"The "New" Azenis Sport will be available 1st quarter 2005. The differences
are as follows: A lot more sizes will be available, 14"-19"; the tire will
respond better to standing water; the tread pattern, although still very
aggressive, will be more "radial" looking. That's about it, the tire is
very nice. We received our first one 3 weeks ago for us all to look at and
"WOW", I am sure you will all be very pleased!"
"On an interesting side note, we sent the Azenis Sport RT-215 to TireRack.com
(who doesn't currently handle our product) for some testing and we came out
on top beating out 13 other makes and models in the Ultra High Performance
segment! Even more interesting is that we placed 4th in wet traction! That
is a very strong finish for a tire that is designed around maximum dry
traction"
And here's a quote from another guy at the Miata forum:
"I spoke with the "Falken guy" at the Mazda Rev it Up today, and he told me
that the new Azenis would not be available until Jan 05. He also indicated
that people at Falken have been listening to what the ST crowd is asking
for, and that the ST crowd is one of their major target groups. He could
not verify that there would be a 13 inch tire, but he did say that far more
sizes would be available (28 sizes, I think).
Let's see, he also mentioned the new tire would have the following
characteristics:
1) Marginally better dry grip than the existing Azenis.
2) Tread redesign to improve hydroplaning resistance. Said tread redesign
may include two Sinusoidal circumferential grooves.
3) New design is intended to be effective without shaving."
I personally think the current Azenis is much better looking...very eye
catching, looks like a hard core expensive rally tire but the new one is an all around better tyre, so I suppose it balences out. It's coming out in January. It's cool to hear about the improved wet performance. Maybe the tires will last longer and/or be more quiet. Apparently the tires will costs within 5 or so dollars of what they cost now.