Worth spending the money? (tyre content)

[Vocal Minority]

I am currently in my first season of hill-climbing using a Honda Accord Type R. Everything is being done on a bit of a budget.

I am currently using Goodyear F1 Asymmetrics of list 1A. I am not looking to spend the sort of money that will see me on the 1B michelin/dunlop etc.

To be honest - I am not really so keen to spend the £120 a corner to get some 215/45/17 R888s either to be honest - at least not this season.

If I spend £350 or whatever on a set of Federal 595r or Nankang NS-2Rs, will I see a jump in performance over the Goodyear F1s (bearing in mind I want something that works fairly quick-smart as my run is over in 1 minute or less!) or am I better off just saving the shekels for a bit?

[LordHaveMurci]

I switched from Toyo T1R's to R888's in my 2nd season & they were night & day better. Bought both sets I've had second hand, have done many hillclimbs & not died once

Single best upgrade I've made to my Clio without a doubt.

[Richair]

Switching from 1a rubber to a used set of r888's saw my times up Loton Park drop by 2 seconds in my s1 106 Rally...

You will see a drop in times for either of the tyres you mention (make sure you get the softer compound if you go for the NS2-R's), but probably not quite as much as the r888 as the GG compound is great for speed events. You pays your money and all that... It all depends of how quick you want to go and whether you're getting the best out of the car as a driver (said with the greatest respect of course!). From experience having a good set of tyres underneath you gives you a lot more confidence in the car, so there's time there too.

[Nickjd]

You would be better off with the competition version on the NS-2R in that size. It will be sticky enough on the first corner and provided you look after them, last you a good couple of seasons. They are £105 each though.
I believe only certain dealers can sell them, I got some from MOT Motorsport.

Edited by Nickjd on Sunday 22 May 00:52

[df76]

My solution for my road car, which I sometimes use for hillclimbs / sprints, was to keep the road tyre set up and to get a spare set of wheels and tyres from ebay. The main advantage is that you still have a wet set up and don't wear our competition tyres on the road, plus you can get much cheaper competition tyres if you change the wheel size (and smaller wheels should be better for the hills). I found a set of Pro Race wheels with what appeared to be unused R888s (205/50/15) on eBay for less than £300.

[LordHaveMurci]

df76 said:

My solution for my road car, which I sometimes use for hillclimbs / sprints, was to keep the road tyre set up and to get a spare set of wheels and tyres from ebay. The main advantage is that you still have a wet set up and don't wear our competition tyres on the road, plus you can get much cheaper competition tyres if you change the wheel size (and smaller wheels should be better for the hills). I found a set of Pro Race wheels with what appeared to be unused R888s (205/50/15) on eBay for less than £300.

This is what I did too, means the R888's last a season, maybe 2 if you're lucky.

[77racing]

There's a trend appearing , I only use R888's why bother with any other. It helps one of my Sponsor deals with Toyo. So pm me if you are in need of a quote, should you go down that route.

[Bertrum]

If you look after the tyres.

Clean after events and keep in a cool dark place in a bag or similar you should get a couple of season out of them.

[Nickjd]

77racing said:

There's a trend appearing , I only use R888's why bother with any other. It helps one of my Sponsor deals with Toyo. So pm me if you are in need of a quote, should you go down that route.

LOL, well I suppose it's honest. Get 888, because it will help me. :-)

[77racing]

sorry I didn't mean it to sound like that at all. I was genuinely recommending 888's as an excellent tyre to use, I have used & raced on them for eight years, but to be fair I retract that offer of a quote.

[Vocal Minority]

77racing said:

but to be fair I retract that offer of a quote.

Cheers Nick

[77racing]

[Furyblade_Lee]

You don't state the class you are in? I can assume you are in a standard production 2.0 class? If you are allowed to use List 1B tyres, you MUST!! Get some used ones on eBay. The compounds are softer, the sidewalls are stiffer, you will go quicker and if you want to place you are p*****g in the wind using List 1a....

Regarding list 1a on a car with "standard" suspension, from stone cold in under 90 seconds you are not going to get a great deal of advantage between most of the top list 1a tyres. I choose mine by the EVO magazine tyre tests each year, and simply put I use Continental Sport Contact, Michelin Pilot Sport or Goodyear Eagle. However, I borrowed a similar friends car on ( albeit new ) Toyo T1R and still did similar times to my own car. And in 15" they are only £139 for four!! 😳😎

So my man maths say if you can use list 1b you simply must, but if restricted to List 1a just get decent fresh ones.

[Vocal Minority]

thanks to facebook, I have sourced a set of used R888s for £100.

My p[ersonal best at Shelsley has gone from a 38.76 to a 37.34

'nuff said really

[LordHaveMurci]

Vocal Minority said:

thanks to facebook, I have sourced a set of used R888s for £100.

My p[ersonal best at Shelsley has gone from a 38.76 to a 37.34

'nuff said really

Great deal. There'll be more saved time yet, trust me, it takes a while to learn just how much extra grip under cornering & braking there really is.

[Richair]

Nice work, paid for themselves already then

[Trev450]

Well done and as said, they're worth the extra. I've found more time from tyres and suspension mods than from just about any other changes made.