Tyres? What do you use?

[Adam43]

Ah! The black art! Which tyres do you use? what experiences do you have?

We race an Jaguar XJS in a "standard" class. The rules state that the tyres should be road legal (but this is just the tread).

The tyres we use are 235 x 50 x 16" Pirelli P6000. Although we have raced on a combination of Michelins and Dunlops.

They seem to be pretty good. The car moves around a bit more when they are (very) hot, but they are pretty consistent front to back. We haven't found anything that we like too much in the wet.

We have found that they are at there best with a couple of mm of tread left.

Most others in our racing are in a similar boat and there is a large range of tyres out there. Some say that normal road tyres are good enough and I wonder what tyres you lot have experience of. How much advatage is there from buying a race tyre (albeit a treaded one). And what's the best wet one? - We are begining to think the P6000s are not that hot in the wet!

Anyway there is some of my experiences! What rubber do you use? Obviously I'm more interested in similar cars (road going) with similar tyres, but I'm not fussy!!! We can't get out there and test all the tyres!

[Dan Friel]

Firestone F580's.. see results below (hopefully)

[Dan Friel]

Again maybe??

[Dan Friel]

How do I delete messages..

And one more time!!

[Dan Friel]

And check them rolling on this one (hence my previous topic about tyres)... acknowledgments for both photos to Tony Large

[Chris Y]

The MGOC champs have just moved over to Yokos A032R from Firestones, and the difference in grip is astounding! I dare say that 235x50x16's would cost you an arm and a leg and a kidney in Yoko spec though They are worth it though..

In the Mini championship, we also run Yoko boots, but the 539s, which are more of a road standard tyre. They come with 9mm of tread, but it's generally a good idea to get them buffed or shaved down to 4-5mm for use in the dry, otherwise the tread moves around too much and they overheat, hardening the rubber..

Avons are reputed to be pretty good for the price too, although I've never personally tried them in race conditions, but they're stunning on my road car.

I will say this for the Firestones though - they'll be excellent in the wet (monsoon type wet), because they have *so* much tread!

[Adam43]

Dan it looks good - really getting use of those tyres!

Originally posted by Chris Y
buffed or shaved down to 4-5mm for use in the dry, otherwise the tread moves around too much and they overheat, hardening the rubber..

We find the same thing too. You can make quite a mess of a tyre with too much tread! Put them on a road car to run them in!

The Pirellis haven't been good in damp conditions either. i.e. when they don't need to shift much water, but the track is slippery. Whether it is becuase they don't get as hot I don't know...

The XJS does take big wheels! There is also a minimum profile rule as well. I can't remember what it is, but it does forbid low profile tyres.

[DAVID PATERSON]

I use the Yokohama A539 on my road car, they grip very well in the wet and the dry and last well too.

I use the Yokohama A032R on my race car, they grip very well in the dry and when nearly new are excellent in the wet. They are of course, useless in the wet when there is little tread left. If you do go for them, two things you must remember are use low pressures 26-30 psi max. and be careful for the first 5-10 laps when they are brand new, because the manufacturing process leaves a greasy residue on the tread from the moulds and you'll have very little grip until you scrub this off.

[Slowcoach]

David - why the low pressures for the Yoko's? I run some Toyo Proxies and have been told by some apparantly experienced in this field to run at 36-40 psi - I have been spoilt as I normally run big Avon slicks but needed something road legal for a different challenge and subsequently I found the level of grip much much less but havent used any else road legal to compare. I will be sticking to slicks whenever possible!

[DAVID PATERSON]

Generally all "road legal" race tyres work best at 36-40 psi, but for some reason these tyres will wear out very quickly and offer a little less grip if you go over 30psi. I think it has something to do with very hard, thick sidewalls and very soft tread rubber.

[THR]

WOW @ 36-40 psi!
for hillclimbing/sprints we used about 22 psi in yoko's.
when cold.

36-40! god wot u running? a volvo? lol.

slicks rule

[Chris Y]

That's the thing.. The Yoko 032Rs are the same construction as a slick tyre, in the sidewalls mainly, so they don't need so much pressure. 24-26 seems to be the way to go. However, proper road tyres like the A539 need much higher pressures, otherwise they just go all wibbly and roll around underneath the car. So for an A539 you'd be wanting to run 36-39. Some of the drivers in my Mini series run them at 42psi!

With Yokos, some of their tyres have an 'R' at the end of the name (Like A032R). If it has the 'R', then it's built like a slick, and the pressures should be low.

If there's a tyre truck at your race meeting, go talk to them.. Quite often they'll have some advice about pressures, etc.

[Peter Mallett]

We run a championship standard pattern tyre. Dunlop D84J. the Capri uses 215x50x13 and we run them cold at 34/32. After a race the pressures usually run at around 39 or 40 psi.

[Dan Friel]

Perhaps I should go even higher on the psi front then, to stop the walls rolling under.... I'll give it a go next time out.

[Adam43]

We run mid 30s psi. Always a couple more on the front. I think last time out we ran 34/32. It is something that we don't really think we have got right yet!

Whatever we do the tyres are normally about 5psi more at the end of the race.

[Chris Y]

By the way, Pete - the reason for my strange tyre temps on the Maestro at Silverstone was apparently excessive toe-out, plus the pressures were too high

[Lola]

30 psi!!!!

In single seaters on Bridgstone slicks we ran 14 psi

[Chris Y]

Naturally - spindly things are lighter than saloons

[Slowcoach]

Thks David - interesting! With the road legal Toyos we ran 38 at BH - when we finished they were 44, max for those apparantly is 45. My Avon slicks (which is what we normally run) are usually between 18 and 20 psi (as rec. by Avon) and our wets we have been told around 24ish. I'm led to believe that although at 18-20 the car feels a little less stable through a corner it allows you to get the power down earlier. But we are complete novices (as evidenced by the cross on the back of my car- and so are learning the hard way - as we go along!)

[StuiE]

i cant say ive used them, but Advan semi-race (still street legal) are good