bl0498 Posted December 31, 2000 Share Posted December 31, 2000 Guys, What's your thoughts on the favoured tyre choice for 13inch wheels for 2001 for us chaps doing Hillclimbs and Sprints??? Yoko A510's are the obvious starting point - but what about Bridgestone 720's etc etc??? Any new tyres on the 2001 1A list that are worth investigating??? Best Regards, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Haighton Posted December 31, 2000 Share Posted December 31, 2000 Brian Bridgestone RE720s seem to be the 13" tyre of choice at Curborough. Talk to BMTR. Happy New Year Allan Haighton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted December 31, 2000 Share Posted December 31, 2000 You may well have trouble getting 510's. I wanted some 6 months ago and eventually had to source them from 3 different suppliers. I am going down this road myself at the moment needing a pair of 185/60 x 13". Other tyres I am looking at are Yoko A539,Falken ZE-502 and a tyre by Kumho that I cannot remember the name of. There is precious little between any of them by all accounts in the dry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted January 1, 2001 Share Posted January 1, 2001 BMTR used to recommend a Falken tyre but I think the 720's are the ones to have now. Like the bigger S02's they need to be buffed down to the stickier inside layer to get the best out of them. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Smith Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 Anyone recommend any "buffers"? Is it possible to buy tyres ready buffed - that'd be nice. Oh, and while I'm on, are we talking about buffing or shaving? My uneducated knowledge says that buffing is like scubbing with wire wool and leaves a rough surface (not good?), whilst shaving is like putting them on a lathe (better?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 BMTR will supply tyres buffed for a small extra fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Seipel Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 BMTR buff them now I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted January 3, 2001 Share Posted January 3, 2001 Micheldever near Winchester supply tyres buffed too. The 'hairy' finish that's left by the buffing process wears off pretty quickly - it's a good idea to get it scrubbed off before you do a timed event though. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Smith Posted January 4, 2001 Share Posted January 4, 2001 Am I missing something - who are BMTR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted January 4, 2001 Share Posted January 4, 2001 Blurb from their website.... One of the first independent tyre distributors in the UK, BMTR was formed in 1919 by Jack Smith to meet the growing demand for vehicle tyres. Based in Broad Street, Birmingham, the Birmingham Motor Tyre Repository offered a vast range of tyres, tubes and wheels. Today, BMTR have invested in 3 Midlands based ultra modern tyre centres, fully equipped with the most sophisticated tyre fitting, balancing and alignment equipment available and operates a fleet of mobile tyre service vehicles, fully equipped to offer high standards of service on-site for both car and truck tyres. With 40,000 tyres and 1,000's of alloy wheels in stock and race-trained fitters, we have tremendous choice, superb prices and a level of expertise second to none. At BMTR, motorsport is a passion. We supply racing tyres to some of Europe's top racing teams & drivers. The same skill, attention to detail and quality service racing drivers expect is practised by our workshop staff on our customers road cars. They are good people for advice and Yoko and Avon tyres. Might not be the cheapest, but they are way and by far the most knowledgable tyre dealer for track tyres and can have all the common 7 tyres in stock almost all the time. Edited by - Alex Wong on 4 Jan 2001 21:34:40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted January 27, 2001 Share Posted January 27, 2001 Hi Brian Re-read this. Have you done anything yet? If not, call / mail me as I have been looking into this and will tell you what info I have (for what it's worth!)...it will just confuse you even more!! Hope the MSC do is/was good! Cheers STEVE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted January 27, 2001 Share Posted January 27, 2001 Steve Don't keep it a secret, let us all know what you know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Sture Posted January 27, 2001 Share Posted January 27, 2001 Hear, hear - I am looking at changing my tyres from the Academy/Graduate spec Avons and would welcome advice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 Hi - well I'm not a magician and no I don't have the panacea for all of our tyre problems. The comments I had for Brian I thought may be useful because I know him and he knows my car. There has been much more technical and informative stuff provided in other threads by many more knowlegeable people than me - and thank you to them - the various points to be considered could fill a book (and do!) My approach is much simpler really and none of it is particularly earth shattering - I simply wanted to establish what tyres are likely to give the 'best' performance for my car for sprints and hillclimbs and, as you know, this is mostly subjective and must include allowances for other things - general road use / wear / mileage. Anyway, I have been considering upgrading my wheels (fancied some slightly lighter alloys) and thought that 13 inch may be best / not sure, but list 1A is an important point. I looked @ Toyo - harder compound - good in wet, Yokos = OK / good reputation Bridgestone = best with 720 for 13 in but these have higher profile than 15 in SO2 which means flex. Can be buffed same as SO2 to get down to softer compound. BMTR advise (in their opinion) that 15in probably best - this is based on the bhp of my car - they think that on 13in wheels I will have difficulty in putting power down - lighting up the tyres too much. But, Nick Potter runs 13 inch Toyo Proxes on his car - which is a very similar spec to mine - and our times are generally very close. I don't think either of us is consistent enough yet to really tell which tyres are 'best'. He was quicker at MIRA and I was quicker at Curborough - and that could have been the gearing differences - I'm happy with my gearing at C/boro but couldn't maximise the grunt through the long left hander at MIRA. I used the SO2 in 2000 and my times improved. Interestingly, they improved more by the end of the season as a result of me becoming more familiar with the car than they did at the beginning. Which takes me back to a previous email and the fact that actually receiving tuition and then using the car will make the biggest difference to 'our' times. I have heard it said that, as a guide, 'good' tyres can make half to one second difference per 'lap' but that really is irrelevant until you're getting the best from the car. I don't think that I am yet so, after some deliberation I am sticking with the 15in SO2s that I used last year = they were good and gave precise handling (mostly!). I didn't change anything else on my car - I went from 13in wheels (sporting horrible Dunlop SP2000 Sport Tyres) to the 15in wheels - no changes to camber angle / ride height / roll bars (or any of those other technical thingies!). Finally, I saw the suggestion of a tyre test day - this is nice idea but I think that for most of us mere mortals it will only help to confuse us. I have found a big difference from varying the tyre pressures - I know this is obvious but it really has surprised me at what a difference it makes. I say this because I could easily spend half a day at Curborough playing with just my set of tyres (sad I know but humour me!). Sorry if this is long and irrelevant to you! STEVE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee_fin Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 Bridgestone RE720s (185x60x13) are available from www.bookatrack.com at UKP 49 a tyre, including VAT, delivery and fitting. I run them for hillclimbs and have no complaints, rain or shine. Only minor issue is that I seem to eat them rather quickly at track days..... smile.gif Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bl0498 Posted January 31, 2001 Author Share Posted January 31, 2001 Thanks Guys, I have settled on the 720's and have 4 on order at this very moment from Micheldever, near Winchester who do them quite a bit cheaper than BMTR - and will buff them too.. According to most sources I have spoken to the 720's are THE list 1A tyre of choice in the 185/60 x 13 inch size. Many Thanks, Brian (I had better get back to building the car - haven't even got the engine in yet Steve!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry H Posted February 1, 2001 Share Posted February 1, 2001 Brian, I too have gone for RE720's. Interestingly though, when you measure the tread width that is in contact with the road it is nearly 3/4 inch LESS on the Bridgestones than it was on my old Yokohama A510's (5 7/8 inch vs 6 1/2 inch). Both are 185 but the Yoko's are 55 profile not 60. I hope the new ones really are as sticky as claimed to compensate! Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bl0498 Posted February 2, 2001 Author Share Posted February 2, 2001 Barry, I could respond by saying that 'size isn't everything'!! In effect though the contact patch on the tyre under normal conditions and reasonable inflation pressures isn't even the full width of the tyre anyway from diagrams I have seen. The differences, if any, will come under hard load in corners when the performance of the tyre will be related to many elements of its radial and sidewall construction/strength/rubber stickiness etc as well as the actual width of the bit that appears to be touching the road...... This sounds like a Bridgestone ad! I assume you have buffed the 720's anyway to get at the software rubber and the greater tread contact area. For reference on pricing I have bought my 185/60 x 13 RE720's from Micheldever (Winchester) for £42UKP all up + the buffing charge - including free delivery to Gloucester (they have an associated company here). Best Regards, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted February 18, 2001 Share Posted February 18, 2001 Took the car for its first trackday of the season yesterday , with the Bridgestone RE720's fitted ( 185/60/13 ). I was very impressed by their performance ( for list 1a ) and I think they are comparable to the A008's (175/50/13 ) I was running last year being very progressive with a good initial turn in bite . Although the RE720's havent been buffed their performance was increasing throughout the day , the biggest difference to the A008's I think is that they didnt overheat so quickly and that they allow the new engine to pull a higher top speed . Plus the fact that they were a bargin £25+vat = teeth.gif dave Edited by - Dave J on 18 Feb 2001 14:31:18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted February 19, 2001 Share Posted February 19, 2001 I have just taken delivery of a pair of buffed 720's. Like Barry H I was concerned at how much narrower they were in terms of tread. I Carried out an experiment and coated a 720 in chalk as well as a 510. I then put them under load and ran each one over a sticky piece of black paper. I then had much fun cuting out the individual impressions left on the paper and assemled them as a jigsaw. The result was that in terms of actual rubber on the ground there is very little between the 510 and the 720. I don't think you would notice a difference. The width anomaly is explained by the much wider guttering in the 510's. Of course this means that the 720's may not be so good in the wet. Something that was surprising though was that they are much heavier than 510's (about 0.6 kg each).. Haven't tried them in anger yet as the car will be in bits for two more months, but they look promising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Posted February 19, 2001 Share Posted February 19, 2001 Can I use 032's or 021's at hill climbs. If so in what class? I have a 1.4K Series SS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted February 19, 2001 Share Posted February 19, 2001 Can I use 032's or 021's at hill climbs. If so in what class? I have a 1.4K Series SS This is not a simple question.... If you compete in the Midland Hillclimb Championship or the British Hillclimb Championship, then you will find yourself in 'Modified Production up to 1400cc' where there are no tyre rules. So you might as well use slicks..... If you had a larger engine, or in most other series, you'll either have to use List 1A or find yourself (again) in a slick shod class. This of course only matters if you want to win. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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