Advice request - Caterham race wets

[Some Gump]

Hi Forum,

We're on the hunt for some tyres to cover the intermediate / cold for track days in our 7. We use CR500's at the mo for dry; they are also good in full wet.

however, in the greasy, especially if it's cold, they give you very little grip.

Does anyone know of a motorsport wet that gives decent grip in the cold / greasy? I've searched tweeks, and they have some Rally inters that are the right size (Maxsport RB4), but I can't find much out about them.


The only other race wet I can find is the venerable A021, but from what I can find online, they're harder than diamonds, and their ability as a wet is only impressive when compared to their use in the dry, which is allegedly not very impressive at all.

The chosen tyre need not be DOT approved, and it doesn't matter which MSA list they're on - we'll not be using them on road, or competing.

Any help appreciated.

Gump

[fcat]

You might try Kumho Ecsta V70A, comes in 3 compounds; hard will last quite well but takes a while to come up to temperature; medium are an excellent dry tyre - work hard and they will be mostly up to temperature on the green flag lap - I've had quite a few podiums using these with Mag7's & Semsec, they're definitely my L1b tyre of choice. Soft are very sticky and will overheat quite easily but are good in the cold/damp/moderate wet - these could be the ones for your requirements. Not so good if its really monsoon weather as the tread is limited, CR500's might be better. Tyres South Shore usually stock these tyres

Also worth considering Avon ZZR, not far short of a hand cut slick, very sticky, excellent in the dry/damp and better than you might expect in the wet. Downside is wear rates would be much higher than CR500's but that's the price of more grip !

Whatever you choose, as well as considering the tyre width, keep an eye on the diammeter as this could affect ride height/handling.

[jchasey]

I use Avon ACR71's, 160/530R13 front and 180/565R13 rear. (6" and 8" rims) on my Caterham for racing.

Work brilliantly in the wet, and slicks in the dry. I keep CR500's for intermediate use, but in reality the grip levels from either the slicks or wets are so much better than CR500's that I just use them on the road and with a damp/drying track will choose either the wets/slicks depending on whether I think things will improve or get worse during that session.

John

[Some Gump]

Thanks very much JC - thats exactly the job! It took me an age to work out that the sizes you mentioned are very close to the CR500 in diameter (noobie here struggling to make sence of the "normal" profile - found a crib sheet on Avon's website).

If I may, can I ask:

How soft are they? If I ran them on a damp track, would I run them off in minutes? Aim is to get min. 2 track days out of a set

and

Where do you buy them from please? Avon's website is next to useless, and Google just tries to send me to Kwik Fit in Christchurch. No amount of googling has led me to anywhere that claims to stock them.

Thanks

Gump

[jchasey]

One set have lasted me two race seasons, which has equalled about 4 15-20 minute races/qualifying sessions. Plus they also did an entire open pitlane track day at Llandow last March (not the smoothest of circuits).

They were second hand off ebay, but had only had one session or so when I bought. The fronts have worn quicker than the rears, so I reckon I've got 1 or 2 races left before I'll change the fronts, rears still looking great.

If you are looking to buy new I think you can get Avon to ship them to you direct then get a fitter to fit them.

John

[Some Gump]

Hi John,

Thanks very much for the info. I'll get some ordered up tomorrow.

Hope you have a good 2011 season

Gump