Bedford Autodrome, tyre eating tarmac?
Discussion
Just a casual question. Is the tarmac at Bedford more aggressive then on normal race circuits?
I know airfields are generally paved with a course tarmac and therefore induce more tyre wear.
Had a great day on Monday at Bedford in my front wheel drive Skoda. My Toyo R888’s are shot, especially the front ones, The front nearside especially being bald!
I have done two outings at Bedford, One at Castle Combe and one at Snetterton this year and that is all.
I swapped front to rears after the first track day at Bedford.
I am running a limited slip diff but I’m shocked at the wear rate.
The same tyres wear much better when I use my Boxster on track but I must admit I do drive smoother. Maybe I have answered my own question…….
I did have a set of Federal RSR’s fitted last year and I think I managed nine Track Days out of them. They did wear very well but probably would lose out in the ultimate grippy tyre competition.
Probably just a case of you get what you pay for although I see that Federals are no longer the cheap alternative.
I am open to suggestions of a different tyre that may be more suitable for front wheel drive cars.
I know airfields are generally paved with a course tarmac and therefore induce more tyre wear.
Had a great day on Monday at Bedford in my front wheel drive Skoda. My Toyo R888’s are shot, especially the front ones, The front nearside especially being bald!
I have done two outings at Bedford, One at Castle Combe and one at Snetterton this year and that is all.
I swapped front to rears after the first track day at Bedford.
I am running a limited slip diff but I’m shocked at the wear rate.
The same tyres wear much better when I use my Boxster on track but I must admit I do drive smoother. Maybe I have answered my own question…….
I did have a set of Federal RSR’s fitted last year and I think I managed nine Track Days out of them. They did wear very well but probably would lose out in the ultimate grippy tyre competition.
Probably just a case of you get what you pay for although I see that Federals are no longer the cheap alternative.
I am open to suggestions of a different tyre that may be more suitable for front wheel drive cars.
4 track days on one set of tyres is pretty good going IMO, I think as you get better you do wear the tyres harder. I used to do around 100 miles per track day and sometimes did not get more than 2 -3 days from a set whereas tyres used to last forever when I first started track days.
Bedford also lets you push a little harder than some tracks.
Bedford also lets you push a little harder than some tracks.
phazed said:
I would be very interested to hear how you get on with the Accelera tyres.
Have you done any Track Days yet with them? If so, what is grip like?
i got the standard 651 sports, rather than the stickier compound extra version. Only done one trackday on them so far (a dry day at snetterton) and so far results are... inconclusive. firstly, it took me a while to sort out the pressures on them (was running them too high to start) and secondly, its only my third trackday in my boxster, so i'm still learning the car. so early days but they seemed alright, by the end of the day i could do a decent few laps on them, and only got a slide on when i carried too much speed into coram and had to lift midway round.Have you done any Track Days yet with them? If so, what is grip like?
whereas i'd done 15 or so days on federals and with the same car so was very confident in how they would perform.
next track day is anglesey in mid july, and now i know the pressures i should be up to speed quickly - though, i've never done anglesey before so that'll be another variable!
I bought a set of Accelerate 651 Sport tyres for my Skoda last year.
I did one track day at Bedford, they were awful, really bad.
The car was all over the place in a predictable sort of way. They are not a patch on a set 0f Triple 8's, really!
It is a case of, "you get what you pay for".
The Triple 8's that have just gone bald performed impeccably from the start to when I left the track with no tread left, really brilliant.
I have a spare set of wheels for my Boxster S shod with a set of Triple 8's and the handling is brilliant, exactly how it should be. At Cadwelll a few weeks ago at a TVR Car Club track day I felt that I was cheating, the car handled so well.
Regarding the Accelera's, I sold my set on Ebay for peanuts and put it down to experience. I feel you would be safer in your Boxster on the standard road tyres......
Maybe the Xtra are better.
I did one track day at Bedford, they were awful, really bad.
The car was all over the place in a predictable sort of way. They are not a patch on a set 0f Triple 8's, really!
It is a case of, "you get what you pay for".
The Triple 8's that have just gone bald performed impeccably from the start to when I left the track with no tread left, really brilliant.
I have a spare set of wheels for my Boxster S shod with a set of Triple 8's and the handling is brilliant, exactly how it should be. At Cadwelll a few weeks ago at a TVR Car Club track day I felt that I was cheating, the car handled so well.
Regarding the Accelera's, I sold my set on Ebay for peanuts and put it down to experience. I feel you would be safer in your Boxster on the standard road tyres......
Maybe the Xtra are better.
Ah, brillomaster. Maybe my fault that you bought the Accelera tyres as I didn't report back on here.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
phazed said:
Ah, brillomaster. Maybe my fault that you bought the Accelera tyres as I didn't report back on here.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
ha no worries, i bought them on a bit of a punt because they're so cheap. i dont do that many trackdays, so... if i get a year out of them that'll be fine - if they arent to my liking i'll likely swap them for some nankang NS2Rs... i cant afford really premium trackday rubber.https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
i do wonder if perhaps you're just going to have a hard time with any tyres... asking the front wheels to handle ~250bhp, and 80% of the braking and 80% of the turning is asking quite a lot!
Most of the time I've been to Bedford it's been wet, but I've not noticed it being harder or tyres than any others. It's got more heavy braking zones and hairpins than most, which might help eat up tyres.
I've got AD08's on my clio. They're not the grippiest, and squeal a lot, but they do wear well.
I've got AD08's on my clio. They're not the grippiest, and squeal a lot, but they do wear well.
You’re quite right about the braking zones and hairpins at Bedford. Now that I have done several Track Days there I have become more aggressive in the Skoda. Braking heavily and trail braking works really well.
Still happy to hear about an alternate tyre that will wear better with little loss of grip if one exists!
Still happy to hear about an alternate tyre that will wear better with little loss of grip if one exists!
Stigrrs said:
You managed 9 track days out of a set of tyres before? Must have been taking it incredibly easy.
My tyres seem to last 4 track days but the R888Rs I had only lasted 3 as they are quite soft.
I've got 10 put of my AD08s. They're not he best for outright performance, but they last well. Plus the clio is light and I'm not very fast...My tyres seem to last 4 track days but the R888Rs I had only lasted 3 as they are quite soft.
Terminator X said:
My M5 and M2 were both fine at Bedford although some mates were in RS3's and their tyres were fooked like the OP's, turned to marshmallow. Imho it is make of tyre related.
TX.
RS3 would wear its tyres hard as it’s pretty heavy, high power and will be pushing the front wide with the 4wd, kind of bullying physics.TX.
4wd cars often understeer a bit but the owner can wind on the power still.
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