Mazda (195/45 R16)
on mostly town
for 4,000 spirited miles
I upgraded to 16 inches wheels and I was shopping for tires for my mazda 2 which is a very light car, so the XL rating it's a bit overkill for it and this affects comfort adding more sensitivity to every small imperfection of the road already compromised from the lower sidewall height. The tire itself it's very advisable for the car because the significant dry grip and cornering precision, being ligher than the stock one and having a better fuel economy rating i kept the unsprung masses almost identical (but measuring from a completely worn tire!). The feedback from the road at the limit is excellent in dry, lower and noticiable on wet, but never unsafe. Talking about wet grip and hydroplaning resistance i've owned better tires, I run the tire pressure 2 psi higher than what mazda advises tbh (for my suspensions going under 34 front and 32 rear causes a reduction in comfort), and the context of use it's not always ideal (11 degrees °C or lower) and maybe for this even with an underpowered car like mine I can slip at startup sometimes. When the wheather is hot they heat up very quickly and the pressure rises a lot, lowering comfort , increasing noise and reducing the contact patch resulting in dangerous longer braking distance. But all of this recovers if you study the right pressure for you needs which is nor the one on the door sticker, neither the one from the manufacturer.
