Front tyre advice - MX5

[B.Egan]

Well I know that with my current alignment setup I run alot of toe out on the front for the sole purpose of causing some understeer through transition, to make it smoother effectively. MX5s are shorter wheelbase than even an 86 for example. The thinking is then that maybe the R888s grip combined with the lightweight nature of the car are maybe cancelling this effect out? The alignment setup I got is from Celsea DeNofa basically in the US who used to drift miatas (won the XDC over there in a E36 last year). However his settings were seriously extreme in the amount of toe out on front and toe in at the rear, so I effectively halved all his values.

[peterhouze]

i know a fella who drifts a mx5 in the states i could get the alignment figures for ya if ya find that a bit aggressive
and for tyres in dont know

[Micko]

i have ran the Kuhmo v70's the last while and they are unbelievable!

But i see where your coming from. i felt at times i had a small bit too much grip on the front in fermoy last year and didnt transition aswell as i would like, in some cases the more loose the car is, the more flickability and forward speed you get aswell if that makes sense..

Exceptions though i think are bigger tracks like mondello where theres less transitioning and you are more reliant so on front end grip as a higher speed entry.

[haydomiata]

Ive gt toyo t1rs n my yoke il b up wit doofer wit da blue onevia and biziryan wit da cam(hopefully haha ) u cn try them out if u want there nearly new so wont burn up nd there n rotas so cnt be much heavyr then ur bandeds

[twailbait]

What I'd do is go for a slightly less grippy tyre up front, and a slight more grippy one on the rear. Try match them abit better, so the cars more balance.

I've always run T1R's on the front of the mx, and found them great.

[Jay Rockett]

Best thing for you to try this weekend is to go out with your current setup, if its grippy upfront and not so grippy on the rear, for your first session then swap the wheels around for the next session and see how you feel! Personally what id do with a short wheel base car like the mx is go out with a decent road tyre upfront like a federal 595ss or maybe a T1R and narrow, crappy tyres on the rear to get used to transitioning a snappy car then start introducing more grip upfront with a better tyre if you feel its understeering!
Then once your happy with the front and comfortable skidding the mx, start introducing more grip on the rear for faster drifting!

Negative camber and narrow/small wheels on the rear is the best way to get used to short wheel base cars, once your happy then start going for more rear end grip!

[B.Egan]

i know a fella who drifts a mx5 in the states i could get the alignment figures for ya if ya find that a bit aggressive
and for tyres in dont know

I'm ok for alignment I think. Quite happy with what I have and dont really have the money or time to keep on fiddling too much with it atm.

i have ran the Kuhmo v70's the last while and they are unbelievable!

But i see where your coming from. i felt at times i had a small bit too much grip on the front in fermoy last year and didnt transition aswell as i would like, in some cases the more loose the car is, the more flickability and forward speed you get aswell if that makes sense..

Exceptions though i think are bigger tracks like mondello where theres less transitioning and you are more reliant so on front end grip as a higher speed entry.

This is exactly what I was trying to describe and think of Mick! Makes sense to me anyway..

Ive gt toyo t1rs n my yoke il b up wit doofer wit da blue onevia and biziryan wit da cam(hopefully haha ) u cn try them out if u want there nearly new so wont burn up nd there n rotas so cnt be much heavyr then ur bandeds

Cheers man, wouldnt like to use your own tyres tbh though. Just in case I damage them or something! Very sound of you to offer though! Head over for a chat and a look around if you want on the day man!

Also worth noting my wheels arent actually banded steels either, just spun steel wheels. Something ppl constantly say to me though...

Best thing for you to try this weekend is to go out with your current setup, if its grippy upfront and not so grippy on the rear, for your first session then swap the wheels around for the next session and see how you feel! Personally what id do with a short wheel base car like the mx is go out with a decent road tyre upfront like a federal 595ss or maybe a T1R and narrow, crappy tyres on the rear to get used to transitioning a snappy car then start introducing more grip upfront with a better tyre if you feel its understeering!
Then once your happy with the front and comfortable skidding the mx, start introducing more grip on the rear for faster drifting!

Negative camber and narrow/small wheels on the rear is the best way to get used to short wheel base cars, once your happy then start going for more rear end grip!

This sounds like win and makes sense. I wont have any particularly good front tyres though but do have new generic brand shitty ones. May sort out some off a mate though. R888s would be too grippy for the rear too I think. Doesnt quite have that sort of power.

Would like to go back to lower profile narrower tyres too, rather than 205/50s, but I had to use them in Portlaoise as the tyres kept popping off. No beadlock on the wheels. But may be ok on tracks with no big gutters etc. If nothing else the profile 50s have ruined my stance lol!!!

And Timmy I think T1Rs may be my route in the future. Still good grip, but not stupid levels of stickyness either. May give me the nice balance I need

[haydomiata]

I have no prob u usin my wheels lad i ave to get 2 of them balanced and shit neway so id have no prob givin then to ya plus i want to see that yoke fly saw hpt at ennis it got me mad to take out a loan and turbo mine haha

[B.Egan]

I have no prob u usin my wheels lad i ave to get 2 of them balanced and shit neway so id have no prob givin then to ya plus i want to see that yoke fly saw hpt at ennis it got me mad to take out a loan and turbo mine haha

good stuff man! Sure we'll have a chat on the day and see how things are going!

[DaveM-sport]

Only driven an mx-5 for a short few spins and on the road so can't really offer much opinion on how yours handles but in terms of giving reason to the extreme settings with toe-out in front and in on the rear would have been mostly to try stop the rear from being too twitchy and make it more stable during corners and drifts and prevent it spinning around.


On any car, you should aim to have balanced grip both front and rear anyway so might be better off trying T1-rs all round and see how it goes.
If it works for you, it'll probably end up being alot better than R888s on the front and lesser grip at the rear.