In my opinion, the speeds you need to go to get the extra out of 48s (ie. track pace) means the improved water clearing of the 39s (whilst retain high grip levels) would make them the most ideal for the road.
But they do tend to be more expensive then 48s, are the same treadwear rating (so should in theory wear at the same speed as 48s) and they just aren’t as sexy.
Am I far off Randy?
Ian
I’m impressed you managed to remember what 39’s are like Ian, don’t think I’ve ever seen a set on your car
48’s are fundamentally a track tyre but are road legal for homologation purposes. They have large tread blocks which gives the tread stability at the expense of water clearance and they have very stiff side walls which keeps the contact patch more stable on the track at the expense of ride quality.
In practice they are surprisingly good in the damp but can soon become downright dangerous when there is any quantity of water on the road. They also really knock your teeth out compared to 39’s. The other issue I have is that I do have a tendency to find the limits of adhesion and when running 48’s on a nice warm dry day those limits are frankly out of place on the public road.
39’s clear water very well, are soft enough to give excellent grip but on the flip side tend to overheat on track as the small tread blocks move around too much. It’s easy enough to root a set on track in a couple of laps.
On the road I found that I went through my 48’s at a silly rate of knots, maybe got through 50% of the tread in 1500miles.
As for the Toyo T1S… these have very soft side walls so on track you have to load them up very progressively otherwise you get bugger all grip out of them. The tread is heavily directional and I found they were excellent in the wet under braking and acceleration but didn’t like corners very much! On the positive side they are cheap and last forever. One other thing about the Toyos is that they need a good 1000miles to bed in.
One other thing about the Toyos is that they need a good 1000miles to bed in.
very important - had I been daft enough/not experienced enough to hammer it with new tyres on my Proxes would have killed me driving home from fitting - bloody horrible compared to the 48’s
The A039’s were fitted as a standard tyre leaving the factory (I think???) and are a tad dearer than 48’s. From reading many posts on the subject I would say you need to choose your tyre for the type of driving you are doing. The Proxes are working well for me now but If I’m feeling flush in the spring I’m getting some more 48’s as they are ace!
I’m impressed you managed to remember what 39’s are like Ian, don’t think I’ve ever seen a set on your car
Plenty more where they came from!
Plenty more where they came from!
hope you are storing them correctly
My S1 is fitted with Yoko AO39s but ive bought a full set of rims fitted with AO48s for the track, but at 2.5k it was an expensive option but probably the right one!
Can’t comment on having them on an Exige, but I do like them on my '92 MX-5 (almost same weight): Good year Eagle F1 GS/D3. See link below for some tyre info.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+GS-D3
Nico
Cheers for the info guys, that tells me what I needed to know. I used to run Dunlop D01J’s on my Impreza for track use, and they had a sidewall construction that was pretty much the same as a full slick. As you say Randy, the ride ended up being a bit hard for the road.
Cheers,
-= mike =-
Can’t comment on having them on an Exige, but I do like them on my '92 MX-5 (almost same weight): Good year Eagle F1 GS/D3. See link below for some tyre info.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+GS-D3
Nico
I’ve never tried those, but have heard some feedback that they’re too hard…