Need Advice on All-Season Tires

I have a 2002 Miata with the awful Turanza tires that are worthless on slippery roads. I want to replace them with a quiet and safe tire that is useful in snow that is up to a couple of inches deep and yet will work OK during the summer. My Internet review on this subject indicates that the Bridgestone Potenza RE950 is the ticket. Here is my problem--my tire size is 205/45R16 and the Potenza does not come in that size. What would you recomend? Any other tires for my situation? I live in the Eastern part of Washington state.

regards

Mike Danielson

Reply to
Mike Danielson
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roads. I want to replace them with a quiet and safe tire that is useful in snow that is up to a couple of inches deep and yet will work OK during the summer. My Internet review on this subject indicates that the Bridgestone Potenza RE950 is the ticket. Here is my problem--my tire size is 205/45R16 and the Potenza does not come in that size.

So what is wrong with the 205/40-16 or 205/55-16?

Leon

Eastern part of Washington state.

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

While the RE950 is a very good tire in the summer (for an all-season), I'm not sure you'd describe its snow performance as better than "marginal"...if not "white-knuckled." Most other all-seasons are somewhat better in snow than the 950, though significantly worse in summer.

If you need reliable snow capability in a Miata, buy an extra set of (steel) wheels and mount real winter tires. Do the math: if your insurance deductible is $500, you'll be making money the first time you use them and don't run into anything. See tirerack.com.

Alternatively, use a beater Honda or Toyota for snow. Like I do.

The real advantage to this plan is that it frees you to use real performance tires for the rest of the year. No Miata owner should suffer with all-seasons in top-down weather! As a bonus, summer performance tires are also amazingly grippy and predictable in the wet, orders of magnitude better than any all-season. They don't last very long, but on a Miata, tires are a consumable, part of the price of letting the car perform to its potential. If you bought the Miata as a sports car, not just a cute convertible, then don't scrimp on tires.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

Why are summer tires better in the wet?

Reply to
Natman

Nearly all high-performance street tires are designed for superb grip both wet and dry. Freed from the requirement to stay flexible in cold weather, their rubber compound is much sticker (in its temperature range), and the lack of siping puts more rubber on the road with less tread squirm. They can also use tread patterns that squeegee water from the pavement and plow through puddles, but would be ineffective in snow.

Examples: Toyo E-1S, Bridgestone S-03, Falken Azenis (except in deep water).

All tires are compromises. The above sacrifice cold capability and treadwear for maximum summer grip. They aren't cheap, but if you bought a Miata as an economy car, you already know you made a mistake. All-seasons compromise *everything*--they're OK all the time, but never really good at anything. I just think it's a shame to cripple a Miata with mediocre tires--the car is a compromise, too, and one should accentuate its strengths.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

RE950's in snow? I kind of doubt those claims. I have a friend with them who has on his miata. He and the towing company that pulled him out of the ditch last winter will back me up.

Reply to
L. Santer

Ditch the MIME crap, eh?

No such thing. Tires that are useful in snow are not OK during the summer. Tires that are OK during summer are not useful in snow.

The closest you're going to be able to find are "high performance winter" tires like the Nokian WR or the Michelin PA2.

I've driven Potenza RE-something tires (very similar to 950's) in light snow. That's something you only do once. You either get killed, or you buy snow tires the next morning.

Get a set of "high performance winter tires" mounted on a second set of wheels (14 or 15 inch). TireRack.com has packages.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

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