Octavia VRS - Tyre options - more track than road

[GarryC]

Hello all,

Im after options on tyres for the Octy VRS. I need 225/40R18.

Want a more track style tyre but will still do say 8-10k miles. I dont use it alot, but when i do its quite hard and on the track

Im not saying i want cut slicks, and not saying i dont want eagles. Just any opinions on what you lot have tried.

I got a pretty good deal from Yokohama so thier range looks nice. But any ideas really, Eagles, Proxys etc....

Its got "Semperit" on at the moment and they are okay, but i cant seem to find much on them. (they came with the car).

Kind Regards

Garry

[Tom_vRS]

888s

[GarryC]

Forgot to say, budget is around the £400 - £500 mark :(

Its all the boss will release to me :(

Shes got Yoko Ao48s on her track car so its not really fair i think, lol

[richm]

Toyo R888's will be the best value/performance by far, and for a track tyre they wear reasonably well, but maybe not 8-10K... and due consideration of wet weather useage cannot be ignored, they really don't like anything approaching standing water.

Best price for these will come from Reyland - Results Page - Toyo tyres

Maybe just the wrong side of your budget without a bit of colourful accounting though

Other than that, anything else in that price range will be a road tyre to one extent or another.

If you are willing to go to 17" then a serious contender is Bridgestone RE070, only available as 225/45/17 though, but as good as a road tyre gets, stiff sidewall and large-block tread which doesn't squirm around.

BRIDGESTONE TYRES / CAR / BRIDGESTONE RE070 POTENZA BRIDGESTONE RE 070 - 225/45R17 90W : £98.00 : Car Tyres - MPV Tyres - People Carrier Tyres : R17" - 225/45/17, 225/45 R 17 -

[GarryC]

I have used the R888s before on Caterhams and such and your right, they are a bloody good tyre. I just need it to be a bit more longer lasting and a bit cheaper :(

The bridgestones are a nice tyre not used them myself but a few of my customers use them and rate them, but they need to be in 18" as i cant afford new wheels also at this time.

Here are a few of my options, what do you all think? And is there anything i have missed out? :confused:

- Advan V103

- Parada 2

- Proxes T1R

- New S Drives

- Eagle F1

- Semperit Direction Sport, my current fitment.

Thanks in advance

Regards

Garry

[matt_theforce]

Having never been on a track I don't know how long these will last but in everyday driving and a very heavy right foot they did last about 20k miles on the front. They took alot of punishment and took a while to get warmed up and sticky. Wet weather driving they were OK and not too bad when the roads are greasy.

Yokohama AVS Sports

[GarryC]

Cheers for that Matt. Great advice

Shall have to look into these also then

[richm]

My track experience of Eagle F1's is that they overheat and go off quite quickly (4x4 sierra cosworth), but great on the road, including wet.

I suspect any road tyre will have similar issues on the track if used properly?

In the production saloon race series that we run in, which has a list of allowable tyres, most people use the RE070 if they can fit 17" rims, otherwise the Toyo T1R seems to be the one of choice (generally with the smaller cars), although for a heavyish FWD car these they may have issues with overheating

[GarryC]

Thats true. In that case my quesion should probably be, whats the best road tryes i can get for around the £400 to £500 mark bearing in mind i would rather performance over life, as long as not TOO silly

Regards

Garry

[KenONeill]

No track experience, but a hint if you go with T1-Rs; start with the pressures a couple of PSI up on book all round, cos you get underinflation wear patterns with the book figures.

[matt_theforce]

the garage that recommended the Yokohama AVS sports used to use them on their Escort Cosworth and used todo quite a few track days with it. It was also their show car so only the best components went on it.

St.Albans Car Clinic - SCCPerformance.com

[GarryC]

Oh i know Steve, he is a customer of mine

Will give him a call.

Anyone else got any experiance with the other models?

Kind Regards

Garry

[TaviaRS]

Kumho Ecsta V70A (K6A compound or maybe a harder one) and they are available in that size... It's an update to the old V700 tyre.

Not sure on prices...

[Octavia Vrs!]

I've got Toyo T1R-s on mine running 225-40-18. Im looking at changing these over even tho they are like new because they are RUBBISH. I hate them in the wet or any moisture at all. Never had a tyre slide about so much and wheel spin so easily. I go the nurburgring every year and last year these tyres were a massive dissapointment. After rave reveiws I'm swapping them for the new Goodyear eagle F1 Asymmetrics. People rave about the T1R-s, but how many have actually pushed them to their limit? Also tyre reveiws place them very much in the middle.

The goodyears are available from Camskill for just under a hundred quid each delivered.

[Octavia Vrs!]

Also something to bear in mind when doing lots of track driving. Get a non directional tyre. As almost all tracks run clockwise your left hand rubber wears out far quicker and you can't change sides.

Another point lost by the T1R-s

[GarryC]

Looks like the Advan V103 or Prada's then.

My thoughts on this are:

Not Proxys - Mixed reviews.

Not eagles - Everyone has them, i want to be a little different.

Not S Drives - Too new a tyre, not many have used it.

Not AVS Sport - Directionals

Any other comments?

Regards

Garry

[KenONeill]

My view on T1-Rs; if they're as c@rp as Octavia_VRS makes out, why do so many people choose them?

My experience of same; they're not ideal in greasy conditions, but they're great in truly wet, and I get scared before I run out of grip in the dry!

[richm]

Looks like the Advan V103 or Prada's then.

My thoughts on this are:

Not Proxys - Mixed reviews.

Not eagles - Everyone has them, i want to be a little different.

Not S Drives - Too new a tyre, not many have used it.

Not AVS Sport - Directionals

Any other comments?

Regards

Garry

advans and parada's are directional too... ?

[GarryC]

advans and parada's are directional too... ?

Are they? Ooops. Its a pain cause i cant rotate my wheels front to rear (cause of the custom machining on the rears to get the correct offset. So i can only rotate them left to right so non directionals would be better.

That said, if its a better tyre then i will just have to take the tyres off to do it

[richm]

Are they? Ooops. Its a pain cause i cant rotate my wheels front to rear (cause of the custom machining on the rears to get the correct offset. So i can only rotate them left to right so non directionals would be better.

That said, if its a better tyre then i will just have to take the tyres off to do it

yeah, if it were me, then the performance would be more important than the directional issues.

Chances are the tyres that work best are going to be directional anyway - generally the ones that work have got less effective tread on the outer shoulder to provide more solid rubber and less tread movement - look at the advans, paradas and RE070's to see what I mean.

[cheezemonkhai]

Falken 452 if you can get a good price?

They are pretty grippy and although I think they last a fair time, if they don't they are cheap at about £60-70 a corner fitted.

[GarryC]

Thats true. I will just swap them round then

So back to square one, lol. Anyone used the Advans? My mate at Yokohama says they are the "Flagship" tyre but even he sees mixed reviews, lol.

[Octavia Vrs!]

My view on T1-Rs; if they're as c@rp as Octavia_VRS makes out, why do so many people choose them?

My experience of same; they're not ideal in greasy conditions, but they're great in truly wet, and I get scared before I run out of grip in the dry!

Im not slating these tyres on their dry wheather performance in fact they are very impressive in the dry. Also if your information on the left is correct then im running 140bhp more than you so you can't really compare. I've done a lot of circuit racing, competing in sprints hillclimbs ect and the annual nurburgring trip. last year my holiday was ruined as the track was damp/greasey and my car wanted to bounce off every barrier when my mates flying round on pilot sports. Also bear in mind tyre width - 225 will not work as well in the wet so any deficency in the t1'r will be exagerated in this size.

The T1s toyo did was a much better tyre, they seem to have made the compound harder on the T1r which explains the poor damp road holding.

Also how many people do really push their cars, i like to drive briskly but its only when on track you really now how good a tyre is.

[GarryC]

my car wanted to bounce off every barrier when my mates flying round on pilot sports.

So should i look at these also?

[Octavia Vrs!]

Pilot sports. These are very expensive and not rated as highly as others in the dry, they would be a beter, more consitant option than the Toyos tho.