Toyo's for the Chim/Griff?

[duncan hermer]

I'm in the process of changing my wheels on the Chim for 17's all round and am at the tyre decision stage.

I have trawled the forums for previous threads and there is some heavy debate regarding the Toyo Proxes - the tyre I am most considering for several reasons - they must be a good tyre if TVR fit them now and i hear they're particularly good for running with a low profile which I'll have with the new wheels.

Has anyone any experience of using these on the Chim/Griff? If so what's the feedback?

I note that in past threads shpub has stated that there is no 'ZR' rating on the toyo for 15" wheels - hence the reason TVR didn't put them on the Chim/Griff. Does anyone know if they do a 'ZR' for 17" and what are they like?

Do they really wear that quickly? Any feedback would be appreciated before i take the plunge.

Thanks

[trackdemon]

I run them on my Chim, V rated 15's up front Z rated 16 at the back, so for sure you can get Z rated 17's.
Excellent tyres, as good as the SO-2's I had before, particularly in the wet. Reasonable wear rate, I've had 3 trackdays & 6k miles out of them. And their 2/3 price of Goodyears etc... try www.elite-design.co.uk

[apache]

I've got 17's and use Toyo, they're good but SO 2's are better, whatever you do, don't fit SO 3's they have a stiffer sidewall, which causes real bad tramlining

[gerjo]

I use Toyo Proxes T1-S with 16/17" wheels on the Griff and I think they are great!

[K3NJW]

I have Toyo Proxes on my Chimaera with 17" wheels and they work a treat. I also had 16" Toyos on the rear prior to changing the wheels and they'd been fine in the rain and winter crud. They were also cheaper and easier to find !!

[Corin Denton]

Duncan , the speed ratings nowadays are no longer an issue as long as you don't drop to VR which is 150mph max the car will be fine , any tyre which is W,Y or Z rating is suitable.

[CraigAlsop]

Corin Denton said: Duncan , the speed ratings nowadays are no longer an issue as long as you don't drop to VR which is 150mph max the car will be fine , any tyre which is W,Y or Z rating is suitable.

Why do you say this? Not that I am arguing, you understand, I'm just wondering what evidence you have to back up this statement.

[Corin Denton]

I have run a tyre specialist business for twelve years , without boring you with too much technical specification , the tolerences between Y,W, and Z are so minimal that I can almost guarantee that if you drove the same car with the same tread three different times each time with a different rating you would not tell the difference , what you have to look for more importantly is your choice of tyre , as previously quoted S03's do have very if not the stiffest sidewall on the market , next time you are in a tyre shop take a look at the different options and flex the sidewall , you will see what I mean.
In my opinion , the S02's were ab-fab all rounders , the S03's just don't match the mark , I personally run 17" Avon ZZ3's which are better than the SO3 but next time I'm trying the Toyo.

[incorrigible]

Bs wish I'd read this before lunch (just had a pair of SO3s on the front)

So Corin, should I give them an extra pump or two for track days or is the flex not that bad. I gave them a good roundabout or two on the way home (enough to get the back sliding) and the front felt well planted

Anyway I'm stuck for the next few thousand miles, but advice to get the best out tof them would be nice

Cheers

Ben

[Larco]

Toyo have a display stand at 'Back Home' at the concourse on the Saturday.
I believe they will be launching the new sizes for the Griff and chim so its a good chance to see what they have on offer chaps. I will try some when my so2's wear out

[Painey]

Are Toyo going to do a size tyre that will fit the front of a standard griffith, i.e. 205 / 55 / 15's?

If so that would be dead handy because I've almost worn out my S 02's and I can already get the Toyo's for the rear at £86 each but none for the front!!

>> Edited by Painey on Thursday 17th April 15:39

[Larco]

yep thats what i believe they will have on show

[Corin Denton]

Ben , it's just the reverse in my limited experience with S03s you don't need to alter the pressure the sidewalls are significantly stiffer , your best advice on dealing with what you are using might come from Steve Heath I'm sure he's nailed SO3s on the track , my car so far has been only used for road use.
Corin

[shpub]

I am running s03s on the Griff at the moment and they are superb. You do need to lower the pressure a bit though because of the sidewall stiffness. The Toyos have a lot softer sidewall and this is why I believe they die when pushed hard. To stop the wall from moving, you need to increase pressures. This distorts the contact patch and reduces it so you have less grip. End result is that you get caught between the devil and the deep blue sea and is probably why many track dayers complain that the tyres roll off the rims and overheat. Not just a TVR thing either. Discussed this with other car owners with similar comments. The problem with distorting contact patches is that this can cause the tyres to overheat PDQ and start to destroy the tread.

On very low profile wheels, this sidewall softness is compensated for by the lower profile and is less of a problem.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[shpub]

CraigAlsop said:

Corin Denton said: Duncan , the speed ratings nowadays are no longer an issue as long as you don't drop to VR which is 150mph max the car will be fine , any tyre which is W,Y or Z rating is suitable.

Why do you say this? Not that I am arguing, you understand, I'm just wondering what evidence you have to back up this statement.

The main issue is a legal one. You are obliged to replace tyres with similar spec to the OEM fitment. That means ZR or better on a Griff or Chimaera. In addition the speed rating is actually more important than you think as the higher speed ratings cope with acceleration and braking forces far better which is something that everyone will experience.

If you don't have ZR or better tyres on your car, this could be used as an excuse to turn down a insurance claim. I understand that in the rest of the EU that this is illegal and can result in a fine.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[Corin Denton]

Thanks Steve I knew would help out on this one , The legality side is a fair point , I use it all the time in work but I always thought in years gone by that with such major jumps in ratings obvously there were jumps in construction rating i.e. heat , distortion and the like , but nowadays with most ratings higher than VR (150mphmax) the tolerances would be very slight ? What ratings are highher than ZR for normal road use , always ready to gather more information.

Thanks , Corin.

[IPAddis]

shpub said: I am running s03s on the Griff at the moment and they are superb. You do need to lower the pressure a bit though because of the sidewall stiffness.

Steve,

Are you saying that you would reduce the tyre pressures (from 22/24) on a normal road car when running S-03s instead of S-02s? Reduce them by how much?

A slightly softer ride might be appreciated by the missus.

Ian A.

[shpub]

Experiment. Try a couple of pounds.

[shpub]

Corin Denton said: Thanks Steve I knew would help out on this one , The legality side is a fair point , I use it all the time in work but I always thought in years gone by that with such major jumps in ratings obvously there were jumps in construction rating i.e. heat , distortion and the like , but nowadays with most ratings higher than VR (150mphmax) the tolerances would be very slight ? What ratings are highher than ZR for normal road use , always ready to gather more information.

Thanks , Corin.

W and Y off the top of my head.

[Corin Denton]

That's interesting , I was always led to believe that ZR was the highest as with other ratings the later the letter in the alphabet the higher the speed rating i.e. SR 112mph , TR 118mph , HR 130mph , VR 150 and so on. There has always been this little grey area as to where W and Y rated tyres fit in as their introduction came in long after the V and Z , some of these can even be dual maked with the Z rating.