16" Track Tyres - Limited Availability?

[motorhole]

So I'll be looking to swap out the R888r tyres shortly as the tread will be down to the wire with regards to road legality. I was going to 'upgrade' to the Direzza DZ03G in the same size (205/50/16) but it now seems that these are no longer road legal. Scratch that. It turns out that my options in this size are rather limited.

I'll struggle to go wider without arch work, so 215+ aren't in the running. This leaves me with:

195/50/16 - can get MRF & AR-1 in this size. Minimal (~ 5 mm) loss of ground clearance, easily compensated for. But will the loss of width hurt me?

205/50/16 - Yoko A052s; very expensive. Would rather not fork out > £900 once fitting is included!

Or just stick with the R888rs?

Other offerings from Nankang, Federal, Accelera etc - performance reputedly not up to scratch with those listed above. Although I plan to get some of the Accelera 651s on my spare wheels for changeable weather.

Thoughts & feedback welcome, along with any alternatives I'm not aware of - suspecting the slightly narrower MRF/AR-1s are they way forward?

[mmm-five]

Can you not run a 2nd set of wheels for proper road tyres (i.e. suitable for all conditions) and a set specifically for track tyres.

Would mean you could put relatively cheap road tyres on, and then have a bigger choice of track tyre (including non road legal ones). You'd also never have to risk getting back from the track on bald tyres (I'm speaking from experience, but I also shredded my road tyres ) ...and ultimately there'd be no cost impact as you'd get twice the life out of them.

In the end I started using non road legal tarmac rally tyres...but that was on a very lardy e34 M5...can't do it in the Z4 as there's barely room for 1 extra wheel & tyre.

However, maybe you can find some of the Dunlops that were produced before they changed to non road legal, as I'm still seeing some places advertising them as List 1B road legal.. Maybe get a couple of sets once double-checked?

I've no experience of these myself, but have also see the Yoko AD08RS in the size you're looking for on that site above - for £147 each - but look more suited to damp conditions than bone dry track.

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 24th May 15:56

[motorhole]

mmm-five said:

---

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 24th May 15:56

Thanks for your input! Yeah it would be great if I could do that, but unfortunately it's a no go. Try as I might, I can't get a spare set of wheels in the car (door bars, rear cage, firewall in boot all hinder getting the things in!) and trailering it is not on the cards any time soon.

The link for the Direzzas is helpful, I'll drop them a line and see if they can still supply e-marked ones. It is really disappointing now though that support for tyres on < 17" wheels now is hugely diminishing.