Tyres?

[hiltron]

Have any of you used Yokohama A539 tyres on your cars. I currently have 235/40*17 Dunlop 7000D on and they are absolute dog. They have got so much floatation, they feel like they are folding on corners. I want to replace with either A539 or Goodyear F1- G3. Articles I read showed F1 to be overall best tyre, but not that great in dry handling. I get my kicks from dry handling driving. Any views?

[alastairg]

Watch F1 re weak sidewalls on heavy car. I use Bridgestone SO3 which are great but I need something that works in the wet.
P zero rosso worked well for me on S2 in dry

[GlynRS2]

I have used Yokohama A539s in the past on my Corrado. Give fantastic dry weather grip and are incredibly quiet. However, wet weather grip was truly awful and got worse as the tyre wore, in typically greasy damp conditions you would be sliding all over the place (but they were better than the A520s I had before in this respect)! However, they may be well suited to your warmer climate?
When I replaced the A539s with P zero nero I found that the dry grip was not quite as good with the Yokohamas (but not a big difference) but wet weather grip was truly transformed.
Having read a number of tyre reviews Goodyear F1s are pretty much unbeatable in the wet, but there dry performance is only average. Normally P zero rossos or Bridgestone S03s come out best overall. As Alastair has mentioned there is the worry about weak side walls with the F1, this is of particular concern if you wish to use the car on a track day etc.
I was planning to replace my tyres with P zero rossos if I can get a good price when the time comes.

[alastairg]

I have used Yokohama A539s in the past on my Corrado. Give fantastic dry weather grip and are incredibly quiet. However, wet weather grip was truly awful and got worse as the tyre wore, in typically greasy damp conditions you would be sliding all over the place (but they were better than the A520s I had before in this respect)! However, they may be well suited to your warmer climate?
When I replaced the A539s with P zero nero I found that the dry grip was not quite as good with the Yokohamas (but not a big difference) but wet weather grip was truly transformed.
Having read a number of tyre reviews Goodyear F1s are pretty much unbeatable in the wet, but there dry performance is only average. Normally P zero rossos or Bridgestone S03s come out best overall. As Alastair has mentioned there is the worry about weak side walls with the F1, this is of particular concern if you wish to use the car on a track day etc.
I was planning to replace my tyres with P zero rossos if I can get a good price when the time comes.

Usually get mine from http://www.micheldever.co.uk/ Good stock good service never let me down.
I think the SO3 just shades the rosso although my rosso experience was in the S2
Oh and when I changed my tyres last time my local specialist showed me the audi RS2 service mannual showing a special fitting tool advised to get wide tyre on the narrow wheel !!
I let them fit the tyres !

[hiltron]

The Pirelli's in SAfrica are very expensive. The SO3 slightly cheaper but A539 running at special of less than half the price of P-zero's. Sounds like a worthwile option???

[maRS2]

I use Bridgestone S02 in 225/45/17 they are much better grip than the S03 that I had before but they don't last as long. It's well known from the scooby guy's that in fact the S03 was a step back compare to the S02 it's only better lasting and if you look a lot of sport cars come still with S02 as new.
My next one's would be bridgestone RE 70 or even better Pirrelli P Zero Corsa

[alastairg]

I use Bridgestone S02 in 225/45/17 they are much better grip than the S03 that I had before but they don't last as long. It's well known from the scooby guy's that in fact the S03 was a step back compare to the S02 it's only better lasting and if you look a lot of sport cars come still with S02 as new.
My next one's would be bridgestone RE 70 or even better Pirrelli P Zero Corsa

S02 not available when I was looking last Sept. Would have gone for that option as I have heard likewise. Where did you source S02s ?

[maRS2]

here you go

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html

If you go on 225/45/17 speed rate Z 6 bigest manufacturer it on page 5 or 6 if you click on a tire it show you a picture and you also have a test with grip on wet, dry... for each tyre

[robo]

I use dunlop 8080 they not bad in dry but no good in wet, gona try toyo proxes in next 4 weeks.
_______
Rob

[GlynRS2]

I use dunlop 8080 they not bad in dry but no good in wet, gona try toyo proxes in next 4 weeks.
_______
Rob

I agree Toyo Proxes are a very good value tyre with excellent wet weather performance.
I have Dunlop 8080s on mine at present - 245/40s - I know I should change them to 225/45s - but they are still like new. I agree thay are not bad in the dry, but the grip drops off a lot in the wet, also quite noisy, but then again it is quite a fat tyre.

Hiltron - how much rain do you get? What I really meant to say if wet weather performance is not your priority give the Yokohamas a go, they are very good value and give very good dry grip and handling. Lotus tend to fit them as standard. Being a bit soft they might not last quite so long though, but as good as P Zero Rossos in that respect and like you say a lot cheaper.

[scillyisles]

My recommendation for tyres on the RS2 would boil down to either the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 225/45 ZR 17 91Y or the Pirelli Nero 225/45 ZR17 94Y.
I'm currently running Bridgestone RE40 in 225/45ZR17 91W and even though these tyres are approved for use on a 7 inch rim I've had the front drivers side tyre carcass come adrift from the belt. Luckily I noticed it as normally this happens on the inner wall of the tyre so you can't see it unless you get underneath the car. The RS2 is a comparitively heavy car and it needs a Y rated tyre with a high load index.

Prior to the Bridgestones, my Audi dealer fitted 5 Dunlop 245/40ZR17 SP9000, after speaking with Dunlop technical support who said that these tyres and all tyres they manufactured in 245/40ZR17 (this includes the 8080 Glyn) were unsafe on 7 inch rims because
- they are heated up to 9 inches rim width during production
- the sidewalls are'nt designed to take the stress when fitted to a 7 inch rim. Even though my Dunlops had only done just over 1500 miles there were signs of stress on the inner walls particularly on the front wheels. My Audi dealer changed all 5 tyress to my current Bridgestones.
For anyone considering tyres at the moment, Kwikfit is running a special offer on Pirelli tyres buy 4 for the price of 3 which is a good deal.

[hiltron]

Wow, you guys in UK pay next to nothing for tyres. P zero's are about GBP190 each. Yoko A539 on special at GBP96 at the moment. Huuuge special. My Dunlop dealer will do a good trade deal for me on my Dulops. He can offer me 8080's or 9000's. What would be better and do they have much floatation. With my 7000D's, if I push sideways against my bumper, I can get the car " twisting/wobbling" on its wheels a lot. Feels too loose on the road. Or maybe dump the whole Dunlop idea and go for A539.

[GlynRS2]

OK.
I really ought to change the tyres.
I'll check out the price for the Pirellis at the local Quick Fit

[afhgus]

Reading all this tyre chat makes me wish Dunlop still made the original SP 8000. It would save a lot of worry about which tyre is best. Having spent a lot of money on rubber in the last twelve months I'm still no clearer whats best. Whos had problems with F1's? And aren't Bridgstone Re40's up to the job? A recent Autocar test put them on a par with F1's. And the Pirelli Neros are old hat!

[scillyisles]

Reading all this tyre chat makes me wish Dunlop still made the original SP 8000. It would save a lot of worry about which tyre is best. Having spent a lot of money on rubber in the last twelve months I'm still no clearer whats best. Whos had problems with F1's? And aren't Bridgstone Re40's up to the job? A recent Autocar test put them on a par with F1's. And the Pirelli Neros are old hat!

Yes I agree the tyre situation is not ideal - I have spoken to Dunlop technical and AFATK there are no plans to remanufacture any SP8000 even though Dunlop still apparently have the moulds.
With regard to the problems with F1s - I seem to recall reading several posts on here with RS4 owners having problems with the central band coming adrift under heavy use with the rest of the tyre - I also read of M5 owners having this problem too. Both the RS4, M5 and the RS2 are heavy cars that place a lot of stress on a performance tyre - the RS2 situation is compounded by the fact that 17inch wheels are comparitively narrow at 7 inch. This makes a 225/45 tyre is a tight fit - this in turn introduces more sidewall bulge which leads to more stress. It's for this reason that you need to go for a 225/45 ZR tyre preferably of eXtra Load (XL) in Y rating. In practice this means looking at tyre with at least 91Y rating which the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 have or 94Y which the Pirelli Neros have. Another tyre that has a 94Y rating is the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx.
With regard to Pirelli Neros being "old hat" - I run then on another car and I'm very impressed with their performance - they produce a smooth quiet ride - let go progressively and seem to last. They're also a fairly recent design similar to the PS2 i.e asymmetrical.
In my particular case the RE040 failure I suspect was partly caused by running the tyre at too low a pressure for a period - the experience has made me more wary of tyres and I now check them fairly frequently. The Bridgestones were very good at resisting aquaplaning but don't seem to last too long and produced a very hard ride in the RS2 with quite a lot of tyre noise.