Recommended wheel setup

[System-G]

I hate peoples obsession with the R888.

Ditto.

Ditto.

For what the R888's cost the sprint championship entrants, one can't complain, but they are severely overated

[Simarshy]

I hate peoples obsession with the R888.

Ditto.

Ditto.

For what the R888's cost the sprint championship entrants, one can't complain, but they are severely overated

If you ask me allot of these type of tyres are quite comparable (There is only a few % difference in the tyre test speeds) and the choose really should come down to:

Price
Size Availability
Characteristics in cool conditions (If used on the road or wet/damp tracks)
Feel/Progressive
Personnel Preference

I don't see why R888's are considered overrated, they certainly are starting to become better know then some other brands which does in turn narrow the number of comparable brands tired.

What I think would be most useful is sort of test day. Which isn't really that easy to organise because of all the variables, but hell it would be fun

I think all we can really do in this thread is identify tyres which are not crap and useless at track work. The rest is then up to the user

Si

[skinthespin]

Jon?

Myself and Jon have been trying to organize a test day for ages, but with one thing and another its just fell through, comparing good road tyres with track tyres, maybe one day!

[leewaring]

Good idea! Would really give us a definitive answer to which is best.

[jonb-]

I've now done 1 back to back test (R888 vs MPS on a 968CS) and will be doing another soon. Once done it will all be written up on my site.

I don't see why R888's are considered overrated, they certainly are starting to become better know then some other brands which does in turn narrow the number of comparable brands tired.

That would be the understatement of the year, people in the jap circles interchange "track rubber" with "R888" and hats off to Toyos marketing department for doing so.

Grip wise the R888s are almost on par with some of the bigger boys, the problem with the tyre is a) they overheat badly on higher power / heavier cars and b) the wear is appalling. The 968CS isn't a heavy or powerful car but we've managed 300 track miles out of a set and they're nearly dead.

If I could make everyone who tracks on an R888 try something like a DZ02 if they noticed nothing else they would note how much more consistent and better wearing they are.

I'm happy for anyone running R888s to do a trackday with me and swap for my V70as half way through the day.

[Icsunonove]

Interesting stuff Jon. Please post back again once you have done your write up.

[jonb-]

Interesting stuff Jon. Please post back again once you have done your write up.

Of course i will. This article is costing me a lot to write it so it'll be spammed around many places

[Icsunonove]

Excellent. I must admit tyre brand snobbery is a big annoyance to me, it's real life experiences and factual evidence that counts (which is exactly what you are doing)

For example I've been banging on about Vredestein Hi-Trac tyres as a good very low budget track day tyre. Nobody seems to be listening though .
They offer a goodish level of grip both in the dry, in the wet and even in the snow and don't suffer from outside shoulder meltdown syndrome. They also have a reasonable wear rate.

Of course if I was running R888s, A048s, V70a's or similar I would be quicker round a track. But would I be having any more fun? The answer of course is no.

Anyways I don't think I'll bother replying to any more tyre recommendation threads as no-one seems to be listening

EDIT: Just reviewed a PM from Claire (ArmyMR2 @ Elite) and with the IMOC discount she is quoting : Vredestein HI-TRAC 185/60R14 82H £32.90 including VAT and delivery! I will PM her back and check that isn't a typo. If it isn't as soon as I wear out my Yokohama A539s (which I bought from Polley Motorsports at a silly cheap price) I'll be buying a complete set from her

[leewaring]

Ok I wonna get on track as soon as possible so...... for mainly financial reasons..... I've aquired a set of 15" stock alloys with near new 195/55 toyo proxies on the front and dead tyres on the back.

I'm thinking of selling the proxies and getting a full new set of track tyres. Fingers crossed i'll get some of these v70a's that Jon raves on about

So next plan is to do some freelance work and get some track tyres so I can do a couple of track days this year!

Ultimate goal..... save for some 16's

Thanks for the help and all the information on this thred! Its been a great read so far and has made me want to know more. So i'll hopefully see you all at a trackday soon!

[Simarshy]

Grip wise the R888s are almost on par with some of the bigger boys, the problem with the tyre is a) they overheat badly on higher power / heavier cars and b) the wear is appalling. The 968CS isn't a heavy or powerful car but we've managed 300 track miles out of a set and they're nearly dead.

If I could make everyone who tracks on an R888 try something like a DZ02 if they noticed nothing else they would note how much more consistent and better wearing they are.

I'm happy for anyone running R888s to do a trackday with me and swap for my V70as half way through the day.

Interesting I have heard the R888's are to soft for heavier cars such as Evo's etc and can wear fairly quickly. Probably isn't surprising given how well they work in low/road temperatures, better then the road legal slicks that came on Evo9's as stock.

Hope I can meet up with you on a track sometime as I'd like to take you up on that offer as I won't be changing the R888's this year (well I'd be stupid to given the discount) but I am interested to see how different brands compare.

Out of interesting how many miles would you expect other brands of road legal slicks to last on the 968?

Si

[jonb-]

Hope I can meet up with you on a track sometime as I'd like to take you up on that offer as I won't be changing the R888's this year (well I'd be stupid to given the discount) but I am interested to see how different brands compare.

Out of interesting how many miles would you expect other brands of road legal slicks to last on the 968?

Si

That would be cool if we could. Regarding the other brands, I'm not sure yet, I think the Dunlops are going on next so I'll report back when I know.