Discussion
Since the demise of the A021 for road use I swopped to the RS3s on a 14" wheel. Although not quite up to the adhesiveness of the A021 they have been fine on the Welsh roads. As you can expect we have our share of water here. Certainly seem to wear a lot better than the A021 - RS3 still a quantum leap over the original Avons.
No idea about track use but they seem a good compromise for the roads
No idea about track use but they seem a good compromise for the roads
Essentially, it's for road use, in the wet and cold - so tyres with winter formulated rubber will be softer in those temperatures, and obviously cut to be good for water displacement. It's a 'standard' superlight on 13" wheels.
Some interesting recommendations, but none seem actually designed for cooler conditions?
Some interesting recommendations, but none seem actually designed for cooler conditions?
If you want a "proper" winter tyre then they are out there. They outperform "summer" tyres when the road temp is below 5C, at the expense of heavier wear and a lesser perfromance when the road is above 5C. How much lesser? Aye, there's the rub. How much will you use it in proper winter conditions? How big a difference will there be? Is this worth less grip when it's 10C and dampish? How long's a piece of string?
Aeroscreens said:
Winter tyres? Not saying they are not good etc but we all existed without them for many years and didn't crash and burn, just drove to the conditions.....
I reckon even with winter tyres on a 7 you'll still end up in plenty of trouble with a heavy right foot.
Any 7, any tyres, any road, will get you into trouble if you have a heavy enough foot.I reckon even with winter tyres on a 7 you'll still end up in plenty of trouble with a heavy right foot.
As for winter tyres, bigger wheels mean that we have gone backwards. Standard issue 145R12 tyres on a fiesta performed far better than modern 205 50 affairs of today, I suspect the wider stuff floats on top more.
I think I would recommend whatever tyres are fitted to your tintop. The 7 is a pretty miserable drive in the cold and wet and levels of corrosion prevention are pretty poor for salty roads. Visibility and adhesion for acceleration, breaking and cornering mean pussyfooting about. Beyond proving that you can, why bother if you have a choice of car.
I did 2 winters daily driving in my 90's 7. It was pretty miserable and I pretty much destroyed it. The owner after me sent it back to Caterham to have a bit of panel corrosion done and as they took it apart it fell apart! They bought it from him in the end and put the bits onto a new chassis! Still a happy 7 though to this day. YMMV
Bert
Bert
battered said:
The Uniroyals aren't, it seems, but the Yoko 539 is in 185/60/13 (which I imagine is your size, it's a std 7 size) and these are well rated as an all round road legal performance tyre.
I'd second this. Currently using 539s and for a low power seven they seem a pretty good choice. I suspect I'll never wear them out and as they age they may lose a bit of their new grip. They have good ability for clearing standing water and decent grip if you are subtle with the loud pedal.Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff