according the the mazda website, the 2003 P5 comes with v-rated tires now and that sux!!!! any thoughts??

 

as opposed to?

my 2002 has v-rated tires.

 

When was the last time a P5 needed Z rated tires?

 

Relatively speaking, the P/P5 comes with very decent tires for cars of this price. Some cars out there with a higher price don't even come close when it comes to stock tire quality.

 

And what speed rating are V rated tires at? Something like 240km/h...way beyond the capabilities of our cars and the safe speed on public roads.

 

I'm a little puzzled by this too. First of all, the 99+ ES and P5 have ALWAYS had V-rated tires. Second, the 195/50R16 Dunlop tires currently offered on the ES/P5 are a big improvement over the Bridgestones installed on the 99-00 models at the factory. Third, even the Bridgestones on the 99-00 are awesome compared to the stock tires on most of the Protege's competition.

The stock tires on most other economy sedans SUCK. Even though many new econo-sedans now come with 15" wheels (most of them had 14's when I bought my 99) most of them are still offered with tires that were chosen primarily for fuel economy, long life and low price. This means skinny, narrow and HARD. If you want actual *grip*, you either replace them... or buy a Protege ES or P5.

The Pro's tires may not be top of the line, but they far exceed my expectations for a $16k economy sedan.

 

V rated is 149 MPH which should be quick enough.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...eral/speed.htm

P5's top out at about 130MPH (tested in European CAR mag). Rev limiter would stop you doing 149MPH even down a very steep hill

 

the stock tires that came on my P5 and every other p5 i;ve ever seen were dunlop sp5000 W-rated tires. W or Z rated tires handle much better b/c one they are a softer compound tire so they are more sticky, they have reinforced sidewalls unlike v rated tires so when cornering hard, v-rated sidewalls fold and flex causing you to slide. my friend bought some z rated nitto's for his car and loved them but the next time he went to get them he didn't have much money so he bought the v rated ones and they suck bad. they only thing good about a v-rated tire is that they last alittle longer and they are cheaper to replace, but unless they are taking that off the sticker price, i want the better performance tire.

 

did the speed ratings change, b/c i thought v was at 129 and w was at 189, i could be wrong but its just not what i remember seeing???

 

what is the new tire they put on the p5?? the old one was a dunlop sp5000 what did they change it too??

 

it's still the same Dunlop SP Sports 5000

 

Your friend's tire problem has to do with the brand of tire, not the speed rating. The only Nitto products worthy of being called performance tires are the NT555 and NT555R, which are Z-rated. All other Nitto "performance" tires (primarily the NoTraction 450) are lousy. They *are* V-rated, but they are a completely different tire and the lack of grip has to do with the hard tire compound, NOT the speed rating.

This is *not* comparable to some other tires which have different speed ratings for different sizes of the same tire (such as the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712).

 

ok if they are the same tires then why did they change to saying v-rated, the dunlops are W-rated all-seaon performance tires. and they only offer then in the w-rated. for tire comparison, use the kuhmo's, if you don't get the W/Z rates 712's, they don't offer near as much cornering ability.

 

Speaking of Nitto...IMHO they're all crap. The 555 is slightly better but for that price almost anything out there is better. I call Nitto the ricer's tire cuz they have nice aggressive looking patterns but they don't have the grip to back that up.