Space Cadet Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 I’m sure this will have been discussed many times, but what in everyone’s opinions are the best tyres (money no object) for the Z. I do very little miles (approx. 3k a year) and most is in the dry or light rain, am after a trick set of sticky tyres but must be ok with a bit of rain. The OEM Bridgestone’s look to be like new even after 7k so they must obviously be quite hard wearing ‘touring’ tyres. Have had a look at the Yokohama A048, they look fantastic but are described as track-day tyres therefore I wonder if they’ll just disintegrate after 500 miles or be lethal in the rain. Also the Yokhama Neova AD07 look good, lots of Drifters with mega-powered monsters like these, so not sure if that’s good or bad for fast-road. Also the Bridgestone Potenza RE 01R get good write-ups. Basically, any advice on these or any others would be appreciated; I used to have Goodyear F1s, thought they were ace but not sure if they are much of an improvement on the OEMs. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 I’m sure this will have been discussed many times, but what in everyone’s opinions are the best tyres (money no object) for the Z. I do very little miles (approx. 3k a year) and most is in the dry or light rain, am after a trick set of sticky tyres but must be ok with a bit of rain. The OEM Bridgestone’s look to be like new even after 7k so they must obviously be quite hard wearing ‘touring’ tyres. Have had a look at the Yokohama A048, they look fantastic but are described as track-day tyres therefore I wonder if they’ll just disintegrate after 500 miles or be lethal in the rain. Also the Yokhama Neova AD07 look good, lots of Drifters with mega-powered monsters like these, so not sure if that’s good or bad for fast-road. Also the Bridgestone Potenza RE 01R get good write-ups. Basically, any advice on these or any others would be appreciated; I used to have Goodyear F1s, thought they were ace but not sure if they are much of an improvement on the OEMs. Thanks I'd steer clear of the 'Stones mate, after the OEMs I wouldn't touch em again with a barge pole. I'm running Falken FK452 which are really good, nice & grippy and decent in the rain. When I was getting these I also considered the Toyo T1R but chose against them as I'd heard the Falks would probably be a slightly harder compound and therefore wear slightly better. It sounds like this isn't too much of a problem for you so you might want to have a look at the Toyo's (I know TheMinel is running these and I think Liams Z also has em, so might be worth sending them a PM for their comments - but they'll prob be along very shortly anyway!!). Haven't had a set of Yokos on the Z but have had them on previous cars and I'd say that they're the best tyres I've experienced - held on forever grip wise but don't last very long wear wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Cadet Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks, appreciate your help. I’m swaying towards the Yokohamas, they get really great write-ups, I think the Neova AD07’s are more fast road (one guy sweared by them for his 1100 bhp Skyline!) and the AO48’s are definitely more track orientated - so just depends whether they are unsuitable for road/bit of rain driving. They have them on the Exiges and they’re used on the roads, so hopefully would be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks, appreciate your help. I’m swaying towards the Yokohamas, they get really great write-ups, I think the Neova AD07’s are more fast road (one guy sweared by them for his 1100 bhp Skyline!) and the AO48’s are definitely more track orientated - so just depends whether they are unsuitable for road/bit of rain driving. They have them on the Exiges and they’re used on the roads, so hopefully would be ok. True, although the Exige is road legal it is to all intents and purpose really a track car. I think the buyers of these cars are unlikely to be running them as daily drivers so I'd really look into the A048s a bit more closely - sorry can't help as I don't know much about 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam's Z Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Andy I'm still on the stones atm mate... Soon replacing them with Pirelli P zero's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Andy I'm still on the stones atm mate... Soon replacing them with Pirelli P zero's Anything but them orrible stones!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 can't complain about my Toyos tbh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Cadet Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks guys Surprisingly it’s not actually that easy to get high performance tyres for the Z because of our sizes. Yokohama don’t make any in our size, spoke to a few tyre specialists and the best that are recommended (including Pirelli etc) are the Toyo T1Rs or Avon ZZ3s. Both are apparently as good as each other and are fairly reasonable value. A couple of tyre specialists have said that the OEM tyres fitted to most cars are not those that we would buy at a later date, i.e. the Bridgestones on the Zs that last 100,000 miles are harder compound than the same tyre we would have to replace them with. Now there is no reason why I would have been told this and would have been nothing in it for them, but interesting never the less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 instead of bloody tyres that last 1000000000 miles, they should ahve made clutches or even gearboxes that last that long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernmc Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Quite a good site for tyre info is TireRack - nice pics, and a useful user review/rating system. mytyres.com also have links to tyre tests for each tyre, but no comparison tables (which tirerack does). The A048's are essentially street legal slicks. A lot of the EVO boys use them in the summer, but you'll have to tiptoe in the rain - hard enough when you've got 280bhp going through four wheels and a clever computer to try to sort things out. Unltimately you have to decide how much you want to compromise, and in what areas. A tyre will only ever be able to give 100% in one area - it'll never be the best at everything. You want maximum grip, you lose longevity because you need a soft, sticky compound. You want maximum dry performance, you lose wet grip because in the dry, the more rubber on the road, the better the grip. In the wet, you need channels in the rubber to squeeze the water away from the rubber in contact with the ground. A tyre that gives maximum traction in a straight line is very different to one that gives maximum cornering grip, and so on. I have this problem whenever I come to buy new tyres, and I always seem to end up getting F1 GSD3's - they just seem to do everything well! The main complaint is their softish sidewalls if you do a lot of track days, but for a road tyre, they're hard to beat. And if you;re going fast enough to break traction with F1's, you probably should be on the track !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathys Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 One more vote for Eagle F1's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlied Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Mine loves Continental Sport Contacts!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Cadet Posted July 19, 2006 Author Share Posted July 19, 2006 I've had F1's in the past - was very pleased with them, but can’t get a matching front and rear set for the Z, can only get rears. It seems only really the Toyo T1Rs and Pirelli Rossos are available as a matching set, apart from the OEM Bridgestones and more budget tyres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathys Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Unless you go with aftermarket rims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Cadet Posted July 20, 2006 Author Share Posted July 20, 2006 That was my conclusion, if I’m going to be paying £600+ for tyres that I don’t really need because there’s loads of tread left on the OEMs then I might as well get some lovely 19 inch Nismos and a set of decent tyres. But as you might have seen from my other thread I’m going two wheels, so that £600 will go towards a bike now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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