Tyres

[Terry K]

I know this might be quite a subjective subject, but from the point of view of a Caterham Seven owner that may never do a track day what would a good general purpose tyre be for Englsh weather?

I have a 1800 K series SV giving 170 bhp tops. My car currently has 7/8 year old Avon CR500's and so I am looking to replace all four tyres. I understand Avon are closing down tyre manufacture in UK and therefore the ZZS could become hard to get. From what I have read Toyo R888r are great in the dry but terrible in the wet.

Any advice please! Thanks Terry (tezkav)

P.S. I should have said my current CR500's are 195/45 R15 but I'll probably have to go to 195/50 R15.

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I have been using Uniroyal Rainmaster and Rainexpert. One on the 13" wheels on my Seven, the other on the 16" wheels on my 21. (Blessed if I can remember which of the similar names goes on which car and the promotional guff reads the same for both)

Both are road cars, the Seven being used year round.

[TomB]

You can still buy ZZS, possibly until later in 2023, buy them while you still can would be my suggetion.  

[SM25T]

I have been using Toyo T1R in 195-45-15 for road use only for years. They cope well with summer rainstorm soaked European roads. Believe now designated TR1, but haven't used this variant yet. Way cheaper than the CR500 used to be.

[RogNeedham]

Hi Terry,

I too have Avon CR500 (13in) for many years and was preparing to order a set of ZZS and then read more of the future potential supply issues.

For the last year I have been using R888Rs and whilst I accept they are not quite as good in the wet at CR500s, I wouldn't describe them as terrible.

cheers

Rog

[Terry K]

Thank you all for your comments.

I have had suggested Yokohama A539! Anybody have experience of them?

[Jonathan Kay]

Discussions of the A539.

Jonathan

[BigCol]

In #1, tezkav said From what I have read Toyo R888r are great in the dry but terrible in the wet.

Not what I heard... see here...

[7 wonders of the world]

I've driven R888 and R888R's in some pretty shitty weather, providing you don't drive like a dick and respect the fact your in a light car with wide semi slick tyres with this aquaplaning potential you will be fine.

Most semi slicks also have a reduce tread gauge compared to tintop tyres - circa 5mm when new

[Keeny]

Does anyone know what tyres caterham will be using to replace the ZZS when they finish production 

[RogNeedham]

Keeny,

that conversation is still going on between Caterham and various potential suppliers.

cheers

Rog

[revilla]

I am also the owner of a K Series SV with 170bhp and recently ditched excessively old and hard Toyo T1Rs for R888Rs. The first day with them I went to a local club meet, the heavens opened and I drove home in standing water. A car in front of me suddenly realised he had missed his junction, slammed his brakes on and made me pull up really sharply. Much to my surprise, I think the R888Rs had more grip on the wet than the old T1Rs had in the dry. Admittedly the T1Rs were well past their best, but I was impressed with the R888Rs' wet performance, especially compared to the expectations I had for them. And in the dry they are phenomenal.

PS: Through a series of silly buying decisions I ended up with a spare spare R888R in 15". It was only bought in the middle of last year and is still in its wrapper in my garage. Available cheap-ish if you want it?

[RogNeedham]

Here's the price research I did in August last year. At the time GP had no stock

Rog

[Nigel Blandin]

#13,yeah, my prices were always the best when I had no stock.....

 

[admaraujo]

The Seven is currently on Yokohama HF Type-D A008 and I find them a lot better than A539 and Nankang NS-2R.