[MR2] Tires for a '91 Turbo Mk II

[Joel]

Firstly, I would get some 15's, and at very most 16's wheels.  Trying to 
find any good tires in a 14 wheel size is nearly impossible.  And a 60 
series sidewall is just asking for excessive body motion.  Inversely, 
getting an ultra short sidewall (45 series or shorter) is asking for a 
very annoying ride anytime you hit a road imperfection.

 From my personal experience, the ES100's are absolutely predictable.  
But, also terrible.  Their overall lack of grip under hard cornering 
makes them the opposite of 'confidence inspiring.'

Without doubt, I would gladly choose BFGoodrich GForce Sports or Falken 
Azenis (depending on your style of driving) over the ES100's.  Both of 
the mentioned tires will have far better cornering grip than the 
ES100's, with the BFG tire giving far better water evacuation, a firmer 
sidewall for sharper lateral grip and reaction,  and very good treadwear 
characteristics.  The Azenis are like erasers - super soft, AWESOME 
GRIP, poor wet traction and they wear out insanely fast.

If you get a 16 inch wheel, you could also look at the Bridgestone 
Potenza RE760.  They're on my wife's AllTrac Turbo Camry and I have 
sincerely tried to get them to lose traction, but have found it 
incredibly difficult to do so - even when it was raining.

In short, I would not recommend the ES100 tire to anyone, unless their 
previous tire was something similar to a Costco, KMart or Nankang tire.

- Joel -



waynearndt at waynearndt.com wrote:
>   
>
>   
>> I had 195/60/14 tires all the way around when I first got my '91
>>     
> Turbo. I bought it from my folks and the tire shop made a mistake when
> they had new tires put on. the shop originally put the staggered tires.
> I think they noticed the stagger, and not knowing it was supposed to be,
> they panicked and without telling her put on a new set when Mom went
> back to settle up a minor paperwork ordeal. The car came back with all 4
> the same anyway and they never even noticed until a year or two later
> when I bought the car. Anyway, normal driving I never noticed a
> difference. I still have them stored in my garage since I bought new
> rims & tires. The 195's are some sort of Sumitomo or something like
> that. 
>   
>> -Wayne 
>>
>> On Tue, 7 Jun 2011 13:19:22 -0400, Bryan Kohart
>>     
> wrote: 
>   
>>> Does the list have any thoughts on Falken Ziex ZE-512?
>>>       
> Also, it seems that there is a slightly better selection in 195/60/14
> sizes. How does running decent 195's on all four corners compare to
> running a staggered setup with less than ideal tires? I currently have
> the worst of both worlds with lousy 195's all around :)
>   
>>> Bryan 
>>>
>>>       
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