tire choice for newbie'ish

bigrichi · Post by **bigrichi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:20 pm

ok guys, i need a bit of help

my tires are needing replaced and i was gonna stick T1R's on as i've heard pretty good things.

however, was up at knockhill at the weekend and had a few pax laps and i'd really like to have a go myself.

i'm planning a bit of driver training before i book onto a track day but was thinking as the tyres need changed would it be worthwhile a wee upgrade.

i use my car daily for about 2-3 miles to work and back and at weekends for usual use and the odd run.

was thinking about toyo r888's but when phoning for a quote the guy said he wouldnt recommend them day to day as they are very compromised in the wet.

i think an elise is a compromised car in the wet/ day to day compared to a hatch back etc anyway so can live with a bit of a compromise in tyres as well.

i appreciate that any track day biased tyre is going to be comprimised but just how comprimised???

do any of you run these tyres??? what do you think??

how comprimised are track day tyres for day to day use??

are they usable day to day, and just a case of being carefull in the wet???

thanks

jj · Post by jj » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:28 pm

Track day tyres are not ideal for every day use. I had T1rs on the exige at Knockhill on Saturday and was very happy with them in the conditions. Lots of people here run them and like them.

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:48 pm

jj wrote:Track day tyres are not ideal for every day use. I had T1rs on the exige at Knockhill on Saturday and was very happy with them in the conditions. Lots of people here run them and like them.

I liked the T1R's (for the 30miles I used them*) they where better than the guff I got on the car when I bought it

*The 30 miles running I got out my tyres was nothing todo with the tyres just me being crap.

steve_weegie · Post by **steve_weegie** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:48 pm

ok.... there's a big difference between what people mean by wet weather grip with either the r888's or the a048's...

I find that in the wet they are pretty good. what they are not good at is standing water - hit that and you'll aquaplane majesticly!

with these tyres on and heavy rain, i regularly get overtaken my nissan micras on the back roads!!!

snow??? never tried it but can guarantee complete lunacy!!

Wear wise, i saw about 5000 miles out of my last set of a048 rears (med compound). at £270 to replace them, they are not cheap!

if i was in your position, id get some t1r's for winter use and some sticky slicky's for next summer. unless you've got 2 sets of wheels to swap about, you'll never get the use out of a set at this time of year.

Cheers,

Steve

bigrichi · Post by **bigrichi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:49 pm

thanks jj

is it just me then thats getting carried away with advertising bull sh*t

spoke to one tyre retailer, recommended on here, that say they are fine
then spoke to another one, again recommended on here, that say they will be terrible.

bigrichi · Post by **bigrichi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:52 pm

cheers steve,

ideally i would have 2 sets of wheels and tyres but the budget just wouldnt go that far.

thats why i want to find out as much as i can before buying anything.

steve_weegie · Post by **steve_weegie** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:52 pm

BiggestNizzy wrote:
*The 30 miles running I got out my tyres was nothing todo with the tyres just me being crap.

Mate, thats not true - that corner leaped out and went for you! vicious thing......

ps - t1r's really are "questionable" for the first couple of hundred miles.

graeme · Post by **graeme** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:53 pm

I'm loving the R888s in the dry. I reckon they are as good as 048s.

However, they are positively scary in standing water. I would not recommend them if you do mostly road driving. I was reduced to 40mph by a thunderstorm on a French autoroute. Even at 40mph I was fish-tailing all over the place with buttocks clenched as trucks overtook...not fun!

They are very usable every day in the dry (as long as you don't mind changing them every 4-5k miles). In the wet 'compromised' is a bit of an understatement... You have to be careful in the damp. Hit standing water at normal speeds and you'll be lucky to stay on the road!

Stick with T1-Rs. I've had these before and liked them a lot, even on track. Next time I need a full set, I'll choose T1-Rs.

tuscan_thunder · Post by **tuscan_thunder** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:58 pm

steve_weegie wrote: snow??? never tried it but can guarantee complete lunacy!!

I believe Ali C used to commute in the snow...........

bigrichi · Post by **bigrichi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:03 pm

i used my last elise in the snow!!!!

gorrie · Post by **gorrie** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:22 pm

Either tyre is a compromise if you ask me.... I didn't get on well with my 48's in the wet on road or track (couple of slides/spins) and pace was reduced to a very slow speed ... BUT they were fantastic when a slightly dry line started to appear at the TT trackday and you managed to get heat in them.

By comparison, I find the T1R's seem a safer bet for the marginal and wet weather (especially on road where there is no run off)... but, they went off very quickly when I did a dry track night with them which lead to being overtaken by modified VAG cars with R888/A048's...

What I would say though, is that when the T1R's went off from overheating in the dry, the slides were much more fun and controllable compared to a slide induced by a cold 48 in wet/damp conditions. (IMO).

At speed on a dry road, I think I notice the car moving beneath me slightly earlier with T1R's... but, you would need to be going some to get the full benefit of R888/48's on road I feel. Something I'm not gonna try.

As has been said, I'd save for a spare set of rims and keep them for dry track days. You get limited mileage out of 888/48's anyway and I don't see the point wasting that mileage on the road when a T1R/AD07 is almost up to the same job.

Andy.

bigrichi · Post by **bigrichi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:52 pm

thanks guys,

well i think i'll sack the r888's just now then, as said not gonna get the weather the now.

maybe come next year get a bit of track experience and another set o rims and then consider again.

so...... the best road options then??????

are t1'r's the daddy's???

Post by **Shug** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:40 pm

S1 or S2?

S1 - Yoko Advan
S2 - Yoko AD07

is the general concensus, money no option. Dealer only but MMC will do SE discount on these, I believe.

bigrichi · Post by **bigrichi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:46 pm

dont think i can stretch the budget to the price of the ad07's, even with MMC's offer. works out at about £480 a set.

can get a set of t1'r from camskill for £272

i need to keep a bit of the budget to get the geometry done when the new tyres go on due to a wee knock the nearside had a few weeks ago.

any of you recommend anywhere round about glasgow to get the geo checked as well???

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:00 pm

R888's are fine in the wet, just dont drive like a fanny. If I wasn't planning on doing any trackdays over winter I would probably change to something else but will probably just stick with the R888's.