Sticky black round things

[Lotelan]

I'm fed up with the slippy slidey MXV2's fitted to my 7. What tyre works best on a 7 -I'm looking for maximum dry grip/OK wet grip and am not too bothered about wear rates. I've had Yoko's in the past on other cars and rate them highly, how about A021R, A032R, A008R? would these be eligable for sprints/hillclimbs etc?

[Anna Rexia]

Sticky black round things? I think they're called pontefract cakes and they're made from licorice!

[Jules Martin]

Anna do you actually drive a CAterham ? or are Pontefract cakes and Dom Perignon your buzz ?

(By the way, there's nothing wrong with the last two there amongst my favourites).

 

Jules

 

 

[Anna Rexia]

Yes, yes & yes

[Jules Martin]

Then we should get together !!!

 

 

[Rob Morris]

Shame about some of the comments as I would be interested to learn about peoples experiences with different tyres / engine options!

[Austin Moore]

There's more to life......

 

Chill! People being chatty doesn't reduce the amount of tech stuff being posted - and some of us find it entertaining!

 

AM

 

 

 

Edited by - Austin Moore on 15 Apr 2000 00:02:58

[Jules Martin]

 

Thanks Austin.

[Nick]

Most would agree that the grippiest tyres are Avon ACB10s - for the dry; not so good in the wet.

 

I have used them on track and they are a fair bit grippier than the Yoko A021Rs I normally use (185 x 13").

 

I will try A032Rs next as I have heard they are better than the A021Rs in the dry but a little worse in the wet. Some say they break traction more violently than the A021Rs.

 

I think Yoko's 'R' tyres and the ACB10s bump you upo a category in competition.

[Gridgway]

A032Rs, brill in the dry, ok in the wet (much better than yoko AVSs). Not list 1A for competition though.

 

GRidgway

[Anna Rexia]

Thanks Austin.

They won't get rid of me that easily, I'm a stayer!

 

[Lotelan]

Thanks Nick & Gridgeway - we got there in the end!

[Alex Wong1697456877]

Most Sprints have road going classes and modified production classes. 1A tyres would put you in Road going classes. 1B tyres would put you in ModProd classes (against some pretty serious machinery)

Most road tyres are 1A. Yoko 021R, 032R, Avon ACB10 are all list 1B.

 

Below are other things that I've posted that might help. Just my opinions though.

 

Another opinion. I don't think Pontefract Cakes go well with Dom P. I can't imagine 007 scoffing a pontefract cake with his bubbly. Just my opinions though.

 

 

 

(copied from another thread)

 

For a road Seven, I'd go for 021R's - 185 60 13 all round. If ground clearance is an issue, you can get them in 70 profile. Not very pretty but prettier than a puddle of oil under your car! Alternatively, go for bigger wheels if ground clearance is a problem.

 

If the 021 lifespan (approx 5-7000 miles for pure road use) is too short, I'd go for A520 yoko's but I think they've just replaced them with something newer. I use 14" A520's - 10,000 miles and hardly worn, but they're nowhere near as good as the 021's I had.

 

Other choices? 032R's are good in the dry so if you don't take the 7 out in the rain, these would be ideal. ACB10's aren't great road tyres - short lifespan, lower profile (& rideheight), plus they're expensive.

 

 

Alex Wong

alex.wong@lotus7club.co.uk

http://www.alexwong.net

Home : 44-(0)121-440 6972

Fax : 44-(0)121-440 4601

 

 

copied from another thread

 

I'd agree that the 021's are probably the best all rounder.

 

Good in the dry and wet and decent durability. The 032's I had tended to let go more suddenly both in the wet and dry. They were grippier in the dry but definitely worse in the wet.

 

To confuse matters though, Avon's new Radial for the R500 should be available soon or maybe even now. The tread patteren looks wet road friendly.

 

 

Alex Wong

alex.wong@lotus7club.co.uk

http://www.alexwong.net

Home : 44-(0)121-440 6972

Fax : 44-(0)121-440 4601

 

Edited by - Alex Wong on 1 Apr 2000 19:36:08

 

 

Edited by - Alex Wong on 17 Apr 2000 18:48:50

[Nick]

Alex

 

I know it's a case of 'how long is a piece of string' but... I have always used 185 x 13" A021Rs on my 1.6K ss on the road (apart from about 5 miles with ACB10s once) but will probably go for 32s next. When you say (as do others) that they are not as good as 21s in the wet, can you quantify that? Are they really bad skiddy slidey all over the place at 30mph blush.gif? Or are they perfectly OK at 'normal' car speeds and it's only a problem if you push them teeth.gif?

 

Thanks

Nick

[Alex Wong1697456877]

The 032's are definitely much better in the dry than the 021's. In the wet, they're actually not that bad. I used them for about 6 months as my road tyres in all sorts of weather. As long as they were treated with some respect, they were fine. For normal road wet weather driving, I'd say they were good enough except if you did push them a little too hard, you could find yourself facing the car behind you. They let go more quickly than the 021's but not without provocation.

 

I wouldn't disuade anyone from using them for road tyres but would suggest that you may have to accept that if it's very wet, you won't be outrunning many other road users without a fair amount of bravery.

 

I never tried the 032's on a track so I couldn't say how much better they are than the 021's in the dry. On the road, on 032's in the dry, the car felt like it was on rails.

 

 

Anybody else tried both?

 

Alex Wong

alex.wong@lotus7club.co.uk

http://www.alexwong.net

Home : 44-(0)121-440 6972

Fax : 44-(0)121-440 4601

 

Edited by - Alex Wong on 18 Apr 2000 02:36:19

[Andrew Russell]

Alex,

What pressures did you run your A021R's at? I

use them on my XE Vauxhall engined car and use 19psi all around. Grip is great but I've noticed that the rears are wearing more in the centre than at the outer edges, which common wisdom would suggest overinflation!

I'm using 185/60-13's by the way....Any thoughts from your experiences(or anybody elses)

Andrew Russell

[Alex Wong1697456877]

On the road, I ran 20 psi all round. The tyres did wear out in the middle and inner edge more than the outer. I think this is due to the amount of camber on a standard de-dion setup.

 

On trackdays and sprints, I ran 26 - 28 psi front 20-22 psi at the back (in the dry) to help keep the tyre on the rim and the car felt well balanced (2.0 Vx). The tyres still wore on the outer edge despite the higher pressures due to the harder cornering.

 

 

 

Alex Wong

alex.wong@lotus7club.co.uk

http://www.alexwong.net

Home : 44-(0)121-440 6972

Fax : 44-(0)121-440 4601

 

Edited by - Alex Wong on 18 Apr 2000 13:55:46

[StewartG]

I had trouble getting 021R's to wear evenly across the tread pattern and ended up with 16-17 psi but 032R's are still better.

[Graham Perry]

I run 55 and 60 profile tyres on my Caterham in 13,14 & 15 inch sizes (185s & 195s). Regardless of what tyre type, 510 or AO21R I always run at 16 psi cold. I came to this conclusion by using a pyrometer to measure the temperatures across the tyre at track days and sprints. At 18 psi the centres get hot and at 15 psi the edges run slightly warmer than the centres. At 16 psi I get a relatively even temperature across the tyre and I find tyre wear is even as well.

[Ben_S]

As an aside; Someone mentioned the A520 and successor earlier. The new tyre is the A539 and is to be the same price as the old A520. Incidentally the A520 has not performed well in any tyre tests that I have read, most saying that it is an old design/specification. I'd guess the new tyre to be much better than the A520, but maybe not to be as good as the 0021R & 0032R though I'm sure it will have a longer life.

 

 

[Chris King]

It's time to get some new tyres. The A032R's have finally worn after about 5500 miles; perhaps I haven't been driving hard enough?! Can someone please recommend a mail order company ('phone numbers/web address?) who supply reasonably priced 32's - they're 205 front/225 rear to fit Speedlines. Or should I go for the new Avons (for a 6sp/VVC, mostly general wet/dry road use, some track days). Thanks for any info. p.s. as Alex mentions from time to time, I can totally recommend John Noble's place in Chesterfield - always perfect service and results.

 

Edited by - Chris King on 23 Apr 2000 11:37:29

[Nick]

Try www.easytrack.co.uk - Yoko A032R 205/60/R13 for £76, includes VAT and delivery (for a full set) or fitting if you attend one of their track or airfield days.

 

Give Jonny a ring on 01785 661798 or 07901 555 875.

 

Nick

 

 

Edited by - Nick on 24 Apr 2000 00:58:36

[Nick]

Alex

 

Thanks for your post re A032Rs. I think I shall give them a go when the current A021Rs have given up.

 

Re a few posts about the A021Rs wearing more in the middle - the tyres do not seem to be flat but proud, ie even when not on a wheel, or fitted but with no air inside, the tread section is convex; I've always thought it odd but they seem to work OK.

 

Re tyre pressures - the pressure you are after is that at which the tyre works best when it is hot. For convenience, this is translated to a cold pressure to make it easy to adjust when the car is in the driveway. This works OK for road use, but if you want to get serious with track use you need to do a bit of work. Most circuits in the UK run clockwise, and so the nearside tyres run hotter than the offside ones, with the nearside rear probably slightly hotter than the front with a neutral oversteer/understeer setup. If you want to waste some time, set the tyres up so that when they are well and truly warmed up, the two rears match each other, as do the two fronts. Let them cool down, and take the pressures again. These figures will give you the pressures to set your tyres at for the next trackday - none of them will be equal cold, because each tyre will be performing differently, and it's the hot pressures that really matter.

 

I confess I have never been that bothered about it. One day...

 

I run my 1.6K's A021Rs at about 18psi front, 16 psi rear which along with the geometry setup (can't recall it offhand) gets rid of understeer and makes it about neutral. 1 more psi in the front induces oversteer.

 

Nick