can someone help me with this......

I am trying to find 18" snow tires for my rx8 on ebay as I am only going to have it for ONE winter....For some reason almost everyone who is selling snow tires have different size for front and rear. Like: Front: 225/45R 18 and Rear: 245/45R 18. Is this normal? or do I need all four to be 225/45R 18? Your feedback would be appreciated. Thanks....

 

I recently put Falken RT-615s on my RX replacing my stock Dunlops. All I can say is WOW. These tire perform much better, more quiet and smoother. Grippy and sticky. I would buy these again. I purchased 245/40R18s. If were you I would consider these. But they aren't inexpensive either.

Found a pretty good price on them at the link below.

http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm

 

tperacha keep your tire size the same no matter what. The RX8 has a perfect balance, and it is recommended to keep the tire size the same all round. I really can't help on the snow tires as I do not know. Good luck

Mark

 

RX-A...Thanks or the input on the Falken RT-615. May I ask few questions:
1- How do they handle under wet conditions.
2- You mentioned that they are smoother, does that mean they feel a bit softer on turns? I mean the sidewlls.
3- Does the tire follow the grooves on bad roads?
4- Does the wider tire seem to make the car a bit slower on transitions. I lost a tad of quickness as I started to use wider tires...not much but a little, but overall grip is much improved.

Again thanks for the input...
Mark

 

Also, having same size tires front and back will allow you to rotate them. The snow tires have much softer rubber, and the rears will wear out both faster and differently than the fronts. Having identical tires all around means that you can rotate them, even if they're directional.

 

Had the same size all around so I still can rotate them. As to answer your questions:

1. I honestly don't know I live in So. Cal. and has not rained since I have had them (3 weeks). They are supposed to have better wet grip than the RT-215s, but that probably does not help much.

2. The sidewalls are been fine. I have driven them at the limit a good deal and the grip and overall handling are great. The car performs better than stock and still perfectly balanced. I had higher speed in corners than I had with stock and better control.

3. It seems they have no problems with grooves. I would say less suseptable than stock.

4. I did not notice any difference in acceleration. The weight of the tires is ~25.6 lbs but I honestly don't know how that compares to the stock Dunlops.

Hope that helps.

 

RX-A-Ho...Thank you... Very helpful information

 

I just get a bit tired of people posting stuff from RB like they got it from a flaming bush on the mountain top, frankly they have a few good parts but in general a lot of their stuff is IMO mediocre

 

No need to justify....a lot of us already know that.

 

i'm going to throw in another vote for the ecsta spt. i've had them for about 1mo/1k miles, and so far they have outperformed my expectations. compared to the potenzas, they have a smoother ride, are much quieter, just as good, if not better dry traction, and much better wet traction.

i haven't experienced much cold weather, and no snow, but they have been great so far in temps down to 31F.

 

No one has mentioned them but I put on BF Goodrich KDW2's after the stock tires wore out and I could not be happier with them. Noticably better performance over stock, not only dry but hard braking in the rain is like you're on dry pavement. They're a bit quieter (not a lot but some) than stock tires, although at certain speeds on certain types of road surfaces such as grooved concrete like the freeways in southern California, they generate a hum. If you just speed up or slow down a mile or two it goes away so it's manageable.

The best thing I noticed when I got them was the improved steering response compared to the stock tires. They are also available in the stock tire size so you don't need to worry about the speedometer being off.

 

I replaced the bridgestones with Kumho ECSTA SPT(OEM size). I drive very "spirited" and have not noticed a drop off in performance. Since the Kumhos are half the price and will last at least 10k more than the bridgestones, I believe they are the best "bang for your buck."

 

Thanks for the info on the Kumhos. Do they have any sloppiness on turn in , and what is the noise level and ride like after you put them on.

 

i have 5k on mine. started a kumho spt thread long ago. run 34psi turn in brisk with stock gt setup. wet traction BRILLIANT. noise??? there is no noise.

beers

 

Do you have OEM size or 245/40/80 on your car

 

oem

beers

 

an 80 inch rim!?!?!

haha anyways, I have an 03' mazda 6 with the rx-8 rims. I want to buy the kumho spt in 225/40/18 (or 224/45/18) but I can't find them anywhere, and i don't really want to order from tirerack only to have to pay 100 to get them installed somewhere. does anyone know of a good place to go locally?...I live in NC, but maybe some chain tire stores would carry there and/or have a good price. So far not much luck with the local companies that I have called. Thanks for any info.

 

I do need to change my potenza tyres.. so anyone can help me here? I'm not satisfied with it as there're noises which I can hear from inside the car while driving it.. I've checked and alignment it before but the noises from the tyres are still there.. Also, the brakes, is it normal for rx8 car to skim their brakes as it's always have sounds while braking it? It's really bugging my ears So anyone? Really need your ideas.. By the way, I'm 'Rain' from asia; Brunei. Thanks in advance for your replies..

 

i have kumho mx's on my protege and they are quite awsome for grip and lasted longer than i expected. much better than es100's. the only problem i had with them is i got a buldge on the sidewall of one. i guess 4 months of hard cornering took its toll

 

T1-Rs fit this description precisely. I have the 245-40s, which replaced the OEM Bridgestones. In terms of all-out performance, I'd have a hard time telling you which was faster short of running them back-to-back on an timed course - so I consider them to have the same level of grip. But the T1-Rs are quieter (my Bridegstones were about 50-60% worn when I replaced them), a touch more comfortable, offer way better rain performance, and don't tramline nearly as bad (tramlining is why I replaced the 040s before they were fully worn). They should wear better as well.

The only downside is that they do generate larger slip angles than the Bridgestones did - you find yourself using more steering lock during hard cornering. Initial turn-in is about the same but once the lateral loads pass about th 70% mark you need to use more lock than the 040s. A little odd initially but once you get used to them it becomes second nature.