I know this is another 'which tyres are best' thread, but I'm looking for the Holy Grail of tyres. On OEM 16" rims they must:

1) Offer more grip than the standard RE010s
2) Give progressive breakaway (I'm no Burnsy) -- in fact this is more important than overall grip
3) Last a long time (I do about 35k a year)

So, more grip and less tyre wear? Any suggestions? I'm currently confused between Toyo T1-Ss, Goodyear Eagle F1s, Pirelli PZeros and Bridgestone SO2PPs. I used to have good results on a Saab with Pirelli P6000s, and I know a fellow Scoob owner who is a fan of Uniroyal Rallies (because they don't wear much and allow him to go sideways often)

 

Carl,

I'm running F1's. These give slightly better grip in the dry as the OE tyres but are much better in the wet. They are very progressive when they brake away. But do take some time to bed in, I spent 500 miles thinking 'What have I bought, these are c**p' but now they are great.

Not sure on how long they last but hope they last longer than the OE's

I believe that S02's have more grip but are less progressive when they brake away.

DaveW

 

Hi Carl,

I preffer Michelin Pilot Sport. Long lasting high performance tyre. So2pp is very good better than Sport on wet but they have not so high mileage like Pilot Sport. Form Pirelli is the best P Zero Rosso P6000 is only average tire. You can find more info at

 

Obviously criteria 1 and 3 are on the whole mutually exclusive - so you have to decide do you want a bit more grip than RE010s or a lot more grip at the expensive of wear.

- S-02s, most grip, most wear, less progressive than others

- F1s, good grip in dry, great grip in wet, wear a less than S-02s (200 treadwear vs 180 IIRC but S-02s go on the shoulders in 16"), more progressive breakaway

- Toyo T1-S, highly rated by some, don't know about wear rate

- if longevity is more important than grip, a couple of people have tried Falken FK-451s (£75 from Micheldever Tyres, Hampshire) which have treadwear of 280 and liked them. I have a German tyre test on a Merc wearing 235s and they rated them highly. Try a search on here.

If you're anywhere near Wembley goto Wembley Tyres (see recent thread) and get F1s at about £75 all inc.

Having just seen the other new thread on tyres and the mention of Yokohama AVS Sport the German tyre test thought the Yokos were joint worst with Uniroyal RTT 2. They commented that the wet braking was "inadequate".

See the other thread for details of Autocar's tyre test last year.

 

Just purchased a set of tyres I will use them for the track. they are called Champero 50 GT 205/50/16 £50 all in each.
Bob

 

All newish road tyres are poo on track, umless it pees down!
Use part-worn or slicks.

Stef.

 

Bob's will be part worn by the time he gets there

 

Bob, they are without doubt the worst tyres I have ever driven a car on. They are next to useless in the wet. They are slightly better than good in the dry. They will last a long time and wear well though. GT Radial are the manufacturer and are the largest in Asia. A lot of Japanese imports will come with these tyres on.

Q

 

Went on the track today with the cheepo tyres. Had a great time no problem keeping up with the rest of the Scoobys. What must I be like on good tyres? The tyres lasted well and they must be fairly hard as a few of the lads were knackering there tyres but the cheepo’s still look new. At the end of the day I changed the tyres back to my 17” SO2’s these tyre gripped a lot better and I would think I was a sec or two quicker. But then what do you want for £50. They will last me another year of track days.
BTW
After 4 laps I had lots of smoke from brakes and they never worked very well again all day. Must get a new brake set up.
Bob Iles