Topic

By: Gsouth
Posts: 15
Joined: 30/05/10

Tire Size, Please Help.

Posted: May 30 2010 Tags: size, tire, tires, tyre, tyres, wheel, wheels Views: 185

Content is edited

I have searched the forum for posts on my specific question, but cant find any, sorry if this has been asked before, but here it goes.

I recently bought a 2006 MX5 NC, but to my utter surprise and terror it arrived with 215/40R17 size Tires on the rear and 205/45R17 Runflats on the front, and firstly I just want to discourage, no, WARN anyone even remotely considering putting runflats on an MX5 to JUST DONT DO IT, AT ALL, EVER!!!

It tramlines to the point that it is dangerous to any living creature in its immediate surroundings, even at slow speeds (+- 40km/h).

But getting back to my question, needless to say, I am going to replace all 4 tires this coming week, and was considering maybe going for 215/45R17's all round, for the simple fact that they are slightly cheaper than the standard 205/45R17 normally fitted to the MX5.

Now finally for my question, has anyone got any experience with the above mentioned size I am considering, are there any downsides to going with 215/45 instead of sticking with the 205/45's, and then I would also want to know, specifically about the fuel consuption and performance, is there a noticable difference in performance, especially acceleration, as in my previous vehicle, when deciding to go to slightly bigger tires, there was a huge difference in acceleration, maybe partly because its 0-100 figures should be measured on a calender instead of a stopwatch anyway, but that is another topic alltogether.

Any swift replies would be much appreciated, because I drive about 100km's a day and am very affraid of putting myself into a ditch because of the runflats.

Thanx guys.

Replies

RE: Tire Size, Please Help.

02/06/2010 11:46:48, paz3293 said:

I have had the missfortune to have a set of Thai Eagle F1's on mine for about a week - instantly could tell something not right. Grip was useless.

Threatened supplier with legal action due to them supplying NON E marked tyres. Anyway, got sorted and replaced no problems.

Now on 3rd set of Eagle F1s and each have been made in China. These ARE E marked so same as those made in Germany. They say on the side, "Made in China, Engineered in Europe" ...

That is interesting!

Mine are marked "Made in Thailand" and are also E-marked. So far, they seem fine to me, although I haven't yet tried them in the wet. Maybe I'm not a very critical driver.

When I contacted Goodyear they only recommended their German-made Eagle tyres - no mention of China.

Posted: Jun 03 2010 By: Titus Posts: 5307
RE: Tire Size, Please Help.

Oh... I think as long as they're E Marked you should be ok. Its the E marking I think is important as it means they're OK for use in Europe (I guess).

The NON E marked are squirmy horrible things that are designed for tarmac that's 30 degrees! Not 10...

David

2005 Winning Blue - Mazda MX-5 2.0 Sport - "Tic-Tac"
Eibach Lowering Springs, RoadsterSport Exhaust, Winning Blue Dash Panel, Voodoo Magnum Pearl Gear Knob, Caliber Competition Amp, Boston Acoustic Component Speakers, 16gb iPhone, Stebel Nautilus Horn
"MX5 1 OFF" - OC# 3293 - As seen in EVO : http://www.mazdamx5.co.uk

Posted: Jun 03 2010 By: paz3293 Posts: 519
RE: Tire Size, Please Help.

03/06/2010 09:01:25, paz3293 said:

... The NON E marked are squirmy horrible things that are designed for tarmac that's 30 degrees! Not 10...

I'm no expert on this, but I would have expected tyres designed for use in hotter climes to use a harder rubber compound, not a softer one.

Posted: Jun 03 2010 By: Titus Posts: 5307
RE: Tire Size, Please Help.

Hi Guys

Not to worry, I havnt crashed my car and died because of the runflats, was just strugling with my connection for the last few days.

Anyway, back to bussiness...

Decided to go for the 215/45/17 michelins and have made a few observations.

Please keep in mind i am an extremely sensitive driver, so some of the very slight observations i have made might not be noticable to some other drivers.

I have noticed a slight difference in how high off the tarmack it feels like im sitting, its really not much, but it is definately a difference.

Also, but this could be because of the 215/40/17that were on the rear that are slightly smaller than the 205/45/17 that the car is sold with and now ive gone slightly bigger than what the car is sold with so its a bigger difference, i can actually feel a difference in the acceleration of my car, again not much, but definately a difference and a little bit disapointing.

I also havent really had enough time to play around a little to test it, but it does feel like its going to be really difficult to get some overstear, comparing to how it was, but again that might be because of the cheap nameless chinese tires that it had on the rear, i really do hope that i havnt killed my overstear, because i did find that to be really fun.

And finally, there is a HUGE difference is stability, comfort and twitchiness, but once again i suspect that is mainly because i got it with runflats on front.

Again, please guys, dont ever consider runflats, and tell as many mx-5 owners as you can, its a really really really bad idea and will be the cause of your death.

Thanks for all the helpfull posts, really appreciated it.

Posted: Jun 08 2010 By: Gsouth Posts: 15