Tyre choice

[Elfman]

i've got Falken 912's on mine, i always went for T1-R's because they realy are awesome, the car has a much better feel with the falkens because of the tougher sidewall and as of yet i havent found that they've lacked in grip at all. mines only an NA like on stadard wheel set up

[mr2turbo99]

running falken FK452's on the rear. 16" 225's Fantastic tyre. Car feels so planted when conering hard. Back end hasnt let go once even in the wet.

Ive also read a lot of very good reviews on this particular tyre.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/FK452.htm

[Jim Galbally]

track tyre disadvantages:

they are worse at water dispersal than proper tyres, so standaing water will cause an issue. in the real world theyrenot that bad compared to most road tyres, obviously "proper" all weather tyres will outperform them.

theyre noisy

they're HUGE, the sidewalls are rock hard and they take up much more space than most normal tyres due to their size, you could find you have clearance issues on poorly modified cars.

they wear VERY fast

they come with significantly less tread depth on them than most tyres, so youre already starting with less roadgoing tyres life


in the real world i've found them perfecly fine for road use and never had them in the slightest big dangerous, but as i mentioned before they dont last very long and it can get expensive constantly replacing them on a road car.

[malcster]

I've noticed a few people quopting the same profile front to back, am I not right in thinking the profile shoudl change front to back as the width changes?

The profile being a ratio this would make sense...i.e.

if upi went with these sizes...
rears = 225 / 45 / 16
front = 205 / 50 / 16

45% of 225 = 101.25
50% of 205 = 102.5 ...so fairly similar in "height" - difference of 1.25mm.


BUT if you went for the same profiles...
rears = 225 / 45 / 16
front = 205 / 45 / 16

45% of 225 = 101.25
45% of 205 = 92.25 ...so big difference in "height" - 9mm.

So to keep the "height" the same over front and rear, because the widths are different due to the staggared setup on the MR2 - the profile has to also be different.

[Leon.]

You should be cross referencing stock sizes and matching to these if you're running 15's:

195/55 = 107.25

225/50 = 112.5

[HighwayStar]

You also need to consider the shape of the tyre wall on the rim width. A front 205/50 say will behave differently on a 6.5, 7 or 8" rim due to the different shapes of the side wall due to the 'narrowness' or width of the pinch where it sits on the wheel lips. The more 'pinched' the tyre the rounder or more curvaceous the sidewall profile and so the softer the ride (and steering response) as the sidewall allows more vertical flex. A lesser pinch gives a straighter and more rigid sidewall.....

R.

[Race Idiot]

You also need to consider the shape of the tyre wall on the rim width. A front 205/50 say will behave differently on a 6.5, 7 or 8" rim due to the different shapes of the side wall due to the 'narrowness' or width of the pinch where it sits on the wheel lips. The more 'pinched' the tyre the rounder or more curvaceous the sidewall profile and so the softer the ride (and steering response) as the sidewall allows more vertical flex. A lesser pinch gives a straighter and more rigid sidewall.....

R.

This is how my current tyres are 205/50/16 on 7.5 and 225/50/16 on 8.5 the sidewalls have a definite curve to them and the ride is pretty comfy for an mr2. True about the steering response tho, definitely felt a bit sharper with the standard square sidewalls.