Best Tires for the Mazda MX5

Before switching to the Bridgestone Potenza Sport Evo (in size 205/45/17), I had the Yokohama Advan Neova RS (in size 205/55/17). The difference is night and day—in favor of the Bridgestones. Their grip and user-friendliness are on an entirely different level; they are in a different league compared to the unacceptable Yokohama Advan Neova RS, whose only real advantage was minimal wear.

The Bridgestones seem much more prone to wear, but that’s a fair trade-off given their excellent performance—after all, you can’t have everything. I can’t comment on their performance in the rain, as I haven’t had the chance to drive in such conditions yet.

To wrap up, they are quiet and feature a very solid sidewall—though perhaps not quite as good as those found on older Bridgestone models.

I recommend them without hesitation!

Tire size 195/50/R16 TW 180.
I daily drive a 2004 NB Generation Mazda MX5 between the beginning of March and the end of October. Fitted these tires near the start of March and have daily driven them around 12,000 miles / 19,000km since then (so over around 7 and a bit months). I drive mainly 50mph/80kmh back roads 20 miles to work each way and regularly like to go on road trips to some excellent fast winding roads. I also do the odd track day.

The good:
- Dry grip: These NS2Rs have INSANE grip for a road tire once the outside temperature is above around 10 degrees celsius. The hotter the outside temperature the grippier they get and my god do they have tremendous grip! Once the temperature drops below 10 degrees like any summer tire they do tend to lose grip but never become scary.
- Wet grip: For a semi slick TW 180 tire I was very nervous before I bought them about wet grip but I genuinely had nothing to worry about. Drove on motorways with wipers on their 3rd setting at 60mph/100kmh in a recent storm and they held up very well. General day to day driving in normal rain conditions is absolutely safe (once again below 10 celsius results may vary) and I'm very pleased.
- Wear: My NB MX5 has the 1.8L VVTI engine with 140hp and weighs around 1,100kg. Wear is very good. Starting tread depth of around 6.6mm went down to 4.5mm after 12,000miles. Very happy with it. If you have a more powerful and especially heavier car your wear might be worse so keep that in mind.
- Steering Feel: My MX5 has hydraulic power steering and the steering feel and steering weight has gone up noticeably with these tires most likely due to their super stiff sidewall, they feel amazing.

The Bad:
- Noise. Interior road noise at 50mph/80mph isn't great with a persistent drone starting at those speeds and growing the faster you go. Not the end of the world though as my car is loud and I just turn up the music haha. If you like a quiet tire keep this in mind.

TLDR;
Love the Nankang NS2R. AMAZING dry grip, surprising wet grip, very low wear, and the tires give amazing feeling and weight to the steering. Downside is they're noisy past 50mph/80kmh.
I will DEFINITELY be buying again!

Its the second time im buying this tire.
Very happy with its handling generaly even if it passes the normal age of its life.
Very good braking on wet road and its handling good enough too on these conditions.
I will change them only for something more slicky.

After the 2nd season the dry grip deteriorated a lot, you should be very careful when accelerating from a corner, otherwise the ESP will intervene. I am considering to throw it away after this 3rd season, despite the low mileage (15 000 km) and wear.

this model is discontinued by Cooper. Had to buy new one on e-bay.

Good strong grip in the dry with predictable breakaway at the very limit. Safe handling, stopping and corning when driving normally in the wet. Progressive feedback and controllable at the limit, no major dramas. Comfortable, quiet and a well balanced tire. Not expected to match Goodyear Eagle F1 Asym 6 for longevity. This is not a track day tire.

This comparison is with the stock Bridgestone Potenza S001 tires that come as OEM on this vehicle.
Although there was an instantly noticable difference, I held off the review until a few 000 miles were covered and some experience in wet conditions was gained - the summer of '26 extended that period!
So, after 2K miles on a European road trip through Germany and Switzerland, and some UK jaunts, most types of road surface have been driven.
The original S001's I found to be good in the dry, but could easily oversteer on a damp roundabout, with the slightest early acceleration. The ride and handling was ok. The mileage of the tires' use was from 8k to 25k miles, and they still had over 3mm all round when changed - I did rotate for even wear.

The most immediately noticable difference in the Eagle F1's is the comfort and handling. You expect a firmer ride in an MX5 ND, but, particularly at high speeds, they are markedly better over bumps and imperfections. The dry handling is very reassuring - dry grip superb. Although not pushed hard in the wet, when rain arrived, the grip was good in the heavy showers, with no hint of aquaplaning.
I quite liked the more curved profile of the S001's and felt that the very straight sidewalls of the renowned Michelin PS4's and 5's were not for me - though they look cool. The F1's give that slight curved profile AND a really good curb protection too.
Another factor was the cheaper price compared to the PS5's, at the time.
I cannot comment on wear yet, but my view is that, with my average of 5-6K miles of weekend/holiday use, they should expire around the 5-6 year mark, when tires should be replaced on age. We will see!
Happy Motoring!!

Fantastic tires, totally transformed the performance and handling of my Mazda MX5

More than happy to date . Bought to replace a set that side wall were cracking. No evidence of any problems so far. Car is for fun so does not do big mileages. More than happy with a mix of weathers & roads. Do not push the car . Happy with the very good service from Autoplus in Northampton & Nexen tires. Will go back to them. first class service

My 5000 miles include 400 on the track. The tires are quiet enough on the road and ok in the wet. I survived one torrential downpour at 30mpg. For track use they are excellent. Progressive with no sudden breakaway. This is on an MX5 Mk3 set up for sporty use. On the last track day at Spa it was very hot and the tires picked up loads of rubber pebbles. Many pebbles detached but others are permanently welded to the tread. At 5000 miles the tires are legal but essentially done.