Jump to content

litp.jpg

Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Wet Weather / Winter Tyres


MSH

Recommended Posts

As it looks increasingly like we're going to have a wet(ish?) August and, dare I say it, autumn is only just around the corner, I've got to thinking about what tyre I should replace my Yoko AO48's with so I have a chance of some wet weather traction. I'd love to hear what more experienced Exige drivers use at this time of year and through winter as I'm loathe to be a fair weather driver. Answers below please.

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 11
  • Created
  • Last Reply

In normal wet weather I found the a048's pretty good. Many times I drive through heavy standing water expecting to aquaplane and it never really happened. (Although I actually ended up preferring the toyo 888''s for several reasons)

 

If it's your only car and you are planning on using it through winter I put some winter tyres on. If it's just weekend / evening fair weather use in normal rain etc then you'll be fine with a048's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Chris. I'm on track at Oulton on Tuesday and it's supposed to be quite wet so I'll find out how I cope with (fairly worn) a048's then.

 

Interesting what you say about the 888's as they were a tyre I looked at switching to. What are the reasons you prefer them for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found the 48's would slip round on the wheel and I'd end up getting a vibration at 80mph. Switching to 888's stopped this.

 

Also the 888's were slightly more progressive at the limit of grip in the dry. They also have a few more cuts on them so in my unproven opinion are also slightly better in standing water.

 

They used to be slightly cheaper as well ( I don't know current prices).

 

However on my evora I'm going to be putting the newer Avon zzr's on my track wheels. They are control tyre for the lotus racing series now. Most racers are posting quicker times and apparently they last longer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

I can concur totally with Chris_h with reference to getting rid of steering wheel vibration at between 70 - 80 mph, my car in particular suffered from this quite badly. When it was first posted that fitting R888's would cure this I was sceptical to say the least, however it has completely cured this now! 

Having driven the car in wet weather I find them no worse than A048, if not better, I too found that I could 'feel' when they were going to let go, which as a novice track day driver suits me much better!

Before buying the car I read up quite a lot about A048 tyres aquaplaning on standing water and was petrified driving the thing in the rain for the first few months, however on a rainy day of monsoon proportions at a Bedford track day ( a track which is extremely safe with massive run offs ) I went through standing water at all speeds between 25 -100mph without any issue at all on A048's.

HTH

Mark

Edited to say the R88's are considerably cheaper too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another vote for the 888's from me. 

 

Having now had several sets of those and previously 48's I prefer the 888's.  Certainly feel much more planted and predictable in the wet (the slightly different tread pattern makes a big difference) and you lose the vibration you can get with the 48's as others have said, as far as I'm concern grip levels are comparable.  Good price too.

 

Not had chance to try the zzr's yet but they do get great reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wet weather use the RE039 however these have not been made for quite a while.

AD08 are pretty good too and still available.

Prefer R888s too for the dry and they are still good in damp and light rain and don't aquaplane as readily as the AO48.

R1R may be my next tyre choice too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's looking like the 888's for my next tyre then. Much more readily available than the 48's from what I can tell.

 

Does anyone have experience of running 888's on the back and 48's on the front? My rears are almost ready to be changed but the fronts have a lot of life left in them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to add a bit more confusion, I use Toyo R1R's on my S2 Exige with 205's on 6.J rims on the front.

They work really well in the wet and I use them 90% of the time, wet or dry. They're soft and they've done 3k miles and one track day, and have about 2k miles left in the rears, a bit more in the front.

Track wheels have A048's on and I fitted them recently and noticed a huge improvement in steering feel (I think I can feel the additional side wall stiffness).

I found A048's a bit too "loose" in the wet to feel comfortable on the road.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Terms of Use