Miata Mailing List: August 1992, Message #22
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   From: (none)
Subject: tire wear & replacement
   Date: (none)


The original tires on my 1990 model, Dunlop SP SPORT D89's (P185/60R14 82H),
are really starting to show the 50,000+ miles, and are an absolute terror in
the rain. =8^0  The rear tires show much more wear than the front, which makes
sense because the rear end comes unglued before the front in hard cornering
(oversteer).  A curious point is that the right rear is much more worn than
the left -- to the point that a belt is peeking through the inboard side of
the tread.  Perhaps this is because of the slow leak in the left rear, which
makes me think that the tires should've been run at something *less* than the
recommended 26 psi.  (Lower pressure would've put less wear on the suspension,
too.  Anyone care to comment?)  A less probable explanation for the left-right
wear differential would be that the car is often driven solo (weight on left)
or that it's usually driven on the right side of the road (crown to left,
dropoff and gravel, etc., to the right.

I'll be putting Yokohama AVS Intermediates, in either 185/60-14 size (stock)
or 195/60-14 (slightly oversized), on it soon, but probably two at a time
because of budget constraints.  Should I move the so-so Dunlops from the front
to the rear and put the new tires on the front, or vice versa?  Would the
width of the new tires (185 mm vs 195 mm) affect this choice?  Also, should
the Dunlops be switched left-for-right to compensate from outboard tread wear
from understeer at the beginnings of corners?
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  James Miller -- developing Unix software at (!) IBM -- Austin
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  Internet:  jamesm@voyager.austin.ibm.com
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