Tyres

[MIP]

Having gone gold, I was looking at getting some new tyres through our discount.

Anyway, I know the size I'll need. As I fancy going on the TOC 2006 track attack in april, I'll want a decent speed rating I suppose? If the tyres are reasonably new at the time with plenty of tread, would I still end up wearing them out completly at bruntingthorpe?

What tyre brand would people recommend? My worn set now are Avon ZV3's, so I'm tempted to go with the same again, or can you do much better for the price? Are the much cheaper name tyres particularly bad?

[DefiantFrog]

I got Pirelli P-Zero Assimetrico's on. Fantastic in dry, but lacking somewhat in the wet. They were £110 a corner, the last couple, surprisingly from QuickFit - the cheapest I could find. Won't be getting them again because of their wet performance.

Spend about £80 a corner with speed rating ZR, and you'll get some pretty decent rubber. Toyo Proxies are very popular on Celicas.

Yes, what ever you will get will be destroyed at Bruntingthorpe. If you want to do track days, you may want to consider another set of rims, one for daily use, one for track. That way you don't have to worry about driving home on slicks afterwards!!

[mikeb]

Yeah, don't expect a set of road tyres to look healthy after a trackday, new or otherwise. I wouldn't worry about speed rating too much - any decent tyre, especially in the size the celica takes is likely to have a high enough rating. Goodyear Eagle F1s seem to be about the best all round tyre - good in the dry, fantastic in the wet, pretty quiet, average wear rate.

[acf8181]

uniroyal rainsports.....unbelieveable in wet, very very good in dry, last well, cost effective.

[Leeky]

Goodyear Eagle F1's all the way Great in the Wet, awesome in the dry and i managed to thrash my Supra round the Nurburgring and they didnt wear much at all

[adamgt]

Mine came with Bridgestone tyres. Worst things ever!! like driving on an ice rink!

Thats why i cant wait to get my new wheels

[Spuffington]

I'd have to admit - Goodyear Eagle F1's are my tyre of choice!

[GTForbes]

Nexan N2000's on my GT4 and their great! same tread pattern as the goodyear eagle F1's and probably a good bit cheaper

[MIP]

Cheers for the advice, eagle f1's seem the tyre of choice. I'm gonna have to tighten up the budget though (as I'll be getting a major service done at the same time), it'd be alright if I was just doing two tyres at a time, but all four need doing, so I'm now trying to keep it under £45 a corner.

So the choice is down to:

Avon

ZV3 205/55 R15 88V asymmetric

£42,30

The ZV3 is instantly recognisable by its distinctive asymmetric tread pattern.

This tri-sector design is the key to the ZV3's unique cocktail of dry and wet weather grip, on-the-limit predictability, and ear-pleasing noise levels.

Hankook

OPTIMO K406 205/55 R15 88V 4PR

£39,90

The 'Green Concept'(environmentally safe) the K406 includes a Silica component which reduces the resistance and increases driving comfort.

Falken-Ohtsu

ZE-512 205/55 R15 88V Rim-protection

£39,00

No description, but image shows eagle f1 style tread pattern with groove through center

And the cheapest

Nankang

NS-2 205/55 R15 88V

£27,50

No description, but image shows eagle f1 style tread pattern with two grooves through center

[DefiantFrog]

Stay off the Hankook's, and Nankang's... Rubbish isn't the word! And Nankang's have a nice nickname of 'Ditch-finders' (slight undeserved in summer months, but you'll hate every minute of driving with them when its even slightly wet).

Can't comment on the rest.

[Leeky]

If it has to be out of those tyres i'd have the falkens

Best pattern, good compound. Had the bigger version of these on my white supra mk4 (275/40/17) and they were pretty good value for money

[MIP]

falkens it is then, cheers! Their rating is V (240kph) which is faster than my car can go, so they should be ok on the track as well. I don't expect them to grip as well as an expensive tyre, but hopefully they should be fine. Hope I don't go finding any ditches any time soon.

[acf8181]

Nexan N2000's on my GT4 and their great! same tread pattern as the goodyear eagle F1's and probably a good bit cheaper

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just cause the tread pattern is the same doesn't mean they'll be as good.

tyres are incredibly complex items, rubber mixture and construction is more important than tread pattern.

oh, uniroyals are better than f1's in the wet by the way ;)

[Leeky]

oh, uniroyals are better than f1's in the wet by the way  ;) 

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Thats because they are designed with wet roads in mind, the rest of the year Uniroyals are pants ;)

[SyCelicaGT]

Got the falkens on mine at the moment, I swapped them over to the rear of the car as the grip was crap!!! I would not touch them ever again now, they squeel round corners and spin up regularly when they were on the front. I had this discussion on here not so long ago and I heard nothing but good things about the Eagle F1's & the Toyos, but Toyo's are a fraction of the price so that made up my mind, I am going for the soft compond rubber of Toyo T1-R's next on all 4 corners as I need them to pass MOT this month + they are about the same price as the Falkens too.

Sorry Leeky but unfortunatly I have to disagree with you this time about the falkens.

[Leeky]

Hey im an Eagle F1 man :P I only got the Falkens on the White Supra i had because at 275 size Eagle F1's were too much

[acf8181]

oh, uniroyals are better than f1's in the wet by the way  ;) 

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Thats because they are designed with wet roads in mind, the rest of the year Uniroyals are pants ;)

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not true IMO.....very good dry grip, very very progressive on the limit, and even though they're quite soft they last ages.

i have a dislike for falkens as well, SyCelicaGT, i had pair that didnt last very long at all, and didn't grip very well.

[Jmc_uk]

Got Nankang's on mine, I rate them as fricken EXCELLENT!!! beat my previous Bridgestone!

http://www.tyre-pictures.com/Nankang/NS-2-f.jpg

I also read many reviews on these tyres before buying as i was jubious bout buying them cos of the price, but i found good reviews most places!

My experience anyways;

Dry Weather - Can't fault, thers lots of winedy B roads on the way to work and a S bend which it goes round nicely :)

Wet Weather - You can actually hear the water being chucked against the inner wheel arch by the tyres, can't fault the wet runs either, even tho they say "Summer Tyres"

Snow - Not so good, they seem to dig nice holes in the ground :/ But reasonable on snowy roads, if anyone watched the news about a week ago, i live in one of the 'very snowy' areas where most people sat at the side of the road and didnt move for hours, i got through fine :)

Ice - I dont know of a tyre that is good on ice so i cant say they are good or bad, just BE CAREFUL!

Wear - Can't comment yet! But what ive heard they dont last as long as most, what you expect from budget?

Apart from that good tyres :)

Just some quotes from reviews...

"Had these on my old C180. They have loads of grip, but wear out quick cos they are a soft compound tyre."

"Nankang NS-2's are very good tires and at a bargain price. I have Nankangs on my car right now. I've taken them to the track and had a good experience. They're street tires but do very well under high speed cornering. I also had a pro road-racer drive my car for a few laps and he never complained about my tires."

"I have this Tires on my car and I am happy with them, good treadwear I believe its 350, they also are very quiet. But since the high treadwear(350) they are a good all around street tire, not a track tire. You will get your Bucks worth, They are made in Taiwan."

Oh and http://www.tyretest.com/pkw_sommerreifen/n...ns_2/index.html

Hope I aint babbled too much but i am well pleased with mine.

Read reviews see what you can get within your budget, thats my advice, good luck!

[parmo]

i have falkens on mine and there atrocious in the wet I went sideways twice recently in them granted once was doing a ton plus going round a very shallow sweeping bend and that wasnt the best feeling, and then when going round a roundabout on a wettish morning started slipping sideways. There just doesnt seem to be any grip there in the wet so i learnt my lesson and next tyres are going to be F1s

hope this helps

[Leeky]

was doing a ton plus going round a very shallow sweeping bend

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How the hell did you survive at that speed? especially in a FWD car!?

[chris202]

was doing a ton plus going round a very shallow sweeping bend

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How the hell did you survive at that speed? especially in a FWD car!?

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Twas a christmas miracle :hokus-pokus: awwww..

[acf8181]

was doing a ton plus going round a very shallow sweeping bend

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How the hell did you survive at that speed? especially in a FWD car!?

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easier to survive in fwd than rwd IMO....just keep your foot hard down ;) (tbh i've only ever tried it on track though, not really the best idea on road)

[mackie]

For me personally I can't recommend the Toyo Proxi's enough. Brilliant tyyres in my opinion in both wet and dry. Got 'em on my GT4 which has a few mods and they still provide excellent grip.