Tyre brands

[Froggy]

Im looking at tyres and have come across a few brands that i have heard of and seen advertise on the tv for eg but i dont know what they are like compared to say toyo proxes which ive seen a few of you use, these are some of the brands ive seen if anyone has any feedback on them: nankang, maxxis, falken, avon and hankook. Any ideas? cheers

[Deleted]

I guess your looking for a tire suitable for a light car as you post the request on this forum. From the experiences i have from super7 users the best tires for light vehicles (sub 1200lbs) are:
Avon CBR
Yokohama A048R
Toyo R888

Get the softest compound and the lowest load bearing you can. Higher load bearing would make the tire walls stiffer so the dampers have to do more of the work and increase the unsprung mass.

My first post btw=)

[Noah]

I think a lot depends on whether you emphasize street or track more.

If the former, I'd go with the Toyo Proxes T1R, as they're almost 4 lb lighter per tire, and I'd expect cheaper too.

[Deleted]

R1R's would be better for such a light car, road or track.

But R888's would be even better for track as they are R Compound tyres.

[Paul (madeye)]

hear a lot of raving on about the proxes, but i think people are using them off of other peoples sayso, the guy who is doing my engine used to run the same racing, then there were none available the tire dealer offered him a set of kumho's cant remember which at the moment (think Ecsta MX XRP). he said he made the same face as you lot will be now, but the guy said take them for free.. and WHEN you come back for more then you can pay me for these. james too them as he was stuck for rubber, long story short, he ended up paying for them. quite substantially cheaper than the 888's & proxes. on that heresay, ill be giving them a shot first, after i have balded the ones on the focus spinning them up.

[mattsmev]

Hi Paul

Recommending a tyre is more than just the brand. Wheel size and compound have a very big effect. Do you want a road or track compound, do you want 15, 16 or 17 inch wheels? After those decisions have been made you can choose a brand.

Road and track tyres offer a very different level of performance and cost. My recommendation would be to have both. I have two sets of wheels, one for the road, and the other set for track tyres, both 195/50/R15. That way I can drive to Newark, Curbourgh or Le mans with out costing an arm and a leg in expensive rubber on A road or motor way driving, but i can still have the soft rubber for Llandow or even a sprint day like the 'bring em home' event.

Both my sets of wheels are 15 inch. This gives the maximum side wall size and the maximum tyre compliance that I think is important for light weight cars. Many have 17 inch wheels which look great, but 17inch track day tyres are very expensive as not many race cars use such big wheels. (17 inch is £150, 15 inch is £100, thats £200 cheaper for a set) With two sets of wheels you can have 17 inch for the road and 15 inch for the track as long as you pay attention to speedo calibration. Be careful as some 15 inch wheels will not clear the rear uprights

Finally we can choose the brand. I tend to use R888 on the track but the yoki' product is just as good from what i see on track. I have not seen the new dunlop product yet, but it should be good. I used to use the soft compound but can only get mediums now. a set lasts me about 15 track days (thats 2 years). On the road i also use toyo, but a road tyre on these cars is far less important. I would be more guided by price and looks than out and out performance for a road tyre.

hope my thoughts make some sense. My second set of wheels were from ebay. I spent a lot of time rubbing them down to make them look OK, they are far from perfect but they are only used on track so it's not that important, that saved me some money too.

Cheers

Mattsmev

[Paul (madeye)]

i fully agree matt, i wasnt naysaying anyones input in the slightest, what i meant is that people buy from what other people say, without testing for themselves. i use my tire info which i gained from racing bikes. but you see a lot of people buying what other people use, with different riding styles, also dont adjust TP's and suspension settings and geometry to suit different rubber.
as stated. i will be trying the kumhos from advice, then a different tire until i find my tire

paul

[Froggy]

I wont be doing many track days really, would like to do them where and when i can but i'll get a lot of enjoyment driving on the roads anyway too. I just didnt want to spend say £200 on tyres and the car handle like jelly instead of spending another £100 and it driving like it should. I think i'll take pauls advice and go for a set of medium range tyres and if their crap then burn em up or flog them. Its just that the moneys running out quickly now but i dont want to put crap tyres on and then go sliding off the road! cheers guys.

[squelch]

A few other ones to look out
Avon CR500, as used on the Caterham Roadsport, Tracksport and R300 as a spec tyre. Its not available in 195/50 15 only 195/45 15 so the speedo will be out and the car will be lower slightly
Avon ZZR, road legal race tyre designed for lightweight cars, available in 195/50 15 and 215/40 17. Both the CR500 and ZZR are motorsport tyres and only available from Avon direct and specialist dealers

Federal 595 RS-R Soft semi R spec tyres available in various sizes alot cheaper than full R spec tyres
Federal FZ-201 R spec tyres Road legal (apparently lol)

Yokohama Prada spec 2 soft compound road tyre probably ideal as a multi use tyres as they have a bit more tread than the R spec tyres and also have a good funky pattern, also alot cheaper than the above tyres (ive seen them for £40 in 195/50 15)

[Paul (madeye)]

im debating on reducing to a 16" rim to reduce cost, i was popping 17"s on for looks but a smaller rim is good money sense

[Toed64]

Feedback on Falken and Avon

I've used Falken and Avon tyres, but not on lightweights.

Falken on 2 Subarus and an M3. Soft compound and shoulders wore very fast, even when running high pressures. Impressive grip for the first 5000 miles, less impressive thereafter.

Avon on a Subaru. Harder compound than the Falkens, but still softer than Michelin or Dunlop equiv. Very good in the wet and good in the dry, ultimate adhesion very good. . . much better than the Conti Sports they replaced, and Toyo Proxes too.