2008 15" tires

[gjslutz]

What is the hot 15" tire choice for road & track this year? I'm looking for good a dry set-up, that will also work to get the care home in the rain. My Kumho V710's stick well, but aree not a good street tire. The Firestone Firehawk tires are just good enough to roll the car around on.

Toyo RA1?
Toyo R888?
Falkin RT615?
Others?

Gary

[pksurveyor]

I replaced my Avon with Hankook Z212 on the Caterham. I think it is a good compromise tire for the road and track.

[Sean]

Yokohama A048 is available in 15" sizes. Don't know how good it is. I have four of them in 13", but have yet to use them.

[Boxologist]

the v710 now has a new compound. probably will be edging closer to the a6.
i used the bridgestone re-01r the last half of last year. excellent high performance tyre. the Yoko AD07 s in that catagory. Toyo has the R1R in the usa now, but lookes more like a rain tyre(looks like a gravel tyre to me). the RT615 has been

going to an r comp the Yoko AO48 has proven itself w/ the UK crowd. the final sizes of teh R888 will be in the market in a few months. will be using those and see what compounds can be brought into the USA.

high performance tyres in sizes smaller than 16"s are getting pretty rare.

[S1Steve]

Gary,
I have Yokohama 205/50/15 Advan, in the soft compound on the S1. They are Great in the dry, and not to bad in the wet.

Steve

[scannon]

the final sizes of teh R888 will be in the market in a few months. will be using those and see what compounds can be brought into the USA.


I saw 25 R-888s in 205-50-15 at the tire store last week. They were part of a group buy of 75 tires by the Porsche club.

I have a set of two 205-50-15s and two 225-50-15 R-888s on order, should be here any day now.

[Boxologist]

i don't like to hurt old men skip, but you're asking for it:)

225 45 15 are supposed to be coming this quarter and i've heard rumors of a 235 as well. the standard sompound will serve as daily driverable on a se7en. but if there's another compound...

[scannon]

i don't like to hurt old men skip, but you're asking for it:)

225 45 15 are supposed to be coming this quarter and i've heard rumors of a 235 as well. the standard sompound will serve as daily driverable on a se7en. but if there's another compound...
That's OK Jon, us old farts are used to pain.

I just talked to my tire supplier and he has the 225/50-15 R-888s in house.
:7fume:

[gjslutz]

Thanks all,

This is great info for us. Not many can take the time or money to do a quantified benchmark comparison of all the new tire development.
The results at Tire Rack, I believe is derived from the manufacturer. I doubt if any of it is from cars as light as ours either. I have not found any info other than on this site for soft street / track tires.
I like many others look for a tire to stick great on the street with a little track in the mix. I know no street tire will be a match for a good track tire. Please keep the info coming; reading is much less expensive than buying.

Gary

[Al Navarro]

Gary, I run the 195/45 Avon R500s, they are very good in the rain (at least in terms of street driving).

Skip, what wheels are you mounting on? The Caterham issue ones? I ask because of the staggered fitment.

[scannon]

Skip, what wheels are you mounting on? The Caterham issue ones? I ask because of the staggered fitment.

Al,

I am using 7 x 15" Kosei K1-TS wheels with a 38mm offset. These are from my Miata so I use a custom made adapter that bolts to the Caterham hubs and corrects for the offset difference.

Skip

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/608432176_orange on blue.jpg

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/974779133_K1_TS_orange.jpg

[Al Navarro]

Al,

I am using 7 x 15" Kosei K1-TS wheels with a 38mm offset. These are from my Miata so I use a custom made adapter that bolts to the Caterham hubs and corrects for the offset difference.

Skip



So you use the same rim width but different tire sizes...is this common on Se7ens? (It's definitely not for street cars, in my experience.) FWIW, my Cat came with 195s all around on same width rims.

[southwind25]

Box,: "I just talked to my tire supplier and he has the 225/50-15 R-888s in house."

i just tried calling around from the dealer locater on the Toyo website (25 miles from akron oh)..nobody seems to have a listing for them. sheesh..rubber capitol of the world :o

not that i can afford them, but how much? Mary probably wont let me buy new treads till i wear out the snowtire falkens that came on this thing..
hey gary if you have any tread left on yours roll them my way...might be fun to try

[gjslutz]

Hi Robert,

I think you missed them. A friend wants them for his daughter's car. The Firehawk grip was only slightly better than steel. I'm still in AZ. avoiding the cold and bill colectors.
I won't be able to order any tires till next month when I get home.

Al, where do you get the r500's?

Choices, this is better than being single and looking for girls at my age.

[scannon]

So you use the same rim width but different tire sizes...is this common on Se7ens? (It's definitely not for street cars, in my experience.)

I don't know if it is common on Se7ens but the CSR comes with larger wheels and tires on the rear.

I ran my Miata on 7 x 16" wheels with 205/40 on the front and 225/40 on the rear on the street & track for about 4 years before I tried a 225 on the front and found that it fit so now I run 225s all around. I never noticed any problem with them and they certainly got a lot of extra legal canyon carving on them.

What problems would you expect to see with different size tires on the same size wheels?

not that i can afford them, but how much?
I think they will be around $160 each including mount and balance. He wasn't sure when I ordered them and I didn't think to ask when I talked to him this AM. I'll post the price when I get them.

Skip

[Al Navarro]

Hi Robert,

Al, where do you get the r500's?



They came with my car and everyone knows I hardly drive it :) , so I still have the originals. You can get them through the Caterham network and a few specialty dealers...like this one:

AIM Tire (http://www.aimtire.com/typ_category.asp?Unique=39497.5296527778&ObjectID=6497)

They're about $200 a pop. I've got a little over 3,000 miles on them with lots of tread left. Keep in mind I don't auto-x (okay, I did it once in the pouring rain):ack:

Oh, and that should have said Avon CR500.

----

Skip - My other cars/daily drivers are all 4WD, so the staggered fitment isn't an option there. I don't know of any issues with RWD cars, but wonder if sidewall bulge would be appreciably different. I guess I always think of wider tire = wider rim.

[gjslutz]

From the above it looks like I should keep the 710's for track and look for just good street tires. If I get a season of driving on a tire that sticks, that will be fine for me. Unless the track was near
I would likely use the street tires, as road driving is the main function for me.

[WestTexasS2K]

Gary I really like the Falken RT615 both very good for track and street. I have not run there Toyo RA1 but I know that they are very sticky excellent track tire and last a long time on a light 7. Keith has been running them and I think he would highly recommend them. Maybe he will chime in here.

[Kitcat]

I love my Toyo RA1's. Excellent rain tire & track tire. Ditching the 10 year old Michelins for these tires transformed the car.

[gjslutz]

Hi Loren, I had read somewhere where a Falken RT615 user complained of no feel to them. He said they felt much like an early 911, from stick to gone. I do know that lack of feel. How did they feel to you? Also PSI F & R?
I think the Yokohama A048's are a little on the high side $$ for me. At this point it will be the 615's, RA1's or R888's. As they will ship to Ohio, I need to hold off on ordering any yet.

When will you have wheels again?

[RDROCKT]

Gary, I have to chime in and say that the RT 615s on my S2K have been from Houston to San Francisco, all over the Ozarks and up and down the Tail of the Dragon. I have never felt they went away on me. Oh yeah, an afternoon on a blazing hot track in SoCal during USA 2005 as wel and used them as my rain tires for a couple of autocross seasons.
Guess I just don't push them hard enough!
I run them at about 20 psi or so.

[powderbrake]

Hi Loren, I had read somewhere where a Falken RT615 user complained of no feel to them. He said they felt much like an early 911, from stick to gone. I do know that lack of feel. How did they feel to you? Also PSI F & R?
I think the Yokohama A048's are a little on the high side $$ for me. At this point it will be the 615's, RA1's or R888's. As they will ship to Ohio, I need to hold off on ordering any yet.

When will you have wheels again?

Gary:
I believe the Falken RT615's have sufficient "feel". While at Run & Gun at Gateway, on the banked oval turn, I could modulate the throttle and steering wheel to keep the rear end at the "almost ready to spin out" point. I was running about 15 psi. I run 20 to 22 on the street, where I may encounter potholes and such.

Jerry

[gjslutz]

Jerry & Chuck, thanks for the feedback on the 615’s. Loren had told me about them prior to St Louis last year. On my Birkin, I have the problem of 15” tire size. I think I can only get to 205/50 X15”. I would like to do at least 225’s, now that I have a little more rear wheel HP. It could be the person’s bad review of the 615’s had too much PSI.

Jerry I remember well the handling on the RT-615’s, I will never forget the fantastic handling on the back side off the track. It was an eye opener! We also enjoyed the great hostility after. That was another great weekend with -7 people.

Gary

[RDROCKT]

HOSTILITY? Did he say HOSTILITY? I must have missed something. All I remember was a great deal of HOSPITALITY! Best Se7ens parties ever are held at Run & Gun.. Thanks to Sue and Jerry.
Yep, Jerry IS scary fast even on his street tires which happen to be Falken RT615s. Maybe it isn't just the tires....hmmm.
All in good fun.

[slomove]

Jerry & Chuck, thanks for the feedback on the 615’s. Loren had told me about them prior to St Louis last year. On my Birkin, I have the problem of 15” tire size. I think I can only get to 205/50 X15”. I would like to do at least 225’s, now that I have a little more rear wheel HP. It could be the person’s bad review of the 615’s had too much PSI.

Jerry I remember well the handling on the RT-615’s, I will never forget the fantastic handling on the back side off the track. It was an eye opener! We also enjoyed the great hostility after. That was another great weekend with -7 people.

Gary


I run 225/50 on my stock Birkin 15" rear wheels, and 8"/22-13 ACB10 tires (nominally 235/45 R13) on my track wheels, no problem. For the front usually 195s are maximum unless you put small spacer bushings between wings and wing brackets. I know some people have put on 205s that way.

Gert

[gjslutz]

Chuck thanks for the correction, oh how I miss MS Office spell check while on the road. The thing I miss most about not working is my administrative assistant.

Jerry & sue were indeed super hosts. A great time was had by all.

Gary

[Boxologist]

entertaining
http://www.mr2oc.com/images/smilies/cheers.gif http://www.mr2oc.com/images/xtrasmilies/givemebeer.gif http://www.newcelica.org/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif