If you stay stock sized, you're pretty well blocked out of hot rod type tires,
but prices are cheap. The Dunlop SP-40 might not do you badly. Dunlops have
rather stiff sidewalls, so they give you some feel and reduce the swishing
effects. You should be able to find these mounted and balanced for well under
$150 for all four.
Go up to the 70 series, and for a street tire, the Yokohama Avid T4 seems
pretty good from what I've heard and read. You should be able to get this
mounted and balanced, all four, for around $150.
Just a bit too wide in the 70 series is the Pirelli P4000 Super Touring. They
do surprisingly well all around. A weak sidewall so you get much less
feedback, but they are predictable and comfortable. They will cost you over
$200 for a set of four though.
If you are willing to pinch a 60 series tire onto a stock rim, the Sumitomo HTR
4 has had nice things said about it as a decent driving tire. This should cost
you right around $200 for four, mounted and balanced.
Some swear pinching oversized tires on works wonders, others swear it's
horrible. Normally I'd be inclined to agree with the latter, but I've seen
this done quite a bit recently by good autocrossers, so I'm not so sure. The
degree of pinch reflects which width rims you're running, and that varies with
what year Spitfire you've got.
None of these tires are high performance or racing tires. They are good
regularly driven tires. They've got a sporty personality if you will, but they
also wear well, and have at least ok all season performance.
A Spitfire can get a lot of performance out of a so so tire because the car is
so light.
|