Big Spend Coming Up! Tyre Debate About To Start!

Right I'm in need of some new tyres, and brakes, and clutch!

I think I'm settled on the DBA Disks & Pagid Pads.

I am Trying to justify the cost of an organic/paddle clutch!?!?

God I'm so dumped if the missus reads this post!!

Anyway at the risk of starting world war 3 I'd like some advice on tyres.

I have used all 3 of these on my gti6 in the past and liked them,

Bridgestone Potenza Re040s
Parada Spec 2
Goodyear Eagle F1's

But this is the first time I am having to put tyres on the coupe, so question is, does anyone have any experience with above tyres, and opinions please.

Also I can get Toyo Proxy T1R at similar money, but I have never used them - anyone have anything to say about them?

Cheers

Paul

I'm a big fan of the Pirelli P-zero Nero - use to run that on my VTS 16v, and it was awesome... Very long lasting, low noise, excellent grip in both wet and dry!

Probably going for the same tire on my HGT in a month.

Clutches, what power/torque are you running? if it's standard I would just stay OE, they last well enough. If you pushing more torque, 300ft/lbs then thats another story

IMO - T1R are better suited to light cars and I didn't find them anywhere near as good as the T1S (the toyo it replaced). My wife had both these on her HGT, and has now gone to Dunlop Direzza's but they too new to really comment on but seem alright.

I have Goodyear F1's on my coupe now and I rate them (215/40 x 17) if I recall when I brought them I read a few tests and they rated well.

Tyres = go for Eagle F1's, no doubt about it. Look to pay approx £80 each fitted plus or minus £5.

Clutch = there's a clutch thread somewhere asking about the difference between OE and Helix Organic, I've tried a Helix organic back to back with my OE GTA clutch, and it's a fair bit heavier than OE, although you would get used to it over time.

Tyres - eagles or the toyos (thats what most people run on here)

Brakes - your choices sound OK, check out the group buy pages for discounts.

Clutch - if your running std power, then get a std clutch, if you running more than std but less than 300bh/lb then get a GTA combo.

Okay someone else has mentioned GTA clutch and it sounds viable.

Question is - when you say GTA do you mean the Alfa GTA car?

Is this a straight fit or do i require extra work etc?

Paul

On tyres - i have heard other people say the T1R isnt as good as the older T1S ? I havent used either, i always got the impression they were a bit showy sort of thing.

The F1's i like on the 6, but havent done many miles on them so dont know how they wear?

Paradas i think were the dogs danglies but that was on the gti too so not sure if suited to car as big as coupe?

Paul

I would go for the Eagles or Falken FK-452.

I have used T1-R toyos in the past and I wasn't that impressed, especially through standing water.

Not usre about clutches or brakes though.

For tyres, I can only echo a lot of the comments above ... go for F1's.

I hadn't used them until recently, but on a track day a couple of weeks ago, they performed really well in both the wet and the dry

I am not a fan of the GS-D3 Goodyear F1s, I have had them and the older GS-D2s and they both went off really quite badly when they got to about 3mm. Might be the abuse I give them or heat cycles through winter. It depends what you want out of tyres - if you don't mind them lasting 4-6k miles then get some R type tyres but if you want 10k out of them then you will be forced down F1, T1R etc route.

I have had two sets of Falkens and I do rate the grip but they do not last as long so it is a false economy IMHO. Falkens I had lasted about 8k on a RWD car vs 12k from Yoko Sports

I wouldn't touch the Bridgestones, I managed to break my s03s.

I do like the T1Rs - have them on my coupe and on one of my other cars and are very good, but I am running a much lower profile so the sidewall is much stiffer than the OE sizes anyway.

parada spec II's are very good, but don't do them in 16's

I have these tyres and would agree about performance in the wet.

I'm personally not too bothered about performance in the wet as I never really push the car in the wet anyway!

There is always a chance that you will hit standing water, even when just doing the speed limit. I was actually quite shocked at how bad the Toyo's were in that respect. On just normal damp and wet roads they were not too bad though.

Has anyone used Vredesteins? They usually get good reviews,

I usually change my road tyres when they're down to 2-3mm, I don't run them down to the legal limit. Especially in the winter, you'd be mad to in a 20VT, let alone with 500bhp+.

I don't think that there is a tyre in this universe that you could use on your car without getting compromised performance, or without destroying them. If I had a 500bhp+ FWD car, my tyres would last a couple of tanks of petrol I would guess! For the rest of us, Eagle F1's do fine, I run them for well over 20k on the fronts, including some light competition/drag use.

the beauty of traction control is very minimal wheelspin
I change my tyres when they hit under 3mm but I remember having a pretty dodgy incident with the GS-D3 tyres some way above that and it was a lack of mechanical grip not related to power.
Last time I ran GS-D3s I had a mere 400ish BHP btw...

there seems to be a lot of reports of bulges in the sidewalls of the goodyears aswell. including me!

The problem I had with the Bridgestone S03 was a bulge in the centre of the tyres (ie. in the tread section).

I had S03's on the rear of my TVR, I found them good but they only lasted 6,000 miles, and that wasn't exactly smoking them all of the time.

Right then, Parada spec 2 or Eagle F1?? - mainly road use very limited track use but def one trip to the ring in July.

Paul

From that choice the Eagles.

i would go Parada's everytime. that is if you have 17" or above alloys.

howmany people have actually compared the 2?

Hi yes i do have 17s on the coupe, but i have compared both on the gti in the past, and to be honest they are both great tyres with their own pros and cons - parada are without a doubt the best tyre for dry weather, dry weather grip is awesome gti never spun up! Also very progressive when breaking away. However the f1's are not far behind in the dry (maybe a little snappier near the limit) and are much better in the rain, i thought the f1's lasted longer but thats a little unfair as paradas did get some serious track abuse!

Both tyres look great, if thats what your into.

So question is do i buy a set of tyres that are 100% brilliant for the summer, buy only 80% great come winter or do i buy a set that are 90% good through the seasons?

Also not sure if coupe being heavier and more powerful than the 306 will make difference to how they feel.

Final note - 215 40 17 Paradas @ £69 F1s @ £89

Go vote ;-)

Paul

you can get paradas for cheaper than that on ebay.

GSD3 Eagle F1s are better than the T1-Rs, if u can get the german-made F1s. Thailand-made F1s like we get in this part of the world are shite.

the F1 wet grip dimishes dramatically after 50% as the outer edges of the water channels are very shallow and these wear out sooner than any other part of the tread. so be careful when ur tires are lower than 50%.

avoid RE040s - noisy as hell and not much grip. RE050s are slight better but still not worth it compared to F1 or T1-R.

falkens always have good grip but never last very long. the RT615 is a very good trackday tire, i hear.

im on the yoko advan AD07 - excellent trackday tire and ultimate grip in the dry. not the best in the wet, but i dont run hard when its raining either.

redd

Yeah my price is fitted - i think thats quite good isnt it?

Really?! I didnt even realise they would be different - you learn something everyday hey.

Cheers for the guide.

Paul

Not surprised, the last set of F1's I got (thailand made)was so unbalanced there was no point balancing the wheels at all. Had to send them back!

Some F1's are also made in China, but they are supposed to be ok providing they have a E mark on them.

I vote for GoodYear Eagle F1. I use them on my Azev (see sig) Nice grip and not so expensive
John sells GTA Clutch for 235 Euro. Send a pm to fastjjs.

Try these:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m12b0s679p4059

The guys at Camskill recommended these claiming they outgrip anything, wet and dry.
They are listed as trackday tyres, but I am told they are fully road legal.
However they will only last 5000 miles, and do require a couple of 3o min drives at leaisurely pace to heat cycle before you can rag them

Actually, I'm also told Eagle F1's require the same treatment, otherwise they lose their shape. Might explain why so many people have propblems with F1's.

Thats an interestingly cheap tyre! If they are as good as they say at that sort of money you dont mind being short lived.

Now fitted Paradas £135 fitted - seem to have loads of dry grip, see hopw i get on.

Paul

good choice

I've been reading loads of tyre reviews recently and can say I'm none the wiser!
Trouble is there are so many variables to consider from temperature, tyre pressure, road surface, wet/dry, country of manufacture, amount of wear, age, whether the tyre is suited to your car etc etc. Furthermore few of us have the luxury of testing new tyres back to back. Any new tyre will probably feel better than the old ones just replaced.
Generally the F1 seems highly rated as does the Toyo T1R. I liked the original Pirelli P zeros but now have the Toyos.The Toyos definitely have much better traction in the wet but feel squidier with duller steering response compared to P zeroes. This is easily explained by feeling the sidewalls - the P zero is stiff as a board whilst Toyos are very soft. It has been suggested that you run the Toyos at a slightly higher pressure to counteract this - tried yesterday at 41 psi front 34 psi back and what a difference - all sharp again.
Conclusion - get a decent tyre but remember that no tyre will be the best in every condition i.e. the best tyre in the wet will not be the best tyre in the dry etc

This is a good tyre test.It contains those Hankooks, Toyo Proxes, some Yoko's and Eagle F1's as well as couple of others.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_...e_tread_feature

Simon.