R8 V10 Grip / Tyres for Winter

R8 V10 Grip / Tyres for Winter

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Discussion

les5709

Original Poster:

323 posts

177 months

Friday 27th November 2015
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Hi All,

I have a serious grip problem at the moment on the roads of Northern Ireland. I have Pirelli P Zeros on that have done around 5000 on them, so they are coming near end of life.

With the current conditions, I really have to be so so gentle on the throttle, through 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear. The car is a manual V10 that has been remapped with a Captritso Exhaust, so is around the 600hp mark. Clearly any tyre will struggle to put this down on a damp road, but with the 4wd system I really wouldn't have expected the car to be so tail happy and slip so easily.

Questions please?
-Does anyone else experience this? (the car feels extremely light at the back and drains the confidence out of me)
-Is it that there is just so much power going through the car that on our cold and damp roads it is too much for any tyre?
-Are the Pirelli P Zeros just useless during the winter time as they cannot generate enough heat / poor tread configuration for Winter?
-Would changing to the likes of a Michelin (which I found an excellent type for my Noble) be of benefit?

Thanks Guys
Steve

Guffy

2,310 posts

264 months

Friday 27th November 2015
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Funnily enough I have a V10 Plus a with a Capristo exhaust that I've had (wet) grip issues with too.

The R8 is predominately rear wheel drive, think a maximum of 30% can be diverted to the front wheels, so you have to be careful booting a mid-engine car from wet corners!

However, I've recently changed the rears to MPSS and seem to have more all round grip over the same stretch of road compared to the original tyres. Having said that, a combination of summer tyres, high performance and cold (Below 7degC) conditions is nae a good mix!

I don't think you can get winter tyres for the standard wheels, probably better with a set of winter wheels anyway. I've just use the eurobox for the worst of the winter weather up here in Scotland.


les5709

Original Poster:

323 posts

177 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
Think my issue is that even on straights never mind wet corners she is lighting the rears up and trying to send it one way!

Dr G

15,159 posts

241 months

Friday 27th November 2015
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I think Audi's recommendation is the Pirelli Sottozero (sp?).

Guffy

2,310 posts

264 months

Saturday 28th November 2015
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I wonder if Audi's recommendation might be influenced by commercial factors, bit like their recommended engine oil...

I've only had mine a few months, so this is the first winter for me. Took her out today, 4deg C, so fairly cold and wet and had to feather the throttle a fair bit as the back end was a bit twitchy. There's something to be said for hooning about in a hot hatch!


starmonkey

293 posts

188 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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The MPSS are generally known to be a better all round tyre than the Pirellis (according to my dealer and R8talk). I've got the V10 manual with Capristo and have had no issues so far (third year of ownership) and I've stuck with the Super Sports.

They are a difficult tyre to get hold of in the UK at the moment though.

rassi

2,447 posts

250 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Is the obvious answer to what is a suitable tyre for winter driving not fitting a winter tyre...?