Grease Balls

[Trikes]

Bought two Yoky AO50 Super Soft and thought I'd end up with a ton of front grip - WRONG.

FWD Car is used for Hill Climbs and I've got US so bad I have to get right out of it other wise I'd be off the track.

So after 5 laps which I thought would be ample to get rid of the Release Agent I had multiple dirty pants moments and my Times went up nastily.

What to do what to do????

Car is 51/49 and has no U/S with the old tyres on it and is also spot on with road tyres.

Should I stick em on the back and drive to work for a few weeks to cycle them a bit perhaps?

[EfiOz]

Sounds like you've blown well over the optimum surface temp, not hard to do with a FWD. A lot of current motorsport tyres don't really differ in grip levels, but do differ a lot in the temp range they'll work in.

You may have to go back a compound.

[JohnD]

The tyres are part of the suspension, and any change may require adjustment eslewhere. Having made a big change in the tyre compound, have you adjusted anything else?
I'd hesitate to suggest exactly what, but tyre pressure, wheel camber, shock stiffness, toe angle are among the usual possibilities. The rear suspension could need adjustment too, to make it less sticky; think what could induce oversteer.
And we must not forget driving technique!

John

[Notso Swift]

We run 50's. These tyres are 3 seconds a lap faster at Phillip Island than A048...
Willing to bet you are getting over pressure

I start at 21 psi front, 18 rear, I know guys who start at 16...
30 hot max, OK at 28 but gone at 32.
Less camber and stiffer spring (or ARB) and you can drop another second. What is more I have done an 8 lap race at PI and every lap except the first was within 0.8 of a second


Edit, you are in Tas so Traction are your Yokie Motorsport tyre agent, call them and ask what they recommend

[parry]

I would run the softs on the rear of a FWD car. I find it easy to get heat into the fronts the rears though I struggle.

[Trikes]

So I rang Traction Tyres and we worked it out. After 2 marathon calls both of us came up with the same answer at almost the same moment - 'Tyre Slip Angles'. I put the SS on the rear with Mediums on the front and hey presto. You wouldn't believe (well you might) how good the car is. I finished 2nd in the State Series here (one up from 2014). Now the car is written off as I hit a Kangaroo on my way to last Round at 4.30am. Arrived at the Hill Climb with 'Bandaids' holding the Bumpers etc on. Finally got it home next day and the Insurance Co said 'she's done' 'here's a cheque'. Didn't happen at the Track so I was covered.

[Adam43]

Are A050s purely an Australian thing. I don't see them over here.

[Notso Swift]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Are A050s purely an Australian thing. I don't see them over here.

Bit late to this but, yes, Australia and Japan, actually... if you want to go fast you will get some

Basically, they are a time attack tyre, but available with more durable compounds

IPRA is the largest class in Australia and Yokies have been our control tyre for ... maybe...18 or so years. Anyway, we have a little bit of pull with Japan and as part of our tender a few year back Yokohama came up with an option that fixed the A048 problems (sharp drop off, despite long life) and offered the A050 carcass (which was initially developed only as a WTAC tyre) with some firmer compounds.
The key difference is the sidewalls and the transition to the face, anyone who cuts the two tyres will get it straight away. I say this with a bit of knowledge, as VP for IPRA

So, with the A050 we have lap records at every single track we go to, I have taken almost 2 seconds off my personal time at Phillip Island, put that in to context of a 140 hp/1100kg car on a 1.52 lap it is a vast improvement. The Lap record holder at Bathurst improved 6 (yes, S I X) seconds. Cars that are high torque have seen a much greater improvement.
The A050 is basically as good as an average slick. I will say it again, if you want to go fast on a R spec tyre, these are the best.

[sambeeb]

Sorry to hear about your car Trikes. I also do a few state rounds of the hillclimb championship but in NSW.
I went from using AD08R's to A050's in medium compound on my vw polo gti 1.8T. Its a very torquey 240 Hp and the step up was incredible.
I sourced the set cheap so went ahead despite really needing softs for hillclimbs. Yes the softs would be better but the amount of grip is still above my commitment level most of the time and it barely matters on some tracks that I have an open front diff. I run the fronts at 29psi off the line and adjust the rears up from there depending on how much rear grip I need/don't need. That seems to work well but from what was said above maybe running softs at the back would make the rear less scary at places like the mountain straight hillclimb at Panorama or Huntley.
sam

[Trikes]

Up Date:
I bought / fixed the Satria GTi up and it's been back on track and running well. 2nd's in the State Series (in ClassB) has been good.

Am running the latest GS Compound AO50's and went a 2.4 seconds quicker. Have gone stiffer in both Bars (and softer in the Shocks) went quicker again.

Running GS Compounds (AO50) all round at present. Using and older 2015 tyre up front with fresher slightly softer 2016 Compound out back.

About to put Proton in the back of the Shed as I've bought a 6 time Targa winning Alfasud. Freshening (1598cc) engine at the moment. C/R Dog Box / Quaife LSD and Shifter (now rollerized, rebuilt), Caged 630kg, freshened Big Brakes 630kg + pretty darn quick - I had a drive before rebuild on 7 y/o 048's (old and slippery as).

Tyre suggestions?

[sambeeb]

Hi Mate,

Out if curiosity what are the length of the runs your are doing in your Tassie hillclimbs. I'm also on Yokohama A050 G/S2. My Polo Gti is on 195/55/15's all round and I will be going to 205/50/15 fronts. I've been thinking about what you'd said regarding mediums on the front (I have a set of A050 mediums under the house). Most of the NSW hillclimbs are an average of 45 seconds though so I'm wondering if your experiences with front mediums would apply in my situation. You also mentioned that you were previously on A050 SS compound and then most recently went to G/S all round. I've never seen the SS compound - I assume that's super soft and softer than G/S yeah?
sam

[Trikes]

Our State Series Hill Climbs are all CAMS set at 1000m.
The SS is the old super softs which have been replaced by the GS which the is up graded SS.
Yes I went to the GS on every corner for cold meetings (Baskerville started at 1 degree and never went over 9. Now for the warmer months I have gone back to M up front with GS on the rear.

My Proton satria GTi is 'taily'. But the softs keep it gripped up way better than having Mediums alround. I don't have enough power to have GS on every corner.

At Baskerville I give it plenty of tyre warming and it pays off big time.

At my last three Meetings I've lowered my PB lots of times and had a win plus a 2nd at the other two. That includes the Australian Masters at Lake Barrington (31 bends in 1.89k's) Oct 28 2017. There's no tyre warming at LB or at Legerwood Hill Climb. So tyres that reach almost full grip within 80ms are a must have.