A048 tyre question

Hi guys. My S1 is currently equipped with the A048, but they are a pain to drive with in slow / normal road conditions (car is really taking all the road’s defects).
My first question is : should the pressure (again for road use) be 1.6 bar FR / 1.8 bar R as for the A039 ?
Second question, rose by extensive reading of the forum : are they unadapted for road conditions (Belgium is kinda UK weatherwise) ? I feel I should consider Toyo’s, knowing that only the 888 has a 195/50/17 ?
Thank you for your enlighted advice

I have found the 888s much nicer on normal road stuff, although that could be old vs new tyres

Sorry I realize my question is not specific enough. I don’t want to initiate an endless debate on tyres. So, my car has 30 KM on the clock with standard suspensions (Konis), there’s some slight play in the steering rack, I have a 330 mm Momo steering wheel and the front A048 are not new (last change of front tyres recorded in the history of the car was 18 KM ago but I’m not sure they haven’t been changed since). My understanding is that the 048’s might be too track-oriented to use on the road (would say B-roads, as our highways are not in particularly good condition). The car, albeit not tricky, tend to refuse to absorb any irregularity of the tarmac, hence need to be guided and corrected on speed under 60 MPH. Overal geometry has been done recently (as new rear toe-links have been fitted). I almost have convince myself to try a set of Toyo’s 888, but I’d like to have your input on A048 use on a road car. Many thanks, and if you use 888’s and are happy with them, feel free to let me know.

I’ve run 48’s on my S1 and have not experienced any of the problems you describe. My problem with 48’s was the balancing issue. Since swapping to 888’s and now R1R the wobble has gone.

R1R’s for road use

Any further feedback on R1R’s?

from what I’ve heard …a very good tyre
but… if used on a dry track day they overheat quite quickly
so…for road use…recon I’d give them a go

I guess the R1R you must use are in 2054516 instead of 1955016 ?

I’ve run AO48’s without any problems. The steering does tend to respond to surface irregularities but I’ve always put that down to:

a) Steering ratio - in the same way that only small wheel inputs are needed, then surface bumps, etc. will be felt more noticeably than if the steering was less sensitive;

b) No power steering - so many cars have power steering these days and that’s well-known for damping ‘feel’.

You mention your rack has some play in it, which will exaggerate the problem; small amounts movement will be taken up by the play, then anything bigger will be felt very suddenly.

If you feel like it, then look at changing the dampers so you can adjust the settings.

Thanx, I had some of the same thoughts, albeit I feel the car “overeact” too much, time to try the Nitrons then…

Sounds like you need more toe out at the front.

Maybe a beginning of answer : I had to change anti roll bar bushes, and I took the oportunity to clean and repaint the ARB. I left a thin layer of paint where the bushes take the bar, and apparently it was sufficient to block the free play of it. Now these sections of the bar have been polished and greased, will make a run with the car soon.

Deffo a plus with the bar cleaned at bushes’ place, now time to test it with a new set of wheel balanced with fresh 888s.