Yokohamas on a Tuscan – First Impressions

[TSS]

Following on from this thread: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=5&h=&t=44162

I’ve done about 300 miles on a set of Yokohama AVS Sport tyres (as fitted to the new Vanquish ) having had Toyos before. I’ve been trying to be careful running them in and only really started to use them harder this morning on a nice cross country run from Leicestershire to Northants. For people who may be interested I thought I’d give my first impressions.

Dry grip is phenomenal – I think I almost bruised a kidney turning out of a T-junction earlier. I gave it a big dab of throttle expecting to get some wheel-spin and was taken by surprise when it just gripped and took off like a slingshot. Naturally I was forced to repeat this trick at every opportunity all the way home - just for comparison purposes Obviously wheel-spin is still easily possible if you really want, but there is certainly less than with the Toyos.

I few miles from home I reeled in an enthusiastically driven Impreza Turbo who drove more and more enthusiastically as I got closer to him. I followed him round a large roundabout and through a couple of corners before I had to turn off. Admittedly he was slightly quicker round the sharp bits, but was really pushing it judging by the amount of body roll he induced. However I wasn’t going balls out as the Yokohamas are still quite new and I didn’t want to find their limits the hard way. It certainly felt as if they was more grip left, and having driven my old Impreza Turbo and my Tuscan on Toyos along the same stretch hundreds of times I have to say I’m impressed with how sticky the Yokohamas felt.

Steering response also seems a little more positive on the Yokohamas

The downside – Tram-lining on uneven roads is increased compared to the Toyos. It feels more like some of the Tuscans I’ve driven wearing 35 profile Bridgestones. Perhaps I need to get a full wheel alignment done as it’s 9000 miles since it had one. Or maybe I need to play with the pressures a bit. I’m running 22PSI front and 23PSI rear. Can anybody advise whether I need to increase or decrease pressure to reduce tram-lining?



>>> Edited by TSS on Sunday 6th July 18:07

[21TVR]

TSS said:

Following on from this thread: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=5&h=&t=44162 .........Can anybody advise whether I need to increase or decrease pressure to reduce tram-lining?

Tom I would say you may need to alter the toe-out setting to give more toe-in, this will have a major effect on the tramlining - however the pay off may be that it will not corner as well !

Why change the tracking ? Good question because you would have thought the Toyos and the Yoko's, given that they are both made of rubber and not one of wood and one of rubber, WOULD in fact be very similar...uuum! Tyre wall differences perhaps ?

Are they both 40 profile ?

Good you got back to us on this one

Simon

[TSS]

Thanks for the info Simon. The Yoko’s are 40 profile and exactly the same sizes as the Toyo’s. My old Toyo’s on the front had worn quite a bit more on the inner edges than the outer edges. Would this indicate too much toe-out?

As I mentioned, the steering response on the Yoko’s is quicker than the Toyos. So reducing the toe-out wouldn’t cause a problem even if it reduced the steering response to the Toyos’ level as that was quite sufficient.

[tuscan_s]

I spoke to Toyo who were at the, ahem, Max Power Live Show and they said that the new TVR specific tyres give extra grip at the expence of a bit more road noise.

And they do them in a 19" version...

[jonesg1002]

these new toyos for tvr, what are they called so I know what to order and do they put anything on the sidewall so you can see what they are ?

Also anyone know what size to put on a tuscan S currently on bridgestones ?

Graham

[Nick Elliott]

I belive they have TVR stamped on the side wall.The size Toyo recomend are 245/40/18.

Nick

[tuscan_s]

My Tuscan S has 255/35 ZR 18 front and rear. Yes there is a TVR logo stamped on the tyre to differenciate.

[21TVR]

TSS said:

....My old Toyo’s on the front had worn quite a bit more on the inner edges than the outer edges. Would this indicate too much toe-out?

Too much toe-out will cause wear on the inner edges of the tyres, trouble is that's not just a cure all. The individual camber and caster for each leg come in to play as well, and the compliance of the bushes on the front suspension all play a part in tyre wear - the pay off on having some toe-out and therefore better turn in (better cornering) is that you will get uneven tyre wear and tramlining

Also tricky to happily say that a new set of Yoko's has more grip than a used set of Toyo's - I guess the acid test would be to have two new sets of both on seperate rims and then to swop them and drive on the same stretch of road during the same road condition

.....it's possible to go on for months heh!

It may be that the compound of the Yoko's is made for the far East and not for Europe - I'm sure they do, but do they have an E4 stamp on them ?

good one this isn't it !

Simon

[martvr]

21TVR said:

Too much toe-out will cause wear on the inner edges of the tyres, trouble is that's not just a cure all. The individual camber and caster for each leg come in to play as well, and the compliance of the bushes on the front suspension all play a part in tyre wear - the pay off on having some toe-out and therefore better turn in (better cornering) is that you will get uneven tyre wear and tramlining

Bloody hell, you DID read it then .

[21TVR]

martvr said:

21TVR said: Too much toe-out will cause wear on the inner edges of the tyres, trouble is that's not just a cure all. The individual camber and caster for each leg come in to play as well, and the compliance of the bushes on the front suspension all play a part in tyre wear - the pay off on having some toe-out and therefore better turn in (better cornering) is that you will get uneven tyre wear and tramlining Bloody hell, you DID read it then .

Martin get back to the Noble platform as fast as your turbo's will boost you , and stop stealing my prized information!!!

simon (hand throttle)

[martvr]

21TVR said:

Martin get back to the Noble platform as fast as your turbo's will boost you , and stop stealing my prized information!!! simon (hand throttle)

Awww, go on, can't I be in your gang please ? I promise to play nicely . Besides, it's boring over there, all delivery dates and colours. No mention of fun things like hand throttles .

[TSS]

21TVR said:

Also tricky to happily say that a new set of Yoko's has more grip than a used set of Toyo's - I guess the acid test would be to have two new sets of both on seperate rims and then to swop them and drive on the same stretch of road during the same road condition .....it's possible to go on for months heh! It may be that the compound of the Yoko's is made for the far East and not for Europe - I'm sure they do, but do they have an E4 stamp on them ? good one this isn't it ! Simon

Agreed. Trying to compare grip levels precisely isn't easy, but the Yoko's certainly feel stickier than I can ever remember the Toyo's being. It’s quite possible they’re a softer compound, on my original thread a couple of people mentioned that Yoko's seem soft and might wear quicker.

They are E4 marked and totally legit - they were fitted at Yokohama's UK head office and came straight out of their warehouse.

As for the tramlining, I think I'm going to get the alignment done and see what difference it makes. Looking at the old front Toyo's again last night, the inner edges are totally bald whereas the rest of the tread is still about 4-5mm. So I think perhaps something is not quite right.

I’ll post back when the alignment’s done – probably in about a month when I have my 12K service.

[21TVR]

If your going to get a 4 wheel alignment can you post the details on here please

simon

[TSS]

21TVR said:

If your going to get a 4 wheel alignment can you post the details on here please simon

Which details would you like - do you mean the alignment settings? I spoke to my dealer yesterday about it and they said the alignment is done as standard as part of the 12K service. I can ask for the settings if that's what your after.

Tom

[21TVR]

The alignment settings would be cool Tom. When Sally was debating about her Tuscan and it's handling she posted the print out from RG which a number of people wanted to keep on file, including me

Yes it would be brilliant if it had the toe settings and the camber and caster

Thanks Tom

Simon