Well to be honest - I was quite happy with the Dunlop SP2000 Sports fitted to my car as new. But then again I had nothing to compare it with - I know the car handled and gripped much better than my old Toyota Carina or my wife's Rover 214, but it would probably feel better than the Rover even if it was running on wax tyres.

If you come straight from a "normal" car into the MX5 fitted with just about any tyre, it feels damned impressive. You only appreciate how good other tyres are by experience. I'd probably find that, if I went back to the Dunlop's now (they are still sitting in my garage gathering dust) I'd be disappointed with them.

I do have to admit that the Yoko A520's I have now are far superior to the Dunlop's though, certainly on dry roads, probably about the same in the wet, but I take it easy on wet roads anyway. (11/99)

Some of my thoughts on tyres, from my experience, these tyre tests and recent posted reports.

1) Why does everyone rave about Yoko's? They seem to be the pits in the wet - and that's what really matters.
2) With budget no barrier, the tyres of choice for the MX5 are first, the Bridgestone S-02, second Goodyear F1. (BTW - were your Bridgestones jap spec ones, Alan, or anyway not S-02's?)
3) Consider Falken ZE502. My favourites, taking performance and cost into account (see ad on the back cover of the last STHT). They perform well, wet and dry, and cost about 40 per corner, all in, in standard size.
4) I like Pirelli P6000, but have no experience of them on a 5. I have them on my 626GT, and find them excellent in the wet. (11/99)

I have been given some Yoko's (520) tyres by a mate (205/50 VR 15), he has swapped to Bridgestone SO2's after only 2000 miles - he did not like the tyres at all, I had them off him because there appears to be a great deal of support for these tyres for the MX5. I am going to put these on the car for the summer with some bigger wheels - currently 185/60 HR 14, and keep the smaller wheels for the winter.

The Bridgestones SO2's are a big improvement on his car (Westfield Seight Euro), even more so since he put them on the right way!!! I have driven this car (0-60 in 4.2secs) a few times - still prefer the MX5 (getting old!)

The particular Eunos I have is an S Spec - In japan this is sold with 185/60 14 on the front and 195/50 15 on the rear - on buying the car at the time I did not like this and the dealer swapped the wheels from a V Spec (all 185/60 14). On reflection I wish that I had kept this configuration for a while to see how I got on with it. I believe that both the Elise and MGF have different sizes back and front. Anyone got this, are they happy with it? (11/99)

I was getting pi**ed off with the A509's on my car as while they are nice and quiet and are really good in the dry, they leave to lot to be desired in the wet. So, off I went last week to Micheldever to get 4 new 195/50/15 Bridgestone S-02 tyres - cost 215 quid all in. They are a really switched on bunch of people over there - the place is clean and they take care of your property - no damage to my unmarked wheels.

My first impressions are very positive

In favour
1) Wet weather handling is excellent - grip has improved immensely When I do try to provoke a slide, it's more progressive and won't snap out like the Yoko's
2) Sidewalls are stiffer - improved feel/responsiveness
3) Dry weather grip is very very nearly as good - a slight more tendency to understeer
4) I have also noticed improved fuel economy (OK, maybe I don't have enough data to be statistically meaningful yet)

Against
1) Harder compound/stiffer walls means slightly increased harshness and noise
2) Ultimate dry grip is not quite up to Yoko standards (12/99)

Found on www.4car.co.uk
Press Release 29/2/00

Michelin, whose new range is launched at the Geneva Motor Show this week, is unveiling the Pilot Primacy and Pilot Exalto. .... The Pilot Exalto replaces the Pilot SX GT, is made of an entirely new rubber compound, and has a new tread block pattern. It offers 14% better cornering performance in deep water, 8% increase in aquaplaning threshold in a straight line and a circuit lap gain time of 2.5 seconds per 100 seconds. Michelin thinks the Pilot Exalto will suit the BMW Z3, Fiat Barchetta, Mazda MX5, VW Golf GTI and Peugeot 206 S16, and sporty vehicles of that type. (3/00)

For 14" sizes try;

Bridgestone ER 20
Auto Bild magazine (3/98) of Germany rated this tyre very highly against five other brands they tested in 195/65 R 15V size. They praised the improvement in wet handling from its predecessor and said it offered generally good handling and exceptional comfort. The ER 20 also came top in the 65 series for wet braking whilst handling, aquaplaning and rolling resistance were all described as exceptional. It was also ranked first out of nine brands tested by the German magazine, Auto Zeitung (7/98). They found it gave the best performance for aquaplaning in a straight line and for low rolling resistance as well as being well above average in all other areas. Auto Motor und Sport (3/98), another German magazine, found this tyre's performance satisfactory: it scored the best braking result in the test but it dropped points for extreme tread wear.

Goodyear Eagle Ventura
This tyre was voted top out of six family car tyres by Autocar (11/99). It performed the best in the wet, winning the wet handling and braking, straight aquaplaning and aquaplaning curve tests. Unfortunately it came joint last for dry handling and was only average in the coast by noise and rolling resistance tests. The Ventura was also noted for its wet performance by Revs (12/99) who found the tyres gave more grip the harder they were pushed. The magazine stated that the tyres gave good feedback for fast cornering as well and rated them top for speed in the wet."

Goodyear Eagle F1
Max Power magazine (12/98) rated this tyre second behind the Bridgestone S-02. It was considered best for wet handling but its performance was let down by a below average result in dry braking and only average wet braking. The Eagle F1 performed well in Autocar's test (11/99) but again came second to the S-02. Similarly, it was best in the wet but scored poorly for dry handling and coast by noise

For 15" go for these or the F1
Bridgestone Potenza S-02
In their trial of performance car tyres the S-02 came top out of 10 brands tested by Max Power magazine (12/98). They state that the only area where it didn't excel was in dry handling. In particular the magazine praised the tyre's good looks as well as its gradual and balanced cornering. The S-02 also came joint top with the Goodyear Eagle F1 in Autocar's (11/99) high performance car tyre test. It performed well in all stages of the test, particularly wet handling but scored poorly for coast by noise and rolling resistance. (4/00)

I've been looking for some new 15" tyres and thought I would look at pricing Bridgestone SO-2s, RE 71, RE730 and Toyo T1-S. The RE71 are supposed to be really good value at the moment (according to tirerack) but I can't find anyone in the UK supplying them (or the RE730s) at the moment.

Micheldever quote: "As requested, prices for 195/50 15 tyres
Bridgestone SO2 PP 226.18
Toyo Proxes T1-S 160.38

The above prices are for 4 tyres, including carriage and V.A.T."

BTW is everyone familiar with these section in tirerack?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/max.jsp

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/uhp.jsp (note RE730 result)

The only problem - they don't include Toyo (10/00)

P5000 are a later pattern. They have a very wide central groove - supposed to be better in the wet than P6000, which have been around for about 6 years now.

I looked for prices on P5000 - I got a couple but no-one could supply anyway (about 4 months ago) (They are fitted to at least some Mk 2's)

I regard P6000 as (relatively) old tech - there have been advances in both tread pattern and compound since they were designed (although they work well enough). P5000 have a more open tread pattern, and I'm sure are better in the wet than P6000.

I went for Goodyear Eagle Ventura - directional tread, silica compound, superb tyres in the wet. Almost anything works in normal circumstances (on the road) in the dry - the Venturas have a very open tread pattern (for water dispersal) so maybe less rubber on the road so less ultimate grip in the dry. But it's marginal, and as I've said before, wet grip is (almost) everything for a 5 road tyre. (1/01)