Mazda MX5 2.0 Manual Tires

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Tire Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 (92) 84% 78% 77% 77% 75% 79%
Extreme Performance VR2 (8) 91% 57% 84% 86% 61% 39%

Mazda MX5 2.0 Manual Tire Review Highlights

Writing about the Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 given 70% (215-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 1200 spirited miles
A mixed bag these ones. I'll start with the positives:

Survived two mixed weather track days. Although conditions meant pushing hard was never an option, most road tires show some shoulder wear in track conditions, but these held up well. In Cold / Greasy conditions, they clearly performed better than the same car on semi-slicks and the handling was predictable, consistent and controllable. Oversteer was progressive and correctable.

Next, in very very very heavy rain conditions on the motorway (and I mean, can't even see the car in front kinda wet), they performed very well. Very little if any aquaplaning, resistance to it was good. Felt calm and steady over standing water and in damp conditions it felt like the tire was keyed into the road.

Lastly, country road driving in damp / changeable conditoins, also excellent, very reliable grip, even when pressing on.

So what about the downsides... well, theres a few:

1) very odd steering characteristics off centre and on / off throttle. The car changes direction slightly on and off throttle, a behaviour I've only seen when tires were different brands, or one was hugely over / under inflated. It suggests that all four tires may not be perfectly the same dimensionally. It lends an oddly floaty feeling just off centre when driving on roads.

2) very very very firm. For a road tire, the carcass stiffness is significant. These are actually about as stiff as a set of Nankang AR1 track tires, and significantly harder than the likes of a classic P zero. For a road tire this makes it quite uncomfortable. It certainly feels "sporty" but over all but perfect roads, its quite uncomfortable.

3) I have no data yet on how these will perform under hard driving in dry conditions, so will need to report back once I've had a chance to do so.
tire reviewed on 2024-12-06 02:28:05
Writing about the Extreme Performance VR2 given 76% (205-45-17-)
Driving on track for 400 average miles
On the road they are a bit harsh as the compound that i chose is the one with reinforced sidewall (R7A Medium 140 TW) and the NK (new carcass) variant and they do whine a bit when slowing down especially. They grip well, hard to get them to slip, heat up very quickly and are easy to manage. For the price i would highly recommend them.
tire reviewed on 2024-09-10 01:58:37
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