High-Performance All Seasons for the Miata?

Uh oh, a tire thread. I'll be starting an oil thread next .

The original plan was to stick snow tires on the Miata for winter, then get a set of 15" wheels and stick some proper high performance summer tires on. That plan's just gone in the round filing cabinet on account of us trying to buy a house earlier than planned and more importantly, my Jeep waving a white flag and me now needing to buy a replacement for it.

As a result of this mess I'm having to skip most of the planned track activity in this car so we're looking at a handful of HPDE at the local track and maybe the Auto-X school. On a shoestring, too, but I'm not competitive in either so I'm not too worried about that.

I'm now thinking of sticking a set of good all seasons on the Miata as I'll be taking one of our 4x4s if there's any danger of snow, so I don't need snow tires on it. Tire Rack coughs up the following three choices in OEM size, does anybody have any experience with any of them:

Firestone Precision Sport

Michelin Exalto Pilot A/S

Sumitomo HTR A/S P01

While it's sure to be a controversial choice, I'd take a hard look at the Falken Ziex ZE-912.

Osterkraut wrote: While it's sure to be a controversial choice, I'd take a hard look at the Falken Ziex ZE-912.

I had those on my 91 Miata for awhile. They were OK in general, not very good but not totally horrible. They were awful in snow or cold weather even when the roads were dry. I wouldn't recommend them but they probably aren't majorly worse than any other all-season as long as you don't drive when there is any snow/ice on the roads.

I'd need tires that can handle cold and dry, otherwise I'd have to put up the Miata for the winter.

@Osterkraut, do you know if the 912 is even available in the standard Miata size? My two go to places (Tire Rack and discounttire.com) don't list it. Discount Tire lists the 512 and I wasn't too keen on that one (which I had on the 'vette).

According to Falken its available in stock size and also a 195/60r14. Not sure why its not showing up on either of the websites you mentioned. I've read a lot of reviews and everyone seems to say decent in warm/dry conditions, but poor in rain or cold. I'm thinking about AS's too just for better tire wear (I don't even insure the Miata in the winter), but the other complaint about the Falkens is that they wear pretty quickly for an AS tire (like 20k miles or less). That said, they are pretty cheap in Miata sizes. I'm read similar mixed reviews on the Sumitomos. Didn't know about the Firestones, I'll take a look at those.

I'm interested in this discussion too as I might be in the market for a similar tire. Since I don't need the AS capacity though, I may just go with something like a Yoko S.Drive.

BFG Super Sports. I've heard many positive things about them.

Not a fan of the Sumitomos, they gave up a lot of the traction of the HTR+'s in favor of mileage.

My main bug bear with the BFGs is that the standard Miata size seems to be about as unobtainable as the standard C4 vette size, which is why the 'vette is now rolling on R888s. Hey, they were cheap...

neckromacr wrote: BFG Super Sports. I've heard many positive things about them. Not a fan of the Sumitomos, they gave up a lot of the traction of the HTR+'s in favor of mileage.

Yeah, but it took me using an e-brake bump or an extremely heavy foot to break them loose in the snow. They were better snow tires than rain tires on my Civic.

Does not the General Altimax HP come in that size? Of the three you list, I'd choose the Michelins.

Yes, it does - I just checked on tirerack.com. I just didn't include it in the list that I posted above because I only picked tires that TR labelled as "High Performance All Seasons". Is this a tire I should consider?

Dunlop Direzza Z1 Sport Star Specs last 20kmi plus on a Miata. They are OK in cold and wet weather, but I wouldn't use them much in the snow.

Only on the GRM forum are Star Specs considered "all season"

I usually recommend the Kumho AST or ASX, but they don't have a 14" size.

kumho ECSTA 4X has some decent reveiws, but again no 14"

Can you get Conti Extremecontact DWS's in a nearly appropriate size? They have great reviews....

not sure if they make them in your size. I just got Hankook Ventus V2 Concept H437's. I think they are a new tire, so not a lot of valid consumer reviews out there in my opinion.

"high performance" all season, 500 treadwear rating, hankook's website claims they should also do well in the snow. i have a 45 series tire but even then the sidewalls seem to be on the softer side. seem ok on my commuter so far even in the cold temps, havent had to use them in snow yet.

I hate to compare them to the previous, worn, near-dead tires that they replaced by saying "omg they are so awesome in the rain compared to my old tires" You get a lot of that on the tire websites from consumers. Of course they are better than your old tires, they are NEW!

njansenv wrote: Can you get Conti Extremecontact DWS's in a nearly appropriate size? They have great reviews....

We just put a set of these on my fiance's 08 Miata. So far we are very impressed but I'm not sure about sizes for other years. Seems like 13" anything are getting hard to find (for the oldest Miatas).

Only autocross Miatas use 13" wheels. The smallest factory size was 14".

The Ziex 912s on Miata #2 were no RE11s, but they certainly didn't suck, either. For 99% of my street driving, they worked well, and I left the car on them through the winter (more to avoid getting salt on it than fear of the elements), though the car remained mostly parked. Still, when I took it out occasionally they performed well. It's entirely possible that I'm biased in that I got used to driving on studded snow tires, after which the Miata on Ziex 912s probably did feel like it was on RE11s in comparison.

BoxheadTim wrote: Yes, it does - I just checked on tirerack.com. I just didn't include it in the list that I posted above because I only picked tires that TR labelled as "High Performance All Seasons". Is this a tire I should consider?

I like mine a lot. Granted I'm running them on an MPV, but they've got very good wet traction and ride nice and quiet. My wife is always telling me I drive the MPV like it's a Porsche, and it does corner better than the average minivan. I think the General Altimax HP is a good value and I think you'll find the tire rack ratings will support that.

I run the Falken Ziex 912s on my Protege (on Ground Controls), my '78 SAAB 99 (stock), the Miata when it isn't on sticky summer rubber, and I've had them on other cars that have come and gone through my collection. I've not found a better wearing or performing tire for the price. I always get them through discounttiredirect.com.

Keith wrote: I usually recommend the Kumho AST or ASX, but they don't have a 14" size.

A friend of mine did very well at autocrosses in Chicago region's street tire class with either the AST or ASX (can't remember which), and drove the car through last year's epic winter on them without any trouble. He has a '99 Miata. Too bad they don't make those tires in 14s; that'd be my pick.

I've seen the same surprising autox abilities on the AST. Interestingly, that's the one that's supposedly lower performance. But it's what caught my attention. At least one of the FM extended fleet runs on them.

njansenv wrote: Can you get Conti Extremecontact DWS's in a nearly appropriate size? They have great reviews....

I put a set of these on my Transit Connect. I haven't had them in the snow yet but they do very well in the wet and dry.

According to the reviews on Tirerack.com, the Ecsta AST has absolutely horrible traction in snow. While I don't plan to take the Miata out in snow anyway, some halfway useful snow traction might be a good idea in case I get caught out.

The Conti DWSs don't appear to be made in any size smaller than 16" so that's out as the maximum size I was planning to go up to was 15".

In the end I've settled for the Michelin. The local CostCo was supposed to be able to get them within 3-5 days and then told me that they were out of stock at Michelin when I showed up to order them. 'cos you can't order them over the phone, great.

Anyway, ordered them from tirerack and they're being shipped to my favourite tire installation and alignment place in Reno. Tire Rack has a depot in Reno so if everything works out I should have the tires on the car by the weekend and the alignment on the Miata sorted out at the same time. $DEITY knows it needs an alignment.