bonesetter

iTrader: (9)

This is the choice of what I've got it down to, really not interested in any others

Bridgestones could be 010's or 050's. Yoko - Advan A11A, or A680?

For the Type R (330bhp, stiff arb's, B-road use, mainly dry blats out)

Over to you

DT-SPD

iTrader: (7)

What about Toyo R1R if the car is used mainly in the dry ?

RE010, RE050, A11A and A680 are a more everyday/allround tyres arnt they ?

bonesetter

iTrader: (9)

I have T1R's on it now With a well set up chassis I find that the Toyos seem to have a mismatch between sidewall and tread. It feels like when turning in, the sidewall is initially too stiff but then immediately after it seems like the tyre wall ‘collapses’. It also feels like the tread folds under side load, making the slip angle unpredictable.

Haven't had experience with the ones you've picked

DT-SPD

iTrader: (7)

I must admit that Ive only ever driven my Subaru with RE070 or Winter tyres so I dont have a great deal of experience with other tyres. However, I did have RE050 on my Golf GT Sport and they seemed to be a good all rounder but I wouldnt have throught they would compare well to T1R's on dry B roads.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

If you are serious try some Toyo R888's, they are costly, noisy and sticky...

I love them. Seriously try some in the summer and be astounded by your own car.

dunx

P.S. Mine has RE-070's for general use, Vredy Ultrac. Sess-wassits for winter.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

050s are an average tyre, there are far better ones for the money. If you don't mind me asking, why have you suggested the tyres you quote? Of those it would have to be Ultrac Sessantas

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

I love my Yoko's over 10k on them and even with the new power levels (460/460) no issues at all

WholyC

After trying a lot of different tyres I have found that I prefer Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (now been superceded by Pilot SuperSport). Great grip and traction, both in the wet and dry and very predictable. None of the disjointed feeling you get from Toyos, like you mention as well.
I found the Bridgstone to be almost as good as the Michelin, but with a carcas that is too hard for my liking. Vredestein just had les grip compared to the Michelin and Bridgstone.
I also use Michelin Pilot Sport Cup for the track. None of the other semi-slicks come close to the amount of grip these produce. Compared to the Toyo 888 I found them to be far more stable, less drop-off when very hot and a much longer life.

bonesetter

iTrader: (9)

@F1 - Which Yoko's is your experience with?

Wholy - I'm presuming the Pilot Cups are road legal? Can you comment on their damp/moderately wet performance? My intended use is fair weather road, not daily use, would you say the cups are really a track only tyre, like the 888's

The 888's I found to be quite temperature dependent, and little confidence in the wet/damp (although tbf, that was on a lightweight track car)


Great feedback, thanks.

WholyC

Pilot Cups are road legal and are ok in damp and slightly wet. They do not like standing water though. I don't really have them for road use as they are fairly expensive and it could be argued that they provide too much grip to have fun on the road.
I prefer the Pilot Sport 2 for road use as it seems to have the best compromise for use on most surfaces, wet or dry, with better grip than most and lots of confidence.

I tried the Pilot Sport 3 a few months ago but found that too similar to the Exaltos/Primacies I tried many moons ago. I haven't tried the new Pilot SuperSports yet (too much life left in the PS2s yet). I suspect these will be the natural successor to the PS2 and will have similar performance.

When I tried the 888s I found them to be fine on the first lap, then turn to jelly only to come back again after a while but with less grip, high wear rate and even worse feeling of folding sidewalls and running tread.

budd

iTrader: (5)

Tyres are a very subjective and personal thing, but generally semi slicks are great for track use and very occasional road use ie Sunday morning blasts or driving to said track, but they are expensive, wear very quickly and absolutely don’t like cold wet roads, standing water is particularly treacherous, Toyo, Dunlop, Silverstone, Yokohama, Federal etc etc all do a proper semi slick tyre and in absolute terms there is very little to choose between them overall performance will be broadly similar which ever you go for, but bear in mind they are designed for the race track and that’s the best place for them.


If you take the above comments into account and accept the strengths and weaknesses of semi slick tyres then they are the best option for ‘ultimate’ performance, but as your car is mainly going to be used for ‘B road’ blasts then a very high performance road tyre may be the better option, and here is where you’ll get a massive difference of opinion mainly due to the enormous choice available.



Almost every manufacturer advertises a super high performance tyre and everybody as their favorite, but I don’t think anyone will have tried them all so it’s impossible to make a definitive choice, without doubt some are better than others and I think those most oft recommended are probably your best option, my own suggestion would be to look at the Hankook Rs-2, it’s a MSA B list race tyre and features stiff side walls, high silica compound but with normal tread pattern for cutting through standing water, in many ways it’s an excellent compromise between road and race plus they are often available at discounted prices from Camskil tyres, they may not have the top brand name but be in no doubt they are very good indeed and given the price are well worth a look.