Latest views on road legal track day tyres

[dand]

What is the current feeling on the best road legal track day tyre? I've always had R888 in the past but ZZRs seem to getting a lot of good reports.

 

[Jonathan Kay]

How important is wet grip on the road?

Jonathan

[dand]

Honestly, it's got an aeroscreen so if it's raining I'm indoors .... 

 

[polainm]

Wet grip only matters if you prefer going through the hedge front first or rear first.

[Ivaan]

I think it's very hard to tell. Any new rubber is likely to be better than the old tyre you're replacing.

Having said that, the R888Rs are excellent.

Clive

[Simon.Rogers]

Kumho V70

The best on track, more than acceptable and useable on the road. Good in the wet.

Why more people don't use it i am not sure.  Its been around plenty long enough.

4 compounds 

Reasonable price.

Contact Mel Williams Tyres.

[ste]

Simon, are you saying the Kumho V70 is better than the Avon ZZR on track? I'm a big ZZR fan, have used them on other cars as well as the Caterham and found them to be fantastic. I even used them right through winter on the road in my Elises. I think they're amazing tyres - perfectly useful on the road but also a great track tyre. They clear water well too in the rain but are compromised by large areas of standing water, like all tyres of the ilk. Only real downside of them in my experience is that they are a heavy tyre.

 

I've no experience of the V70 but keen to try them if they may be better than the ZZR.

[polainm]

The Kumho V70a  has weird size options in 13". 235/45 R13, 175/60 R13.....most of us use 185/60 and 205/60?

[Shaun_E]

V70a are also available in 215/50 R13. They tend to be wider than the nominal width suggests so 175 is the equivalent to 185 in other track day tyres.

Possible combinations:
175 front and rear
175 front, 215 rear
215 front, 235 rear (which is what I have) but you'll need wider front wings and the right offset wheels.

[Paul Mason]

Can't offer a comparison to others vs. V70's (which my car came on, 175's and 235's, K60 which I believe is medium compound), however intially really not a fan of V70's as I found the car really skittish and could spin the wheels aplomb not seemingly trying (and yes I admit, I have driven in the cold/damp/wet so my own fault). However, my opinion has now changed dramatically after a dry day out and up & over the Hartside Pass (you southern boys are so unlucky where you live) a week or so ago. I have clearly never got them anywhere near hot enough before and as I went up the pass (with its many little squirts and hairpin bends and a knowledgeable lead car to follow and help me understand what a decent speed for the road was) the car came alive! By the time I reached the top I felt like a hero (I suspect my pace was fairly limited in reality) but the car felt unbelievable, so planted, so much grip, so much confidence inspired. My initial reservations were a product of my driving in the damp and not actually understanding how to switch them on. Now I would recommend and I will probabky be buying again rather than changing to something else in case they aren't as good. Good lesson learned by me as part of my ongoing seveducation

[david nelson]

Paul

 

I am sure you have hit on the thing that is most impotent the compound. with the seven being so light for the road either soft or medium would be the way to go. 

[Mucus72]

I was talking to Ian Payne of PT Sportscar fame. They run the Kumho V70s, not sure whether soft or medium compound, but I’d assume soft. They have 5 cars currently running in Mag7s. 

They much prefer them to ZZR. Feedback is that the ZZR take a little too long to come into grip. And then they are grippy as hell for the start of their life but they soon give that up. 

Although the ZZR looks like a cut slick and the V70 looks more standard (lots of grooves) the key is in the compound. 

I think I’m going to stick to my ZZS for road and wet track and consider V70 over ZZR for dry track work.