There is lots of discussion on which is the best tyres for tack day for fine weather dry tracks.
For a change what tyre options do people recommend for wet days and wet tracks?
I am using a mk1 1.8 track prepared and track use only 15 inch wheels
Like all of the “what tyre is best questions” answers are not simple. It depends what you expect from a tyre.
If you were in competition you would be after a tyre that delivered the fastest lap times and you would have to drive around any problems it gave. However that is seldom the requirement for trackdays. There are more complications over dry tyres as heat management tends to be more critical. Tyres that can be considered decent in the wet in warmer months will be no better than lesser tyres on cold damp tracks. Likewise, tyres that will deal with water can suffer if it starts to dry. Braking and cornering are also two seperate qualities.
You also need to accept that grip levels are reduced and that you have adopt a different driving style, on of course it depends how wet.
If you are just driving UK trackdays this winter, go for any of the wet biased road tyres but if it Drysdale, limit your running.
Hi Nick
I have a set of Federal 595 RSR that I am using in the dray that you fitted at Rockingham
Great in the dry, not so good in the wet
Looking for something with more grip in the wet, so are you saying go for a standard road tyre something like a Uniroyal rainsport
Andrew
I think that was supposed to read dries out…
Anyway, frequently people expect too much from tyres, RS-S’s are not great in the wet, but equally not horrible, but with any tyre in the wet, you really want full tread and in an ideal world you would be altering your suspension settings too.
Yes, if you want a full wet tyre, get for the wet the a Rainsport will do it as will many other road tyres.
Hi Andrew!
We’re running Toyo R1Rs on the silver car you went out passenger in last time we were at Snetterton and they seem to offer good grip in both wet and dry, they’ve really impressed us. Definitely more grip than the Federals in the wet.
We used to have Rainsports on the car all the time wet and dry (and on the road) and they performed well all round, especially considering they’re only £35 each.
I’ve driven MX5s on R1Rs, Rainsport2s, Rainsport3s, RSRs and Yokohama AO48s (incredible in the dry) and my personal favourite all round and in the wet of these are the Toyo R1Rs.
Cheers Rachal.
Hope all is ok with you.
Andrew
I will be interested to see if you can get any. While some sites show them as available we were told by Toyo 12 months ago they were discontinued.
i just did a track day at brands and i was quite surprised how slippy it was , i was in the tyre wall almost straight away which un nerved me and i poodled round like a pillock after that , it seemed to me that the experienced drivers were doing fine in comparison so it must be driving style more than anything else ,its always been dry on the 3 track days ive done so ive no experience on a wet track nick sent me a very helpful message about driving style and set up , i have toyo T1R which i know nick doesnt like that much . if you put wet tyres on you will lose straight line speed which we dont have enough of but any way its all a steep learning curve and i will be back for more and hopefully stay out of the tyre wall in future
I heard that too at one point but they seem to still be listed for sale on several websites, slowly using up old stock maybe?
They are a G efficiency rating which is no longer legal to offer for sale in Europe unless they were manufactured before 1st November this year. All G rated tyres will be illegal to sell for road use from 1st November 2015.
So basically any G rated tyres on sale (legally) must have been produced before 1st Nov.
Toyo took the R1R and the 3G R888 out of production back at the beginning of the year. They have produced a large quantiy of 888 GG compound to get through 2015 for competition use, but basically any R1R will likely be 2013 or before.
Shows they were not a fast selling line.
And Richard, sorry to hear about your problems, it might make it easier to understand my misgivings of the T1R now.
its cool im enjoying learning , have you ever thought of going on mastermind and answering questions on tyres i think you will piss it
my wheels by the way are wolfrace assasin they look well cool on the car but are 8kg each is that quite heavy ? i bought them when i first got the car and knew even less than now , would lighter wheels make a noticable difference?
If I tell you I could sell you 17 x 9" wide wheels that weighed the same, would that answer your question?
While light wheels are not the be all and end all of everything, the best description I heard was imagine trying to run and move your arms with those Velcro weights that were popular in any 90’s fitness video.
The less mass in the wheel the more easily the suspension can move it and do its job, but in addition there is less gyroscope effect as well meaning there is less resistance to changing direction.
and
Divide by 2.2 for KGs
NickD
Apologies for butting in here but its on topic still…
Toyo R888 in SG compound, are they going to be available still? You mention GG and 3G but not SG.
If not do you have a recommendation for speed hillclimb use?
Regards
Steve.
I believe they stopped making all variants other than 2G last year. SG is super soft, more than any of the others it has the worst efficiency.
You will find that all 1B tyres will be stared as under review in the 2015 Blue Book. As per the R1R though, if you can find then get them, however will not be legal to sell for road use or 1B tyre in 2016.
Thanks Nick.
I have a set of sg compound for 2015, and will follow any proposals to change regs closely next year. The rumours of big changes to list 1b tyre regs for motor sport initially put me off purchasing but hopefully they will be ok for 2015!
Is it likely that that all 1b tyres could be outlawed or just certain brands/compounds. Could make a big difference to times in the roadgoing championships which allow them still.
Steve.
think i will pui my assasins up for sale and get a set of them traklight ones its got to be an improvemnt , lesson learned…
Steve it’s nothing to do with the MSA directly, and any tyre can be used if your series regs allow it. But that the EU will not allow tyres with an Efficiency reateing of G to be sold after the first of November 2015 if it is to be used on the road. Obviously that is one of the fundimentals of 1A/B tyres. So by European law, G tyres can’t be sold from that date.
There will be a 1C list in 2016 to accommodate these tyres but it does not answer the fundamental road use question and that is between the MSA and other technical bodies and the EU tyre committee.
Thanks Nick.
Very informative reply. Nice to hear properly presented facts rather than the usual rumours I get at events!
Steve.