mattsan

Been speaking to a local tyre dealer who said he recomended these for my classic.Its running 17s with falken tyres(pants) Im changing all 4 tyres they are 215/40/17 the tyre bloke says im better going for 215/45/17 instead.Its running standard suspension at the mo but im changing that and putting some eibachs on soon with about a 25-30mm drop.What do you lot think and are bridgstones good wet and dry tyres.Oh and he's doing them me for 93quid each. Cheers.

andy97

iTrader: (1)

goodyear F1 GDS3 and with a bit of ringing around your local area pay no more than £90 fitted and balanced

Andy

mattsan

Cheers andy.Does the tyre wall size really make that much difference? What will i gain/loose by going from 40 to 45??

JamesPRJones

The correct fit for classics with 17" wheels is either 215/40/17 or 205/45/17. If you fit 215/45/17's you will be doing 62.1 mph when the speedo says 60 mph, and they may rub, especially if you are dropping the car 25-30mm. I'm suprised a garage is recommending fitting the wrong sizes. I assume it's not a dealer or big chain company.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

With regard whether the Bridgestones are any good, you haven't said what type they are. If you are fitting something like the RE040's then they'll probably be the same as your Falkens. I think the new RE050's fitted to the blobeye Scoobs are supposed to be excellent in the dry, but the SO2's were the best (no longer available). The SO3's are alright but Eagle F1 GSD3's are near enough the best and Toyo Proxy's a cheaper equivalent. I have Pirrelli PZero Asymmetrico's in 205/45/17 size and they are ****e. The PZero Neros are better.

If money isn't an issue go for the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's, otherwise Toyo Proxy's (Preferably the new T1-R's). I would stick with the 215/40/17 size too.

All my opinion and preferences, but from my experience of people's posts on this board, I would say I'm not far off.

James

mattsan

Cheers. I will ask him to get me the f1s tomorrow,and stick with the 40.Im sure these will be much better than my falkens

warrenm2

lower profile is generally better for handling as you have shorter and stiffer sidewalls

RRH

Not sure which Falken tyres you're talking about but the FK451 is one of the best tyres I have ever driven on, they have the same tread pattern as the F1 and perform incredibly well.

I am sure however that they do have a cheaper nasty tyre in their range that just ain't suited to imprezas.....

Carlos13

Most tyre dealers I've come across will recommend whatever tyres they can get a good margin on, regardless of how good the tyre is. 215/40/17 is the correct size for the classic, it seems to me he has a run on 215/45 Bridgestones and is talking them up.

mattsan

After a few calls today the cheapest i can get them for is 105 each.....

RRH

www.mytyres.net £92.60 including VAT and delivery for 215/40/17 F1s.

however if the 105 includes vat and fitting then its probably a better deal for the sake of convenience.

The Zohan

Matt

If it was me i would be looking at Toyo's or Goodyears and at similar money to Falkens. A ring around other tyre places is worth a go.

Sub69

I have recently brought a MY00 Classic and I'm having to buy a set of 4 new tyres this weekend to try and stamp out the terrible power-on oversteer I'm experiencing. I had hoped to wait until I found some decent 17” or maybe even 18” wheels before buying tyres but the front end seems to go light and understeer on anything other than a dry road. The current tyres are Dunlops. Do you think Eagle F1’s will sort it?

mattsan

Got it down to 100 a tyre fitted and balanced!! Dont think al get it any cheaper.Tried other places like ats kwick fit etc....they all wanted about 125 a tyre.Robbin gets!