UHP Tire Breakaway Characteristics
 

Looking to ditch the OEM Michelins and go with something stickier. The one characteristic I really despise about the stock tires is their sudden breakaway- I can be nailing a corner nicely, and suddenly the back end decides it wants to step out. Yeah, I know, Driftcar and all that nonsense, but I'm more concerned about control and predictability during aggressive driving.

I'm looking at what's available through my local America's Tires, simply because I've been pleased with their service and convenience. In particular, I'm interested in (in order of preference) Bridgestone Potenza Pole Positions, Michelin Pilot Super Sports, Hankook Ventus R-S3s, and Continental Extreme Contact DWs. I think the Bridgestones represent the best value, but would be willing to spring the extra $100 for the Pilots, based on one characteristic- breakaway.

I drove an NB Miata for 5 or 6 years, and found out how important good rubber is. The car came with some cheap all-season Hankooks that would break loose if I even thought about hitting the accelerator in the wet. I put on a set of Falken Azenis and was immediately in love- ultra sticky, excellent feedback, and when they let loose they did so in an extremely predictable manner- the car simply added a lateral vector that was extremely controllable. At one point I made the mistake of getting a set of Yokohama S-Drives. These stuck pretty well but when they let loose the did so with little warning and even less control- the car would suddenly lurch sideways, which did little to boost my confidence in them.

So... does anybody have any experience/feedback about the Bridgestone Pole Positions vs Michelin Pilots or Hankook Ventus?

Thanks!

Are you looking for a more all around tire that sticky and is good for daily driving?

Or are you looking for ultimate stick and don't mind the tires being loud or noisy while driving?

Oh, I know they're going to be noisier, and probably have a harsher ride as well. What I'm looking for are tires that will let me corner hard with confidence, and let loose predictably when I've exceeded their traction limits. A tire with a 200 to 300 wear rating, with AA or better traction. I live where the temperature seldom drops below 40F, so summer tires work nicely year-round.

I see you're in the east bay- I live in Tracy, but work at the old Alameda Naval Air Station:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psb727ca75.jpg

are you opposed to R compound with 100 or less treadwear?

People have found that MPSS are more DD friendly and give a little extra grip while the RS3 are a better performing tire that won't do as well with wet/rainy weather and are noisier than the MPSS. The RS3 will also wear faster than the MPSS

Nice. I actually have MPSS on my wheels now, because that's how I bought them (bought the wheel and tire as a combo and saved $$) anyways I still want to try a bunch of different tires, RS3 and NT05 for example, to see what I like and what best suits my driving.

The car is a daily driver that racks up an easy 1200 miles per month. I know mileage will suffer, but going to a 100 treadwear is probably overdoing it.

I was basing my preference for the Bridgestones based on this:
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...osition-page-9

And the Pilots are $100+ more per set than the Pole Positions. They've got similar wear ratings (280 for the Bridgestones, 300 for the Michelins). They review pretty similarly, so what it really seems to boil down to is whether one or the other lets loose more controllably/predictably.

I had NT05s on the Miata as well, and they were much like the Falken Azenis- very sticky, but let loose predictably. I really liked them.

In all honesty I haven't been able to get my tires out from under me predictably with the MPSS. I know this might be completely wrong through other eyes but. Sometimes I would be ripping on the car hard, redlining in gear and shifting gears (1st to 2nd) and it won't or barely chirp. Sometimes I could do the same thing but then the tire will slide completely horrizontally and then the front tires would line the car back up correctly to save it.

I guess the "predictability" is all on how you drive and the road conditions.

Why not go NT05 for the frs? are you getting new wheels, or are you just upgrading tires on stock wheels?

I'm beginning to wonder if it's a matter of how the suspension is set up vs. the Miata. If the intended buyer was a 22 year old who wanted to get his car sideways at every opportunity, it might be that this behavior is an intentional effect of the design engineering and not necessarily a characteristic of the tires.

That being said, my (limited) experience is that harder tires let loose less predictably (and with more drawing-the-wrong-kind-of-attention noise) than stickier ones.

I will be putting NT05's on my car here in the spring so if you want I can give you a review of them with the FRS, however my car has a number of other mods that will effect handling. I will be running 225/45R/17 on stock rims

You will also find that this car is in fact set up from stock to be stiffer in the rear to give it that ability to kick out easily PAIRED with the stock, skinny tires.

Better tires will create a much better feel paired up with some camber bolts in the front for better cornering..

It all depends on what you want to do with your car. We have a meetup this Thursday in Livermore which I know is much closer to Tracy than most of our East Bay meets. If you have time come down and don't be afraid to ask any other questions you may have. We have plenty of knowledgeable people who will be more than happy to help you out with any questions you may have about the platform.
Heres a link to the thread; http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...51922&page=125

I went with Conti Extreme DW. Very quiet and grippy with excellent wet weather traction. I wanted the MPSS originally but I found the Contis were a better value. They are wearing very well too. I've never been a fan of Bridgestones. They seem to feather much quicker than other tires and are very noisy.