Hi, Hopefully you lot can help me decide on how to spend my money I'm doing some sprints and hillclimbs, and need a good sticky 1a or 1b tyre. I can't easily have 2 sets of wheels (no storage and drive car to events with camping kit etc.) So they ideally needs to last maybe 8-10 events and maybe 3000 road miles but still be sticky from cold. To add another constraint, I'd like to keep it under 400, way under if possible! so the way I'm thinking... - r888 or v70a in soft compound - 400 a set - toyo R1Rs - 250 set, better in the wet and maybe the tread will help heat the tyre quicker? - maxsport RB5 in soft - 260 a set - cheap option t1r - 120 a set I'm leaning towards the maxsports, any one have any experience with these? I've heard mixed reports but they are very cheap and used for tarmac rallies. Are the R-compound tyres really worth it for sprints? I was faster than lots of cars on r888s last year, theres many factors but I wondered if its just not possible to get enough heat into them on a sprint? thanks all
Hi I use my ibiza for sprints and hillclimbs and use R888s for the wet and slicks for dry. I like the R888 - I had the Kumho's before and dont think they wear as well - but they are still a good tyre and miles better than a 1A. If you are only going to use the tyres for sprints, get the really soft SG compound 888s - but these will fall apart if you take them on a trackday. So if you need a multi-use tyre, the GG medium compound might be a better bet. I use these for sprints and trackdays and as long as they are not too worn, they are fine in the wet. 888s are night and day quicker than 1a tyres like the T1R, and feedback so far is that they are also better than the R1R. You must have been a better driver or in a quicker car. Never used the Maxsports I am afraid.
Thanks for that, thought you might have some good info. I'd like to think it was a better driver but I doubt it! On the colder days on a green track a lot of people with r888s were commenting on how little grip they had. I don't know what compound they had though and it might just be that they had relatively little grip, but still better than road tyres. Have you used the soft compound? is it much better from cold than medium? cheers
I have not actually used the 888 soft compound myself, yet, but have been beaten by lotus elises using them. On a front wheel drive car, I reckon the medium compound 888 works fine from cold on the front as you can get a bit of heat in them in the tyre warmup area. They will also last 10-15 laps on a trackday before they start to get greasy. So a good option. Rears....I would go for the soft compound for sprints and trackdays - I have been using the medium and they hardly wear at all. For wet use only - I reckon the soft ones would be the dogs bits front and rear for sprints.
cheers I didn't realise that there was; GG - medium/hard GGG - medium soft SG - super soft when you say medium and soft do you mean GG and SG?
Rob, Do you use super sticky slick for climbing the hills. If so where do you get them from. Avons or hoosiers etc Bit of info be spot on
I have used a variety of tyres. The problem is that a lot of tyres of the sizes used on saloons are not available in the supersoft rubbers. So you end up trying to use those that are available. The most common slick in use is a crossply avon, usually A15 compound. On very light saloons (750kg), they seem to work well, but on heavier machines they produce really odd wear patterns. Basically I think they are designed for single seater use. Avon Radials in soft compound are available, but again only in certain sizes (none that are any good to me). Setups for radials and crossplies - TOTALLY different. Avons are VERY expensive - 250+ a pop these days. So a lot of people use the softest radial 1b's available like the R888. I am presently trying out some cold weather Michelin rally 'slicks' (17% minimum moulded pattern; monte-carlo spec tyre - cold and dry - softest they do) - radials so should suit my car better than the crossplies, but we will see as I dont think they are quite as sticky.... For avons - BMTR in Birmingham
dont get me wrong, the avons are really good, but I think they are perhaps not optimum for cars that roll (i.e most saloons) and are heavier than the average single seater also - crossplies are best mounted on a really wide rim to stretch the sidewalls out a bit - and this is not easy on your typical saloon hence my experiment with soft compound radials - it will soon be apparent if they are an improvement or not as I have personal best times to aim at that I can get consistently close to using my old setup
I was going to suggest Avons as well but I don't know how they perform with bodyroll. I know they do well with no body roll, though!
on a slightly different tack to everyone else have you thought about investing in a roof rack for the car and a tarpaulin for the garden? your slicks and rims live under the tarp in the week and on the rack for the journey to the track.... if your rich you could always get one of the 100 garden store boxes from B&Q rather than the tarp...
tyres hi mate,,,pm mr hillclimber on here,,,we use yoko a/048 super softs on his mk1 golf hillclimb and sprint car to good effect,many class wins and records,hope this helps,,,
I dont even have a garden! hopefully I'll be moving this year to somewhere with some storage but until then I' stuck with one set. Another problem i'm having is getting the things fitted! tyre places around my way want 30 a tyre to fit, they used to do it for 5 cash at the end of the day but they seem to have stopped that now. They're also totally useless! So normal tyre places wont supply motorsport tyres, or i can get them cheap online but no-one will fit them, any ideas where I can get tyres fitted around high wycombe?
If you can't find anywhere closer Total tyre in Binfield charge 7.50 a wheel. Total Tyre & Exhaust Co, Terrace Road South, Binfield, Bracknell RG42 4DJ 01344 450 586
Thought I'd update this in case anyone is in a similar position... I got toyo R1Rs in the end from Adams and Page in high wycombe, who I definitely recommend. compound - felt very soft when new, felt softer than r888s. they were starting to grain after a one minute sprint! They seem to have toughened up after a few road miles which is good because they would have disappeared quickly otherwise. I think on a trackday they would probably only be good for a perhaps 2 or 3 hot laps before they needed cooling down. tread - have more tread than 888s and seem very very good in the wet, far better than most normal road tyres sidewall - much stiffer than a normal road tyre but not as stiff as r888. they have a very square section and are very wide for their size I've only done one sprint day on them and a few hundred road miles but they feel very good, a different league from UHP tyres in terms of grip, my suspension is too soft now. as some others have said they do seem to work best at high slip angles and dont give that much feedback, but once you get past that theres loads of grip. they tramline quite badly on the road but aren't that noisy. Overall I'm very happy with them for the price and would defintely recommend them for road use and occasional track work.
