Mx5 lethal in the rain.

[New POD]

I've not driven the Mx5 in the rain, for a good while, but as I had to get it out of the garage, whilst I did some work in there and it was sitting, in the rain, I thought I may as well use it. 

 

 

 

 

Feck me, the Nangkangs, must have deteriated in over the years.  Just a little application of the 90 bhp and a slight bend and woooooohooooooo.

 

Might have to swap the wheels over and put the P6000's on it. There are a set in the shed.

 

 

(Apparently they might be worse)

[NorfolkNWeigh]

For me, that's a lot of the appeal of an MX5. My two oldest daughters both had Mx5 s as their first proper car at 18/19 when they'd got some NCB. The lack of grip in even damp conditions was great for teaching them about car control, so much so a couple of years ago when it snowed I got a call from my brother saying he'd seen me on a roundabout in the e30 ' being a drift twat ' . It wasn't me ,it was my eldest- I was so proud- my work as a parent is done.

[gordonbennet]

Vredestein Sportracs are i believe highly recommended for MX5's by owners.

 

P6000's seem to depend on the car they're fitted to, i've read comments about them being crap on some cars yet i had them on a fookin fast Merc E320 estate and they stuck like the proverbial to a blanket whilst providing a comfortable quiet ride.

[JohnK]

I've got P6000's on the XJ8. Having heard such stories I was going to replace, but I was reluctant to get rid of them immediately as they have loads of tread and are in good condition.

 

To be fair I haven't had a problem with them and that car does get some stick, so they will be staying on until they wear out.

[Keymaster]

I've never been more fearful of my tyres trying to kill me than when I had a MR2 with P6000s on the back wheels!

[Sigmund Fraud]

Well, they certainly can oversteer if provoked, but they're far from lethal. With a bit of practice, you can give just the right amount of throttle to keep the back end in place.

[Station]

I've got terrible tyres on my MR2, front wheels lock up regularly in the rain. Excellent in the dry though.

[Lukas]

Not the MX-5 is lethal, cheap tires put on by skinflints are! 

 

Those Nankang/LongLing etc. are new horrible when its wet and when they get older (one year is enough), they get worse. 

[Tartan58]

Never had an issue with mine in the wet with 145bhp and fitted with Falkens (205 wide though on 16s)

In the wet I wouldn't be silly, but would just drive normally like I would any other car.

 

In the dry they've been amazing done a few track days and my talent/bravery has always reached the limit before the tyres have (again driving quickly but sensibly - sure I could get the back end out easily enough if I wanted to but you can get round the corner quickly without doing that - and I'm a bit anal in that way getting more enjoyment out of getting the braking, turn in, apex, exit just right rather than just sticking the boot in for the skidz)

 

I believe Pirellis are hopeless on the MX5 as they're quite hard and it's just too light for them...or something, so I've read.

[gm]

double check your pressures, the mx5 is notoriously sensitive to tyre pressure. of course if the tyres are shite to start with, you will struggle. I've used toyo t1r on all of my mx5s over the years but popular opinion these days is that the uniroyal rainsport 3 is the one to get - I may try them next.

 

I took my track tyres out in the wet last week - I needed a nappy change afterwards ! (I've done a good half dozen trackdays since this pic, you can imagine what little tread is left. flipping amazing in the dry though)

 

[Stanky]

Just to jump on the bandwagon here, I had a pair of P6000s on the front of a 74bhp 1600cc Golf once, in the wet it'd lock the front wheels almost instantly. Being a foolish youth I decided that moving them to the back, where there was less braking force applied would be a good idea.

 

It was GR8, right up to navigating the first wet roundabout, about 2 weeks later. Back end swung out with no warning at all of 20mph, I attempted to hold it by applying a lot of opposite lock, lost the battle, went sideways round the roundabout and ended up half on the kerb bit in the middle. Incredibly fortunately it was about midnight and no-one else was about so I pushed it back off the kerb, drove extremely slowly home and got a new set of avons the following day.

 

I will never ever fit P6000s to anything. If they cant be trusted on a shit old golf, they don't deserve to be allowed on anything motorised.

 

The only glimmer of hope was that the tyres weren't new when I fitted them, they came with some secondhand alloys, so they could have been a few years old at the time. The Goodyear eagle F1's fitted to the other two wheels, which were a similar vintage, stuck like glue in all weathers.

 

Maybe look at what tyreleader have in your size?

[cobblers]

I had p6000s on my old MX5 and it was an absolute deathtrap. Every corner in the wet was taken at about 10mph with my arse biting a chunk out of the drivers seat. far and away the worst tyre I've ever run, and I run some right old chinese shit.

 

EDIT: They were only a few months old when I bought the car. 

[twosmoke300]

P6000 are terrible . Hard as hell so no grip in the wet and always wear so it sounds like you have a wheel bearing gone

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Seeing that about the Mercedes makes me  wonder whether P6000s suit very heavy cars - they seem to be reasonably well regarded on Jaguar XJ40s too. They're certainly not seen as the last word in anything, but are not universally hated either.

[Honey Badger]

Hankook Ventus V12s on the S2000 stuck like shit to a blanket and were decent in the wet, certainly a lot better than the bridgestone Potenza that it had on before. reasonably priced as well.

 

They should be suitable for a hairdressers car as well I'd imagine 

[Parky]

Falken Sincera Ecorun or Dunlop BluResponse are both "A" rated in the wet. The Falkens are particularly good value

[CHRIS1980]

I've never heard of nangkangs before. Sound like another brand of Korean kerb finders to avoid.

[richardmorris]

I've got Pirelli 3000 s on my X1/9 which I like. One of the x s at the show on Saturday had Pirelli tyres visibly cracking around the circumference and rather deep cracks in the tread. The date stamp was 1994, but the tread depth was fine which he thought was ok.

[MrDuke]

I once bought a Lada Riva which had a matching set of P3000s all round. To be fair, it could hold its own through most corners.

[saucedoctor]

I has p6000s on my S type. Coming off the Queen's Bridge in Belfast on a wet day, the car went sideways, with no warning. I got Kumho Ecsta tyres on all 4 corners, and they were much better. And a lot cheaper.

 

+1 on the MR2/P6000 combo. Scary stuff.

[derskine]

It's not scary it's fun!

[fordperv]

I have slid both of my friends 1.8 mk2 mx5's with lsd on private land and what a laugh they are, embrace your shit tyres and be the drift king at your local McDonald's

[Uncle Jimmy]

Toyos- cheap as chips, soft and grippy. Do wear fast though.

[alfetta]

try crap tyres and blown rear shocks, interesting!

[Junkman]

Try crossply cracked sidewall Winter rears and Summer radial fronts on an Opel C Rekord Caravan.

It's bloody ace! Especially on snow. The usual guess how I know etc etc applies.

[Formula Autos]

Try Stomils and, if you live, tell the tale.

 

Joking aside, I run a set of Uniroyal RainSport 3s on my daily. They're brilliant in the wet (as the name suggests), grippy in the dry, and quiet. They do wear out pretty quickly though, giving 8000 miles on the front of a FWD Jag X-type dizzler. Quite what they'd be like on an MX-5 is anyone's guess though, but no doubt far superior to the Ditchfinders currently fitted.

[groovylee]

I ran p6000s on an Alfa 145, and that was the first time I changed a tyre before I needed to....

 

I was told that they are better known as 'Pirelli ditch finders'

[xtriple]

My last MX5 (MK3) was awful in the wet... it wouldn't bloody slide! I had to seriously provoke it to step out even on greasy roundabouts. I was most disappointed!

 

It even had truly shit tyres on even though they were all new they were bottom of the market cheapy ditchfinders that should (by everyones reckoning) have sent me spearing off into the nearest barrier/bit of road furniture.