Grippier Tyres..
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Discussion

matzo

Original Poster:

74 posts

276 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
quotequote all
I've always stuck with Bridgestone S02's & 3's & have been very happy with the feedback from the road & the progressive break away that they give..

However - I'm not convinced that they offer the best overall grip in both wet & dry conditions.

If grip/roadholding was my main criteria - which tyre would you go for ??

Tripps

5,814 posts

301 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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matzo said:
If grip/roadholding was my main criteria - which tyre would you go for ??
In both wet and dry conditions I'd go for Eagle F1s every time, and am getting two new ones at the rear this week in fact.

Don

28,378 posts

313 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
quotequote all
matzo said:
I've always stuck with Bridgestone S02's & 3's & have been very happy with the feedback from the road & the progressive break away that they give..

However - I'm not convinced that they offer the best overall grip in both wet & dry conditions.

If grip/roadholding was my main criteria - which tyre would you go for ??


Michelin Pilot Sport if you can get 'em in the sizes you need. Brilliant, if expensive. I have found them to be very hard wearing, even on track days, and to provide superb wet weather grip. Much better (on my car, for me) than the Pirellis.

matzo

Original Poster:

74 posts

276 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
quotequote all
Thanks Tripps ! What tyre pressures do you run on the Eagles ? & how many miles did you get on the current rears ?

Tripps

5,814 posts

301 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
quotequote all
matzo said:
Thanks Tripps ! What tyre pressures do you run on the Eagles ? & how many miles did you get on the current rears ?
I've run them at 28psi front and rear (18" spiders) since being told by a dealer that TVR now advise this pressure. Judging from the history they've done around 13,000 miles, so at £140 a pop it can't be bad.

targarama

14,784 posts

312 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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Another vote for Goodyear F1s - also got 12k out of my rears on the T350. I don't push the limits of lateral grip in the wet/greasy conditions in my TVR, but the F1s are very good indeed, also great on the track.

Oh, they look cool too.

basil brush

5,615 posts

292 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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A third vote for F1s. My Tuscan rears have lasted about 12k too. Excellent tyres all round.

rev-erend

21,619 posts

313 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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I'm very happy with Toyo's ..

David H

809 posts

270 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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I don't think you'll find Goodyear GSD3s in the right size for your Griff, if I remember correctly you have to mix GSD2 (front) and GDS3 (rears). I don't know of anyone running a Griff on them anyway. I think they are great tyres, just not available for our fitment.

I think you'd be happy with Toyos (T1s), after a fairly long running in period (the rubber needs to go through a few heat cycles before getting to their best) they are ment to be quite good (very poor for the first few hundred miles though). I have Toyos now but won't get a chance to drive on them until the better weather comes.

If you do a lot of track work then maybe Toyos 888s would be a good idea, although these tyres are not great in standing water! And also won't last as long as a 'normal' tyre.

Edited to add: Very nice car by the way



>> Edited by David H on Wednesday 4th January 18:34

v8 racing

2,064 posts

280 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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I think you have to go along way to beat the toyo's proxes i raced on these for a couple of years and swear by them!! ultimate grip would be the dunlop track tyres but they only last around 1500 miles!!

S1X OK

366 posts

279 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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I went from Proxies to Eagle F1s and noticed the Eagle stickier in the wet, but let go easier in the dry.
as an all-rounder, I've grown accustomed to the Eagles, but yearn for the slightly more bonkers Toyos. Obviously, in my own very humble opinion (and driving style).
Pete

v8 racing

2,064 posts

280 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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I think pete has just summed it up quite nicely!! driving style!! i like to be in control of the car and feel when it starts to break loose like i can on toyos, not the car has so much grip it contols you!! thats when accidents happen!!

rev-erend

21,619 posts

313 months

Wednesday 4th January 2006
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Reading all the above - it sounds like you are spoilt for choice as both Goodyear and Toyo make excellent tyres.

redleicester

6,869 posts

274 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
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Not a scientific test, but a pal of mine and I compared Eagle F1s and Toyo T1S's at Oulton Park last year - admittedly the F1s were on a Tuscan S and the Toyos on my Chimaera. However, we noticed the F1s took much much longer to come up to temperature and had a propensity to tear dreadfully, whereas the Toyos warmed up very quickly and the wear looked markedly smoother, the tears on the surface were smaller and more evenly spread. Now a certain amount of this was undoubtedly down to Russ being a far better (and braver) driver than I, after all he spends most of his time across the world racing silly cars - but we were both shocked that the F1s which I had sworn by on my previous high output turbo Saabs were plainly not up to the job when it came to a TVR on a track.

End result was deciding that for track and road use, the Toyos were unbeatable, but for pure road use the F1s were more than adequate, just don't track them when cold, or for goodness sake go very carefully for a good number of laps... First run out he did fifteen laps of Oulton and they were still only barely warm.... not good news.

350matt

3,896 posts

308 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
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I have to say wet weather grip is the most important thing with tyres, unless you're trying to shave a few tenths of your 'ring' laptime

As a bizarre choice I'm running Uniroyal rallye's on my wedge and found them to be superb in the wet far better than the Bridegstones.
Another important thing to note is sidewall stiffness, As I believe that Bridgestoen tend to have a stiffer sidewall than most so you can go stiffer on dampers and tyre pressure son other makes, whilst still maintaining a decent ride quality

Matt

targarama

14,784 posts

312 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
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redleicester said:
Not a scientific test, but a pal of mine and I compared Eagle F1s and Toyo T1S's at Oulton Park last year - admittedly the F1s were on a Tuscan S and the Toyos on my Chimaera. However, we noticed the F1s took much much longer to come up to temperature and had a propensity to tear dreadfully, whereas the Toyos warmed up very quickly and the wear looked markedly smoother, the tears on the surface were smaller and more evenly spread. Now a certain amount of this was undoubtedly down to Russ being a far better (and braver) driver than I, after all he spends most of his time across the world racing silly cars - but we were both shocked that the F1s which I had sworn by on my previous high output turbo Saabs were plainly not up to the job when it came to a TVR on a track.

End result was deciding that for track and road use, the Toyos were unbeatable, but for pure road use the F1s were more than adequate, just don't track them when cold, or for goodness sake go very carefully for a good number of laps... First run out he did fifteen laps of Oulton and they were still only barely warm.... not good news.


I don't understand why you got this. After 6 laps of Oulton on F1s, mine were nice and toasty/sticky. Seemed to wear OK too, guess it depends on the driver and how hard they attack the circuit. I'm not doubting you, I'm just saying I found F1s to warm up quickly and work well. Had Toyos on the Chimaera but I don't think that is a fair comparison, the suspension puts a lot more stress on the tyres for the same track times.

redleicester

6,869 posts

274 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
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Interesting comment about suspension stress!

The Tuscan 1 S in question was supplied by TVR to Russ for evaluation, so had whatever their setup was at the time. As for driving style, mine was brave but competent, whereas as I said, Russ is a racing driver and knows what he's about - saw him catch the grass on the first corner after the pit straight, spin the car a complete 360 and charge off down the hill as if nothing had ever happened, awesome to watch!

To be honest, that's why I tempered my comments with the caveat that F1s are undoubtedly good tyres, as in all other situations I have found them to be good (though my personal preference on a Chim or Cerb is for Toyo) just that that one particular car seemed to have issues.

Tripps

5,814 posts

301 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
quotequote all
I've run F1 and Bridgstones on the same car, and found that while the Bridgestones were sticker and provided amazing dry grip, wet weather performance let them down, while the F1 are still very good in the dry, they are equally good in the wet.

On the Cerb with F1s the speed it can carry through wet country lanes beggars belief.

ads

1,369 posts

286 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
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You could also try Dunlop SP9000's which you can get in the griff sizes, I have them on my Chim. I went from S0-2's to these and they seem very good in both wet and dry!

targarama

14,784 posts

312 months

Thursday 5th January 2006
quotequote all
ads said:
You could also try Dunlop SP9000's which you can get in the griff sizes, I have them on my Chim. I went from S0-2's to these and they seem very good in both wet and dry!


They're a comfy exec car tyre with softish sidewalls. I've got them on my Audi A6 and they are perfect for it, lots of grip and very quiet with good wear (I made the mistake of fitting S03s before - complete crap and inappropriate on the Audi - it tramlined everywhere) Sporty models have more 'severe' tyres usually such as the P Zero, F1, Pilot Sport or Toyo in TVRs case.