What tyre for standard wheels?

[Beast Master]

My V8S has the 15 inch standard wheels and I plan on keeping them. I currently have Toyo Proxies CF1 tyres that are practically brand new. Them seem perfect in the dry, but in the wet the rear is as skittish as hell, near lethal.

The tyres are inflated to 30psi which probably doesn't help. But I was told that these are not great in the wet. And unforunately, they will be always the chance of rain.

I won't be doing track days, but I want maximum grip in the dry and wet. What do people use/ recommend? 15/60/205

[phillpot]

30 is way to high! try dropping to 24-25

What is the manufacturing date on them?

[RayTVR]

30PSI is way to high. I run 22 front and 24 rear, and have had Toyos for several years without issues. That said, the preferred choice seems to be the Dunlop Bluresponse, I now have those on my V8S and they give a great deal of confidence.

[v8s4me]

If you want the lower 55 profile as originally fitted to the V8S you'll need the FastResponse version. From memory it is 205/55 15. Excellent tyres but looking on the Dunlop website it seems the FastResponse is no longer available and has been superseded with [ur]THESE|https://www.dunlop.eu/en_gb/consumer/tires/results.html?w=205&h=55&r=15&l=88&s=V&type=size[/url].

I have a very good set of 205/55 FastResponse on a really nice set of shadow chrome Estorils if you're interested. I can have a look in the loft tomorrow and double check the size if you need me to.

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 23 April 22:02

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 23 April 22:02

[RayTVR]

Don't think that's correct - V8S also had 205/60 zR15 Bridgestones as standard.

[v8s4me]

I don't have the TVR sales card any more but I can promise you that 205/55 was what was listed for the V8S. Although it may have changed in other years.

I think it's in the Steve Heath book as well. It was probably done to give the V8S a lower stance.

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 23 April 23:33

[RayTVR]

Nope - Just checked and both the owner's handbook and the Steve Heath bible confirm 205/60ZR15

Edited by RayTVR on Sunday 23 April 23:48

[v8s4me]

Fair enough. I don't have the original TVR booklet any more (it went with the car) but I'm pretty sure it listed 205/55. Here's one of many old threads on the subject.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Anyway, either will do so go for what is available and there's no point in paying extra for a 55 if 60's are cheaper.

[phillpot]

I'm with Ray

[RayTVR]

I think the reason for the confusion is as follows;

Cars were originally supplied with Bridgestone RE71 tyres which were 205/60

At some point later Bridgestone stopped manufacturing this tyre and replaced it with SO-2, these were only available in the 55 profile, so many owners will have switched at this time.

[sixor8]

It's likely the same issue that arose with the Chimaera. The earliest cars had 205/60 x 15 tyres on the front but they quickly became unobtainable in the correct speed rating, so the factory (as well as owners) started fitting 205/55 x 15 instead.

[phillpot]

RayTVR said:

I think the reason for the confusion is as follows;

I think Joe is the biggest reason for any confusion!

[FHCNICK]

RayTVR said:

30PSI is way to high. I run 22 front and 24 rear, and have had Toyos for several years without issues. That said, the preferred choice seems to be the Dunlop Bluresponse, I now have those on my V8S and they give a great deal of confidence.

Good answer Ray, I use the same tyre pressures on my wedge and had the Dunlop Sport BluResponse on all round which were fitted 2 years ago. The Dunlop's are a nice confidence inspiring tyre but I killed the rears after 2 track days so have put Bridgestone Turanza T005's on the rear as they are supposed to be harder wearing.

I think I have done around 1500 road miles on the Bridgestone's and they are great, final verdict will come after next month's track day at Cadwell.

My tyres are the same 205/60vr15 by the way.

All the best
Nick

[LucyP]

The problem is that all of the tyres now available in the 205 60 15 size are wrong for the car. No one makes a performance car with tyres that size, so neither do the tyre manufacturers.

If you had a newish small hot hatch, something like a Fiesta ST, then you would be fitting Michelin Pilot Sports on it, you wouldn't dream of fitting the eco tyres that they fit on the basic Fiesta, but here you are with a TVR that has miles more performance than the ST and you're faced with a choice of cheap eco orientated tyres, none of which are suitable for the car.

If you look up say the Dunlops that someone mentioned, all the reviews are for Renault Capturs, Peugeot 208s, Skoda Yetis, Ford C-Max people carriers.

Trackdays with tyres built for little crossovers or people carriers? Madness!

[v8s4me]

LucyP said:

The problem is that all of the tyres now available in the 205 60 15 size are wrong for the car. No one makes a performance car with tyres that size, so neither do the tyre manufacturers. .....

Most of the premium 205/60 15 tyres I can find listed are 'V' rated ie up to 149mph. That should be enough for road use in any 'S' including the 'V8S'. As an example this is the Dunlop Sport BluResponse. presumably this superseded the FastResponse?

Other options listed HERE.

Other tyre suppliers are available

Believe it or not I've found Asda to be the most competitive. This is the Dunlop BluResponse which is 'H' rated (130mph) and this is the 'V' rated (149mph) Continental

[FHCNICK]

LucyP said:

The problem is that all of the tyres now available in the 205 60 15 size are wrong for the car. No one makes a performance car with tyres that size, so neither do the tyre manufacturers.

If you had a newish small hot hatch, something like a Fiesta ST, then you would be fitting Michelin Pilot Sports on it, you wouldn't dream of fitting the eco tyres that they fit on the basic Fiesta, but here you are with a TVR that has miles more performance than the ST and you're faced with a choice of cheap eco orientated tyres, none of which are suitable for the car.

If you look up say the Dunlops that someone mentioned, all the reviews are for Renault Capturs, Peugeot 208s, Skoda Yetis, Ford C-Max people carriers.

Trackdays with tyres built for little crossovers or people carriers? Madness!

Laughable nonsense. Neither the Dunlop or Bridgestone's I mentioned are budget tyres, both are V speed rated and quite capable of hard road or track driving especially on a car weighing around 1100kg.

I started a topic a couple of years ago asking for tyre recommendations and it was you LucyP who stated that I should just get the H rated tyres as I would never go above 130mph anyway even though that 'advice' could have left me uninsured.

Tyre technology has come on since these cars were new and either of the 2 tyres I mentioned are better than the RE71's these cars came with when new. I know this from experience.

[Beast Master]

v8s4me]If you want the lower 55 profile as originally fitted to the V8S you'll need the FastResponse version. From memory it is 205/55 15. Excellent tyres but looking on the Dunlop website it seems the FastResponse is no longer available and has been superseded with [ur said:

THESE|https://www.dunlop.eu/en_gb/consumer/tires/results.html?w=205&h=55&r=15&l=88&s=V&type=size[/url].

I have a very good set of 205/55 FastResponse on a really nice set of shadow chrome Estorils if you're interested. I can have a look in the loft tomorrow and double check the size if you need me to.

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 23 April 22:02

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 23 April 22:02

Thanks, but I will try lowering the tyre pressure to the correct 24 psi, and see how these get on. Even as is, they feel great in the dry. But in the wet they are lethal. So we will see if that was due to over inflation or not.