AD08R alternatives

[eldavo]

I've been getting a but fed up of transporting my Trackday wheels to the circuit and changing them over (especially at the end of the day when you're tired and just want to go home).

So after much deliberating I decided that Yokohama AD08Rs would be a good compromise for a road tyre and track use too. The car is a Porsche 944 Turbo, plenty of track-friendly mods and a healthy 310bhp.

I've got the fronts in the garage (225/45/17) but the rears are becoming impossible to find (245/40/17) - 3 places that stated they were in stock have since cancelled my order and don't know when they're getting any more - I've even emailed tirerack in the states to get a shipping quote!

I'm considering a pair of federal 595 RS-R as they do them in a 255/40/17 (which would fit fine) and can be had for £100 a tyre. I can run these until I can get some AD08Rs as realistically I'm going to get through a couple of sets of rears to a set of fronts.

One thing that really appealed about the AD08Rs was the wet grip so I'd be interested in any feedback or alternative suggestions?

Thanks.

[Sigmamark7]

I used Federals on my Megane 250 (which was running 325bhp) and found them OK considering the weight of the car, the power and torque they had to deal with and how much they cost. They did go off after about 10 hot laps and became a bit snotty and loose, but they stayed predictable. A few minutes cooling off and they were ready to go again. They were also good on the road in all sorts of wet and cold conditions, so all in all, they were a pretty good compromise.

[git-r]

you can get federals in 235/40/17 and they are probably wider than most 245/40/17's..

I've run a couple of sets in 235/45/17 and they did some pretty good lap times but had balancing issues on a 1500kg, 500bhp car.

I just got a set of kuhmo ku36 245/40/17's for about £85 each delivered. Have only tried them on track in the wet so far and they were a lot better than I thought they'd be. They're meant to be good in the dry and an alternative to ad08's.

Apparently the tyre walls are stiffer than the federals, not sure if they'll give as much dry grip but for the money definitely worth a go as they should last well.

I got them from tyre leader.

[Masher964]

Can you not go to 255/40/17 on the rear? If they are 9j wheels, that is what I am running on mine. I considered Toyo888 for my 944 but most folks seemed to think the sidewalks were too soft for a car much over 1 tonne so I never tried them. I'm sure many will now disagree with that

[supertouring]

I have been looking at tyres recently and the Federals get a good write up everywhere I looked.

In the end I bought the yokos as they will be my main tyre, but when my r888 run out on my spare set I am tempted to give them a try.

[eldavo]

Masher - I was looking at the 255 RS-Rs.

According to the Federal website they are 5mm wider than stated across the range., thanks to everyone for their advice.

I've got Black Circles coming to pick the AD08R fronts up and have ordered a full set of 595 RS-Rs from Camskill. They're on offer at the moment so where under £400 delivered, 1/3rd cheaper than the AD08Rs, just hoping that they're not 1/3rd less of a tyre! I will report back.

[Masher964]

I'll be interested in your opinion.

[boxsey]

Masher964 said:

Can you not go to 255/40/17 on the rear? If they are 9j wheels, that is what I am running on mine. I considered Toyo888 for my 944 but most folks seemed to think the sidewalks were too soft for a car much over 1 tonne so I never tried them. I'm sure many will now disagree with that

I disagree! and so would the BRSCC Porsche Boxster championship that use them as their control tyre.

[Masher964]

There is always one!

[git-r]

eldavo said:

Masher - I was looking at the 255 RS-Rs.

According to the Federal website they are 5mm wider than stated across the range., thanks to everyone for their advice.

I've got Black Circles coming to pick the AD08R fronts up and have ordered a full set of 595 RS-Rs from Camskill. They're on offer at the moment so where under £400 delivered, 1/3rd cheaper than the AD08Rs, just hoping that they're not 1/3rd less of a tyre! I will report back.

I'm sure you'll be impressed with them.. The dry grip they give when fresh is excellent and still ok wet grip.. I'd be interested to hear how you find them over time though as I found they only had good grip the first few times then despite having lots of tread left got very noisy and slippy.. and utterly hopeless in the wet. Also I had balancing issues with both sets

Do let us know how you get on, I'd be pretty certain you'll like them initially

[Nickjd]

The balancing issues are what many race cars have found on the track and are mainly due to the cheap tyres having much less rubber in the construction and the side walls being thinner by about 12%. I have tyres here that you can feel the weight and construction difference just by picking them up.

[Porkie]

Masher964 said:

There is always one!

used em on a Sierra Cosworth 4x4, a 996 Turbo and an R34GTR, all well over a tonne and all well over 500bhp as well. EXCELLENT track tyre the 888, and alot better in the wet than people think as well.

[Masher964]

Porkie said:

Masher964 said:

There is always one!

used em on a Sierra Cosworth 4x4, a 996 Turbo and an R34GTR, all well over a tonne and all well over 500bhp as well. EXCELLENT track tyre the 888, and alot better in the wet than people think as well.

Two... Don't you just love tyre-talk. I'm sure there is a rule of thumb that says if a tyre sells well, it's probably good or extremely cheap. With track tyres it's probably the former.

[edh]

Dave this may be a bit late but I'm sure 255/40/17 is the correct size

I'm very impressed with the original AD08 - still plenty of life left in mine so haven't tried the new compound yet.

[eldavo]

It is a bit late Ed, I had them fitted last week!

225/45/17 & 255/40/17 so all good.

Even being new tyres and from cold they seem very planted, it'll be interesting to see how they handle a track day and a bit of British weather before making a definitive judgement though.