CR500 Tyres - Where to buy?

[rotorwings]

Not surprisingly Caterham do not have any CR500 15" tyres in stock

Does anyone know who stocks CR500 tyres at a reasonable price?

[grenpayne]

Try BMTR in Birmingham

[ghibbett]

BMTR [phone]

Try to go and collect them. They'll show you their racing tyre store. Not only is it massive, it's hugely interesting. Now I know why those F1 mechanics seem to throw wheels around during pit stops - they weigh hardly anything!

[framerateuk]

I bought directly off Cooper Tyres a while back. Same price as Caterham, but at least they had some in stock.

[Andy Bell]

i know a bit of a tangent but I was using CR500 and switched to yoko A048 because they were £40 a tyre cheaper!! Only done one trackday since shifted (different tyre dimensions) and pretty grippy.

[framerateuk]

How did you find the change Andy?

I noticed much improved predictability on the edge with the 13" CR500 compared to my original 15" ones - I'm not sure if I'd want any more grip than the 13" version! Were they just as predictable as the CR500?

[Andy Bell]

so i must say before the trackday I had not driven on them which yes was a bit of a risk took the usual 2-3 laps just for a drive and certainly didnt notice a difference. I then started pushing it and i did notice some things compared to worn 2+ year old CR500's (to put into context):

better grip - i wasnt pushing as hard as I would have on CR500's and managed within 0.3 of fastest lap.
ride height - due to dimension change i am riding slightly higher so will need to change that
warming up - on my old cr500's within 1 lap i could really push but i had to take 2 laps for 048's

Could all be caused by just being brand new rubber versus old worn stuff but i think general consensus for grip is dry A048 > cr500. Wet cr500 > A048 but for wet A021 > cr500. I have 3 sets of wheels so probably 2 sets A048 1 set of A021 road/very wet. I checked with McMillan motorsports about their thoughts and they agreed with that.

And at 40 quid a pop cheaper did certainly influence my thoughts - be interesting to see wear rate but i drive better ergo tyres will be getting punished more so...

[IBDAET]

If you want tyres for the road that give 80-90% of the grip of a 15" CR500, but last much longer, look at Toyo T1R. They are a fractiobn the price of CR500s (under £40 for a 195/45/15) and last twice as long. Handling is not too shabby, and they are far (immeasurably) better than CR500s in the wet.

[framerateuk]

IBDAET said:

If you want tyres for the road that give 80-90% of the grip of a 15" CR500, but last much longer, look at Toyo T1R. They are a fractiobn the price of CR500s (under £40 for a 195/45/15) and last twice as long. Handling is not too shabby, and they are far (immeasurably) better than CR500s in the wet.

I've heard lots of good feedback about the R1R (not the T1R) lately. Seems to be as good as the CR500 in the dry and just as good in the wet. I must admit, I'm close to getting rid of my 15" wheels and getting another set of 13's.

Thanks for the feedback Andy. I've been quite tempted to switch to the AO21R as my touring tyres since the 15" CR500 keep cracking in the sidewalls. And the additional ride height over the 13" CR500 would be useful!