R18 W) on
mostly country roads
for 4,000
spirited miles
Bought these for my Mazda RX-8 after the original equipment Bridgestones became dry and began cracking. After buying these many people told me about how the RX-8 does not react well to a poor tire choice, especially so in the wet.
By that logic then, these are not poor tires. These are, in fact, brilliant tires, not just because of their low price.
In 235/40/18 these were £55 per tire which represents pretty brilliant value. Obviously a little more expensive than your usual bunch of Haidas and Landsails, but a damn sight cheaper than anything by the likes of Hankook, Falken or Toyo which sit at that kind of 'premium budget' or 'mid range' section of tires.
Upon fitting these, dry grip was drastically improved although that was not hard given the previous tires. What was impressive however is just how much more aquaplaining resistance the car now has, something very important when all power is being pushed to the rear wheels. The car is incredibly stable at speed in the wet, and even when coming off roundabouts and exiting corners with partial throttle, there's no indication you're ever on the edge of these tires' ability.
Road feedback is very good, you can feel the tire is on the edge of its boundaries before it starts making audible warnings of the approaching grip barrier. The car is running on coilovers with a Fast Road setup so obviously comfort is hard to gauge - but noise levels are very reasonable and the tire does the best it can given the circumstances it is put under on the setup.
Finally - wear. The tires have only been on for around 4000 miles, but pretty much the whole time they've been on they've been driven with 'spirit' - and they're holding really well. Rears are at around 6.5mm, possibly a little less, fronts just a little deeper so a working life should be around 15k in on the rears which given the driving the car is subjected to is impressive.
Overall brilliant to find a very good quality budget tire.