200 TW tires, how much difference do they really make?

[Tobra]

Finally mounted a set of 200 TW tires on the Miata. Up until now had not gone above 280, with the Kumho LE sport tires I had on it before. Those were a big jump over the Chinese made, obsidian compound rocks it had on it when I drove it home. How big a difference will it really make, WRT tire wear and grip? I am not talking about Rivals or RE71 pointy end of the stick tires, just lowly Falken 615K+

Will report back when I autocross them next weekend with my experience.

[javadog]

Those ratings are not particularly comparable between brands, as they are provided by the manufacturers and not entirely objective.

Any new tire will be better than a used one, some used tires lose so much grip after a few years that it's hard to believe the difference when you replace them.

You'll just have to see for yourself.

You can measure cornering grip. I have a G meter that I bought a while back and never used. I'd be happy to sell it to you, if you want to get all geeky about how you do.

JR

[DanielDudley]

I like the Falkens, but I am not ever going to be competitive in my class with my current set up anyway. Stiff sidewalls.

[Cajundaddy]

200tw tires is a place I inhabit a lot. There is a pretty big variance in grip within 200tw and the best advice I can give is to choose a tire that performs well on your car the way you use it.

Falken 615 are good dry grip and hold up to continuous lapping on a race track pretty well. RE-11, RS-3/4, Dunlop Direzza, AD-08 are also good and maybe a bit more grip. Rival are excellent for a few days but seem to HC out long before tread is gone. RE-71R is arguably an 80tw R-Comp tire with 200 stamped on the side. Excellent wet or dry grip but tread wear is very short. I only get 5-6 track days on them before cords be showin' . NT-01 rated 100tw last longer on my car than RE-71R with similar dry grip.

If you AX to win, RE-71R cheater tires are the path to glory.