With winter coming I need to get some all season tires and according to tirerack.com and the miata.net calculator I have made three different packages.

The question I have is which one would be the best for the price, would fit the stock 18 touring rims, and not cause the vdc to go crazy.


Which would you guys pick out of all three?

Avon Tech M550 A/S
225/45/18
245/45/18

$603.90 (w/ shipping)



Kumho ASX
225/40/18 – 3.4% fast
245/40/18 – 3.6% fast

$444.06 (w/ shipping)



Kumho ASX
235/40/18 – 2.25% fast
255/45/18 – 1.3% fast

$504.87 (w/ shipping)

 

Consumer Reports recommendations above. Consider one of the top rated tires.

 

I have used the Kumho ASX's for the year I was stationed in Virginia. They held traction very well in the rain and floods.

 

Why?

Why mount no season tires on a Z (On any car for that matter) ? You get sub par performance in summer AND in winter.

It's not much more expensive to get two sets of tires as they'll last twice as long. Plus might save you from a costly fender bender...

 

NOT!
I have kuhmo asx. They give good rain traction, and thats about it. Also, they wear quick.

 

So in this month's issue of Road and Track (the one where the Z was named best sports car under $30k) there's a review of sporty tires. They compared the Pirelli PZero Nero (summer only), Potenza RE-01R (summer only) and Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS (all season). If you look at their test results the all season tires did extremely well. I have a set that I just got but haven't mounted them yet. The tire rack reviews of these tires have been favorable as well. You may want to check them out.

Kolia as for why someone would want "no season" tires as you put it...
1. In places where it is cold (<50 degrees) for an extended period of time without snow they are the ideal tire. Snow tires are horrible in the dry. Summer tires are useless once it gets cold. That's why all seasons are preferrable.

2. In addition all season tires are cheaper to buy and often have nearly twice the treadware rating.

So that's why.
NzZ

 

Wow the Falkens were rated better than the Michelin MXV4s?

 

For what it's worth, I put a set of Toyo Proxes on my Z, they look great are all season rated (meaning they don't turn get super hard like the stock Potenza's do below 50 deg. F), they grip far better than the stock Potenza's do in all conditions, and they feel more solid all the way around. I still don't go out driving in the snow intentionally, but I feel confident that if a "surprise" snowstorm hits in Chicago, which it often does, I can get from work to home 7 Miles, and not land my car in a ditch. I was able to get the tires mounted on a new set of 18" rims that look great on the car for just over $1000. If you aren't finding what you like on Tire rack, check out East Coast Tires, They were very helpful, shipping was great, and I picked up 4 wheels and tires mounted and shipped to my door for less than what some people on here are paying for 1 wheel. IMO if you are uncertain if you want to do dedicated winter and summer tires, pick up a decent set of all seasons on aftermarket rims, if you want to switch back to summer tires in the spring, it's a simple 1 hour job you can do in your driveway, if you want to do dedicated winter tires next year, have them mounted on the stock rims, they will be cheaper, because you will most certainly go with bigger dia. wheels for your aftermarket set, and you are good to go. If you still like the all season tires, you are all set there too, you now have a spare set of wheels to mount tires on for the track, your options open up immensly when you have a second set of wheels. Just my .02c

I have 245 40 ZR18 F +.55%
and 275 35 ZR 18 R + 2.63%

Stock front tires are 1.52% smaller than the rear in circumference
The above front tires are .54% smaller than the above rear

I have them mounted on 18 x 8.5" front and 18 x 9.5" rear. My avatar is my car

 

It's still sad to have not so good summer tires on a Z. I'd get winter tires for winter on mine.

Hell, I have winter tires on my Titan 4x4 ! lol

 

Hey in an ideal world I would have summer-onlys. But snow tires would suck during the 5-6 months of the year it's too cold to run summers. And honestly, from what I've read the newer all seasons don't give up much compared to middle-of-the-road summer tires like the RE040 and the like.

NzZ

 

My point exactly.

Good car with crapy tires all the time...

Good high performance winter tire (studless ice tires in particular) aren't that bad even in the dry and will outperform most no season tire during the cold season. I guarantee they stick better than a re040 below 40F!

Of course, it all depends on how much we value our driving experience and how much fun we plan to derive from our 2 doors, no back seat and limited cargo space sport cars... I tend to beleive most people buy them to drive them.

I'm from Quebec where pretty much everybody has two sets of wheels. Winter is black-steel-rim season. It's not that much more expensive to carry two sets of wheels. You save on mount/dismount. And you get to drive a car that handle well all the time.

To each his own of course. I just hope someone driving on no season is planning on upgrading any suspension componants! lol

 

Thanks for the replies everybody, it is much appreciated to hear both sides of the coin.

The reason why i'd like to stick with all seasons is for a couple of things.

1. Price. The kumho's are cheap from what I see on tire rack and I bought a set for my gf's hyundai elantra and so far living in chicago with the freak storm we just had, they have done a awesome job!.

However I know being that the Z is a rwd car there is much more chance of sliding around so I can't say for sure how they will do in the winter.

2. The second reason tied into price also is I'm planning on buying a set of rims and dedicated track tires so running all seaons on the street is fine. It's not like i'm planning on driving my car to its actual capability on the street. It would be much more of a touring aspect and getting from point a to point b situation.

3. My warranty is gone and my factory tires are so feathered that I have to replace them anyways.

So tieing all these things together it just seems justified to save a lot of dough by running all seasons.


The main question I had to ask though is this.

Is it wise for me to run a 225/40/18 & 245/40/18 tire compared to the 45 series the car comes with? What would be the affect besides the incorrect speed showing on the speedometer?

 

i have falken ziex 512 they are great tires and i highly recommend them.

 

I've been looking at the Avon Tech M550 A/S too, but I've also found a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position tires that are supposed to be really good to. Kinda like these more, especially since they come with a 40k mile treadlife warranty, and the Avon tires don't.

 

I've run BFG KDWS and they were likely the best tire I ever had on a car (always used all-season). That's what I'll be putting on this Z (245/255 combo). I've read reviews on http://www.discounttiredirect.com and the Kumhos and Falcons always seem to have comments about feeling mushy in cornering. Never had that issue w/ the KDWS. Also....you might price discount online. Free shipping.

 

I just got delivery from Tire Rack:

Avon Tech M550 A/S
225/45/18 (8.5X18)
275/40/18 (9.5X18)

According to Andre at TR, he said that they were the best A/S out there...I was going to buy Pirelli PNero Zero M+S, but he said I would be way happier with the Avons.

I know that everyone is going to say...why didn't he go with 245/40 upfront...I was but wanted to stay stock size up front so that I would not get any tramming. Furthermore, the Avons have a wheel bead to protect the wheel from curbing, and it really makes the tire look fat.

I had 245/40/18 on a 7-series and hated constantly fighting the steering wheel. Said I would never do that again.

I going to mount them on Friday, and will let you know.

 

Cool. I was gonna get a set too, but I decided to go with a set of Cooper Zeon Sport's instead.

 

Well, I had the Avon's mounted...and I am extremely happy.

Got rid of the wheel whine, and the ride is so much better it is hard to explain. Even though the tires are green, they held the road like the car was on rails...as good and maybe better than the Bridgestones.

My wife said that the Z now rides better than her sedan. She wants them on her car when it is ready for new rubber.

We don't have any snow on the roads right now, but I went into a parking lot that still had snow on the pavement, and tried to spin the whees. The Avon's seem to grab strongly...I know better than the factory Bridgestones...which would have put me into a snowbank.

The best news is that the two 225/45's and the two-275/40's cost me $618.50 shipped.

Thanks to Andre from Tire Rack for putting me on to these.

By the way dmroberson, Cooper Tires bought Avon in 1997. Avon's are used on Aston Martins, Jaguars, etc., and Avon has over 1200 specific applications for racing tires...they are way heavy into racing.

I'm sure your Cooper's have some of the same engineering as my Avon's

Good luck.

 

oh, cool, thanks for the feedback on the tires, and the history lesson. I chose the Cooper tires cause I always hear that they make good ones, and the reviews were good. Didn't know about the connection with Avon, til you mentioned it. I'm a complete noob when it comes to cars... .