Hello from Singapore

**alvinkiang** · 04-15-2017, 01:45 PM

Dear fellow Mirage heads,

Greetings from hot and humid Singapore!

My name is Alvin Kiang. My family just got a Space Star 1.2 CVT.

It came with factory installed Thai-made Yokohama BluEarth AE01 tyres. I love these tyres. The orange oil in them make the tread soft and very grippy without sacrificing tread life or fuel economy. I have used BluEarth in the past with good results.

The Space Star is decent in every way but fantastic in no ways. For the price, it is indeed a sheer pleasure to drive. The relative feather weight of this car and the torque converter in the CVT transmission makes it very peppy around town.

I'm keeping the revs to less than 4000 rpm during the break-in period and will soon bring it for a third-party rear alignment check at Autobacs (supermarket for car consumers).

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**Eggman** · 04-15-2017, 02:54 PM

Hello Alvin Kiang and welcome to the forum.

Good luck with your new car.

That's interesting about the Yokohama BluEarth AE01s - I hadn't heard of these before. Orange oil? What size are they?

**alvinkiang** · 04-15-2017, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by Eggman

Hello Alvin Kiang and welcome to the forum.

Good luck with your new car.

That's interesting about the Yokohama BluEarth AE01s - I hadn't heard of these before. Orange oil? What size are they?

The tyres are low rolling resistance 175/55R15. The R15 tyres are rather low profile, so the ride is much firmer than Mirages equipped with R14 wheels. In Singapore, the Space Star comes in only one trim level with no options whatsoever to choose from.

The orange oil in the tyre comes from recycled orange peels from the orange juice industry. You can find out more here. https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires-1...ign/orange-oil

The softness of the tread is a result of the orange oil which can be felt by hand. Just visit a tyre shop and dig your fingernails into the rubber tread. You can feel the difference between Yokohama's orange infused tyres and other brands of tyres without orange oil. In summer, the soft tread of the orange infused tyres dig into the tarmac very well. There isn't winter in Singapore, so I am unable to comment on their cold weather performance.

**Eggman** · 04-15-2017, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by alvinkiang

The softness of the tread is a result of the orange oil which can be felt by hand. Just visit a tyre shop and dig your fingernails into the rubber tread. You can feel the difference between Yokohama's orange infused tyres and other brands of tyres without orange oil.

That's wild. I'd like to do this, but I don't see that it is offered here in North America. Maybe in time these will find their way to our shores. I understand tire manufacturers are doing something similar with silicone compounds.

**MetroMPG** · 04-16-2017, 01:22 PM

Do the tires smell nice when you do a burn-out? I love the smell while peeling an orange.

Welcome to the forum!

**alvinkiang** · 04-16-2017, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Do the tires smell nice when you do a burn-out? I love the smell while peeling an orange.

Welcome to the forum!

No, the tyres smell like normal tyres. No hint of orange scent.

Originally Posted by Eggman

That's wild. I'd like to do this, but I don't see that it is offered here in North America. Maybe in time these will find their way to our shores. I understand tire manufacturers are doing something similar with silicone compounds.

In North America, the Yokohama Avid Ascend contains orange oil. The 185/55R15 82V may fit Mirages with 15 inch rims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRD1BWhi5Us
https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/avid-ascend