The title sums up my question, but here is the long version: Got a
2003 Miata Shinsen version a month ago, which came with Fuzion ZRi summer tires on 205/45-16 wheels. Right now the fronts are at about 2/32" so they should be replaced, but the rears still have 8/32" on them. Although I'm not crazy about the Fuzions (punishing/noisy on bad freeway stretches, and laughable in light snow), overall they work well enough that I would rather use up the two good ones before replacing them. Unless there is a good reason to just scrap them and replace all four at once.I don't know if the answer depends on whether the mismatched new pair are summer tires or all-season, but I am leaning toward phasing in a reasonably good ("good," if you prefer) set of the latter (e.g. Pirelli PZero Nero M&S or Yokohama AVID H4S, which look to be the best ones Tire Rack can offer in this odd size).
Oh, someday none too soon, I might try out autocross with whatever tires I have on the car. But I figure I only need whatever's on the rims to be good enough to figure out if I want to keep doing it, in which case dedicated wheels & tires would probably eventually be in order anyway.
Part of me wants to rotate the worn tires to the rear and learn drifting, but I am still learning the ins and outs of standard transmission, and would probably inflict a heinous amount of wear and tear on my drivetrain.