Dan Baldwin Posted June 2, 2001 Share Posted June 2, 2001 I need new "street" tires for my 240, which I will also be using as rain tires at the track. I don't put enough miles on the Z to worry about a treadwear rating of 60 or less. I'm thinking Yokohama A032Rs or Toyo Proxes RA1s. Maybe even Kumhos. Experiences? Size is 225/50-15. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted June 2, 2001 Share Posted June 2, 2001 I love my Advans for track and street BUT they are VERY darty on uneven pavement. They showed little to no wear (honestly!) on the 2500mile or so roundtrip to california last summer. Heated up nice on track without excessive effort and stayed friendly IMO. As long as you have smooth pavement or not a lot of poor pavement they're fine. A few local guys chuckle about an inadvertent lane change they make enroute to Bremerton across some v. poor pavement. They also have a fair howl from tire noise that I only noticed on the street really but thankfully it didn't get louder at higher speeds. at 50mph or so you may think a small float plane is buzzing around somewhere. I drove them dry in California and even in PISSING rain at SIR they responded very well...I didn't have near the balls to find their wet limit. A LOT of tread on those with their design which is getting quite old but seems well received still. Hope that helps. I don't recall now why I picked the A032R's over Proxes (those were my two choices....). Being able to drive to CA or WA on not haul tires (which don't fit in my car anyhow) was a huge plus for my race treads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Baldwin Posted June 3, 2001 Author Share Posted June 3, 2001 Thanks, Ross. Several fairly quick guys in my club use the A032Rs, and no one uses the RA1s, so maybe that's my best choice. Tire rack does have some BFG R1 rains for cheap ($75), but as they're not the G-Forces, I suspect they're beyond their shelf life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 Yeah, beware I got a 1/2 price set from Tirerack once of known fine treads but they were greasy as could be....DOT label showed 2.5-3yrs old? (don't recall exactly) so I/we could only pinpoint age as their fault....thankfully Yokohama honoured a return with full 'normal' credit towards any other tread of theirs....swapped to AVS Sports which I'm happy with streetwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 Dan -- Lessee, you want a track tire that you can use on the street or use on the track as a rain tire. Not asking for much, are we? Seriously, here is a distillation of personal experiences and anecdotal info. Kuhmos - Best of the bunch as track tires, and the least expensive. Also recommeded by a local Corvette Pro Challenge driver as the rain tire of choice, but only full tread and brand new - his V700's have never seen a dry piece of pavement. After some wear, they are a handful in the wet (personal experience). RA1 Proxies - Second best track tire of the lot, a little harder compound than the Kuhmos, deeper (full) tread, but not much tread pattern so dicey in the wet. Wear very well on track, good laps/dollar. AO32R's - Expensive, noisy, not as fast as the others, good wear. I thought they would be primo rain tires but a bunch of IZCC guys said they were AWFUL in the wet. I got mine about 1/2 worn and old, so I can't tell you from first hand experience. Fourth option - Buy one of those tiny trailers from Harbor Freight or similar and haul your track tires to the track, running street tires until the fun starts. I'm looking into this myself as the trip home from Mid Ohio last year on smooth Kuhmos, in a West Virginia downpour, in the mountains, was a nightmare. Also less sticky rubber left on public roads = more for the track. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 I had a set of A032s on my 240Z and sold them as quickly as I could. Incredibly noisy and nowhere near as good as the old A008RS2s. Dan, you might want to look at a set of full tread depth Kumho V700s. Cheaper and they work really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 When the 32's came out, GRM did a track test with Randy Probst and Road Atlanta's PR guy (can't remember his name). The memorable quote is "A ham fisted driver won't get far on these tires", compared with the review of the V-700's (other side of the blind test)"I felt like I could go fast right out of the box". On a damp track the Kuhmos are as good as any, but I've never had a set new enough in the wet to pass judgement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Baldwin Posted June 5, 2001 Author Share Posted June 5, 2001 Woohoo, all the usual suspects are showing up to help me out, thanks! Starting to look like Kuhmos. The 32s are a bit pricey at $145, and are getting a lot of not-so-good press. I forget what the RA1s were last time I priced them, but I think it was ~$125. Full-tread Kuhmos are $115, I've known folks to drive them on the street, and I've never heard anything bad about them. I don't plan to use them in the dry at the track except perhaps to judge when the Hoosiers are starting to fall off. Posted to the other Z lists, but I think I've made up my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 7, 2001 Share Posted June 7, 2001 FWIW... I feel that the Kumho V700s are closest in feel to my sorely missed Yokohama A008RS2s. The best part is that the Kumhos stick better that the old A8s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 quote: Originally posted by johnc: FWIW... I feel that the Kumho V700s are closest in feel to my sorely missed Yokohama A008RS2s. The best part is that the Kumhos stick better that the old A8s. ...I'll second that - I've been running V700s for a while now, and am very happy with them. My use is primarily street, with a few autocrosses here and there. I'm guessing that you were shying away from them at first because of the guy on the IZCC list that said that he blistered them after two sessions at the track. As I recall, he said that his were unshaved, which most likely was the problem. If you want to run them on a dry track, get them shaved. [ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: TimZ ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Baldwin Posted June 8, 2001 Author Share Posted June 8, 2001 I'm planning on getting the Kumhos with full tread depth and using them on the street and as rain tires at the track. I may run them at the track in the dry for a few laps only to gauge whether or not the Hoosiers are starting to go off, but never for a full session until they're worn down to maybe 3-4/32. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest needwaymorespeed Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 How many miles can you get out of these tires on the street-the kumhos 700s- 10,000 or less thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.