Applicable to '90 - '97 1.6 liter
Toyo Proxes T1 Plus tires, size 205/50R15
Used them for 6,700 miles so far after a set of Dunlop SP8000s.
The car has more stick than the old SP8000s and work better in the rain as well (a very unexpected bonus), although I must say the SP8000s are excellent tires in their own right. At 6,700 miles the tires show little wear, although I have yet to hit the autocross circuit with them. I got about 20K out of the SP8000s. Tire noise is low and the 65MPH shimmy is same as with the SP8000s. Very little balance wieghts required. Recommended at the time (early '99) by Bill Cardel (sp?) from The Dealer Alternative as the best street tire for a Miata, hence my decision to run them. Cost was sobering at about $135/each from The Tire Rack (mid '99). With sway bars, Illumina 5 shocks, 15" Panasport rims and several chassis braces the car handles well with 28psig pressure in all four tires. I rather doubt a significantly better tire exists for a street driven Miata.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
For 10 month I've bought 4 toyo Proxes T1 plus tires for on my R&H Porsche Cup wheels. I'm driving a tuned Golf I GTI 16V 2.0L (oettinger) and I can only give a good reaction! The Toyo Proxes T1 plus tires have extreme grip and a verry good looking! Eaven if it rains I can drive like a real Dutch driver ( that means: after the engine is on temperature don't schift by less than 5.600 rpm.). Before these Toyo's I've driven some Goodyears NTC3 but now with my Toyo's I've got a better feeling of my car. Allright, you've right if you say they don't live so long like regeluer tires. But for your saftey it's the grip that counts!! So,if you want to drive like a Dutch driver buy the Toyo Proxes T1 plus !!
Just buy the Toyo Proxes T1 plus !!!!
Toyo Proxes T1 Plus 205-50-15 high performance tire.
Since I had read so many good things regarding the Toyo T1's I thought I'd give them a try. My Pirelli P Zero's had lost their tread at the 17k mile mark, so it was time to change. You can read a review of those tires in a previous review I did. I purchased the tires from a local shop for about $136 each. I didn't do much shopping around so I'm not sure how good or bad my deal was. They treated me well when I bought my other tires there, so I stuck with them. I had seen a product review in the tire section that left some reservations for the Toyo T1 Plus product. With that in mind, I ordered the Toyo T1 and not the T1 Plus. Much to my disappointment, the order came to the tire store as Toyo Proxes T1 Plus. I was very uncertain about purchasing the T1 Plus. The Toyo T1 was discontinued in January of 1998 and replaced with the Plus version. The kicker was that Toyo offerred a 500 mile trial and if I didn't like them, I could return for a full refund or exchange. I have been very pleased with the tiresince the purchase. They litterally stick to the pavement at 9/10th's, then ease out of traction as one would expect. They are set at 35 psi and these babies truly outperform my old P Zero's, hands down!
After all the hype on the list about the Toyo T1's I decided to try
a set. I ordered a set of 215x45x15's. This is the "NEW" T1 called the Toyo T1
Plus. After one autocross and some spirited driving, I think the plus means less. The
treadwear has gone up to 240, which seems to be a bit high compared to other good
performance tires. Maybe Toyo is has decided treadwear is more important than performance,
I hope not.
For comparision, a good fried is running SP8000's with the same suspension on his car.
There are noticable differences in the two tires. The Toyo's responsiveness seems much
less responsive, and overall grip is slightly less.(Sorry Kevin L.- Feel free to comment
on this) Has anyone else tried the "new" T1's. It, unfortunately, appears
I may take Toyo up on their 500 mile guarantee.
| Back to Product Reviews | 21 April, 2000 |