Miata Mailing List: December 1994, Message #90
sponsored by



     


   From: "Ken Stoorza" 
Subject: tire stuff
   Date: Sat, 3 Dec 1994 16:26:53 -0500

I spent a portion of yesterday morning getting the Pirelli P500s on my 90B
rotated. The folks I bought them from (Wheel Works) rotate, balance and check
alignment for free. They also have an "open shop" policy and encourage owners
to hang around and ask questions. Overall:  a good environment for this sort of
thing. And, BTW, they had the best price when I shopped around. Due to being
busy with work and home, I probably rotate tires *once* during the life of the
tires. I know....bad Ken, but such is life.

Couple of points:

1.  Tires are wearing *wonderfully*. I don't baby the car in turns;  I expected
these to wear faster...they aren't.

2.  Teeny balance adjustments;  nothing major. One tire had a few ragged points
which they shaved off.

3.  This was the second time I had the alignment checked;  once at around 30K
miles when I put on the Pirellis and now at 45K during the first rotation. As
before, the alignment was spot on. The guy checking the alignment said he could
not have improved the settings one iota. Of course, the wear is even.

4.  Back on the road I hovered around 60, 70 and 80 MPH. No dreaded Miata
vibrations....everything was smooth as glass. (of course, it was before the
rotation as well)

4.  Looking at the brake pads, I suspect it will go 100K with no problem.

5.  They noted that the brake fluid was a little dark and suggested there might
be some contamination (possibly from water?). Has anybody experienced this?

6.  While the shop guy was balancing the tires, I asked what kind he uses. He
swears by "Falken", which I never heard of. He told me that the tires were made
in Japan....of all places. I expect that Japanese made tires should cost a
fortune, but he claims they are priced like Michlens, Pirellis, etc. I actually
saw one and, yes indeed, it said "Made in Japan" on the side.

7.  When the guy at the desk asked if I wanted the alignment checked, I said
sure, but I totally expected that it would not require adjustment. The desk guy
seemed surprised when I told him that I had not had a car that required
alignment in over 20 years. (this didn't count my TR3...which was a bit of a
"hanger queen";  last car that needed it fairly regularly was my 70 TR6. The
cars in between have been an RX2, Hondas, my wife's Voyager and, of course, the
Miata.

Maybe moving away from Connecticut and pothole country about 15 years ago had
something to do with it :-).

Ken Stoorza
White `90B