Track Tyres - AD08R's etc...Experinces?

[git-r]

Hi all,

Sorry for another thread about tyres but I'm getting tired (excuse the pun;))of searching and know a lot of you have experienced all sorts so would be grateful to hear your thoughts.

I'm not interested in all out track tyres due to oil surge paranoia so the likes of R888's, Kumho V70 etc are out.

I've been running Federal RS-R's and Kumho KU36's recently but wanted to try something different. The Federals are good at first, then not so good as they get older. The Kumho's not quite as grippy initially but seem to keep their grip as they get older but fall apart easier. Both take a lot of balancing though. Both also crack across the carcass of the tyre.

These tyres are cheap compared to some but I'm thinking of splashing out and getting some more expensive Yokohama AD08R's (Blackcircles are doing 10% off list price with this discount code bcawmid10 when you buy 4).

Is it worth paying the extra for the AD08R's?

Will they still grip after a few track days/sprints or go off like the federals?

Will they fall apart/crack like the Kumhos?

Anything else I should be considering? - I've heard some good things about the Nankang NS2-r's but worry they'll have the same quality issues as mentioned.

Look forward to hearing some of your thoughts

Cheers,
Sam

[Clark3y]

AD08 are superb, take a tonne of abuse, last ages, good for road use. Can't rate them highly enough. As a measure, I would do about 6 trackdays and 10k road miles per set on my old E36, they go a bit crappy after wearing past 2mm.

If you aren't going to use them on the road then may as well go for a proper track focussed tyre and sort your oil control problems out.

[Monumental]

Clark3y said:

AD08 are superb, take a tonne of abuse, last ages, good for road use. Can't rate them highly enough. As a measure, I would do about 6 trackdays and 10k road miles per set on my old E36, they go a bit crappy after wearing past 2mm.

If you aren't going to use them on the road then may as well go for a proper track focussed tyre and sort your oil control problems out.

What he said. Plus, AD08Rs are not so far from 888s in terms of grip and therefore might give you oil surge issues anyway.

[GrumpyTwig]

Clark3y said:

AD08 are superb, take a tonne of abuse, last ages, good for road use.

Sums it up, I drove in snow on them and they were no worse than a usual summer tyre. Grip fantastic and wear rate was good for a 'performance' tyre.

Sadly I managed to trash mine with too many aggressive heat cycles before the tread wore down. Moved onto r888s and regretted it in the end as they went off really quick in comparison, albeit with more all out grip.

If you can get them for a good price do it, prices have sadly risen since I bought mine when they first came out.

[git-r]

Thanks for replies chaps

Clarky - good to hear you've got good life out of them. Are these the AD08R's or the previous versions that you're running? I don't suppose you've ever logged cornering g with them?

Monumental - the oil surge fix is blooming expensive sadly and not something I could afford to do. Touch wood it's been ok running sustained 1.1 g cornering, I doubt the AD08R's would make more than that so am hoping they'd be ok. From what I know you can pull 1.2-1.3 g with the R888's, it'd probably be fine but sods law and all.. Have you ever got any data from the AD08R's?

[git-r]

GrumpyTwig said:

Sums it up, I drove in snow on them and they were no worse than a usual summer tyre. Grip fantastic and wear rate was good for a 'performance' tyre.

Sadly I managed to trash mine with too many aggressive heat cycles before the tread wore down. Moved onto r888s and regretted it in the end as they went off really quick in comparison, albeit with more all out grip.

If you can get them for a good price do it, prices have sadly risen since I bought mine when they first came out.

Thanks for this

How did you trash them? - sorry I don't understand the aggressive heat cycle bit..

Cheers

[LaSource]

I've used AD08s (not Rs). As others have said very durable, wide dry/wet usage window, good grip.
I assume the AD08R are even better.

However, I have now moved to Pilot Sport Cup 2...even better - excellent tyres

[GrumpyTwig]

git-r said:

Thanks for this

How did you trash them? - sorry I don't understand the aggressive heat cycle bit..

Cheers

Multiple tracks days getting them so hot they go off and letting them cool down repeatedly. A couple of occasions I got them way too hot, the edges of the tyres turned blue (i think this is a sign of oils releasing from the compound?).

But I wouldn't worry it was probably my fault, I gave them a lot of abuse and several thousand road miles which were mostly weekends of pretending to be in a tarmac rally.

These were the older compound btw.

[QBee]

On a 1 tonne car I have found the Federal 595 RS-R and Toyo R888s you mention to be pretty well equal in the grip department - I actually prefer the Federals as they give a more progressive feel close to the grip limits. Not had the heat problems you mention except for the cracking. Perhaps I'm not trying!!

As said above, you could be wise to take steps to protect your oil pressure. I fitted a large capacity baffled sump to my TVR for peace of mind - cost about £300 from a company called Mulberry Fabrications. Car now takes 9.5 litres of oil.

I also did some oil research, including talking to major oil company technical managers, and chose racing oil for my car. Shell Helix Racing 10w60 is my choice, as TVR Rover v8 engines need cold protection (10) and get pretty hot on track (60). The Shell stuff can be found on the bay of the flea for about £110 for a 20 litre drum. Your oil expenditure, and indeed the baffled sump, are not a lot over a whole season compared to your entry and fuel costs for each track day.....

[git-r]

LaSource said:

I've used AD08s (not Rs). As others have said very durable, wide dry/wet usage window, good grip.
I assume the AD08R are even better.

However, I have now moved to Pilot Sport Cup 2...even better - excellent tyres

Good to hear. I'm not surprised about your experience with the cup 2's, everything I've heard has been positive

[git-r]

GrumpyTwig said:

Multiple tracks days getting them so hot they go off and letting them cool down repeatedly. A couple of occasions I got them way too hot, the edges of the tyres turned blue (i think this is a sign of oils releasing from the compound?).

But I wouldn't worry it was probably my fault, I gave them a lot of abuse and several thousand road miles which were mostly weekends of pretending to be in a tarmac rally.

These were the older compound btw.

Ah I understand now, that's something I'll try not to do.. Great that they didn't fall apart with that sort of abuse, a review I've seen on the AD08R's is from them testing them in an endurance race. Incredibly they do 40 min stints at a time with apparently no detrimental affect. My car would melt if I used it for 40 mins lol!

Thanks for explaining that

[git-r]

QBee said:

On a 1 tonne car I have found the Federal 595 RS-R and Toyo R888s you mention to be pretty well equal in the grip department - I actually prefer the Federals as they give a more progressive feel close to the grip limits. Not had the heat problems you mention except for the cracking. Perhaps I'm not trying!!

As said above, you could be wise to take steps to protect your oil pressure. I fitted a large capacity baffled sump to my TVR for peace of mind - cost about £300 from a company called Mulberry Fabrications. Car now takes 9.5 litres of oil.

I also did some oil research, including talking to major oil company technical managers, and chose racing oil for my car. Shell Helix Racing 10w60 is my choice, as TVR Rover v8 engines need cold protection (10) and get pretty hot on track (60). The Shell stuff can be found on the bay of the flea for about £110 for a 20 litre drum. Your oil expenditure, and indeed the baffled sump, are not a lot over a whole season compared to your entry and fuel costs for each track day.....

That's interesting what you're saying about the federals being equal to the R888's. Having never used them I couldn't comment but from what I've heard people usually find more grip on the 888's. Perhaps due to weight as your TVR is ideal at 1 ton. I've managed a couple of 52 second laps on the Indy circuit at Brands before with federals but only when they're brand new, subsequent times are always less with grip dropping quite rapidly with more use. My car is about 1500kg though.

The cost of a baffled sump is pretty cheap but it's an engine out job for me so labour is very expensive, I'm also not keen on paying the premium prices for the semi slick tyres esp if something like the AD08R will last as long. I also run 10W60 oil and usually overfill a bit to help.
Thanks for the heads up on the bay offer

[git-r]

General thanks to everyone for their contributions on this

It seems there are no unhappy AD08 customers and that the overall feeling is that they're durable, offer good grip in a variety of conditions yet don't have the quality issues I've experienced with the cheaper tyres. The AD08R will no doubt be slightly better at everything.

Exactly what I'm looking for!

Good thread

[Clark3y]

Have used both R and the original, the R is a little grippier that's all I can say about it really. I changed cars from the BM to a hopped up Silvia and now the rears only last 6k, whoopsy.
I couldn't tell you about cornering G but you won't be left wanting.

[git-r]

Clark3y said:

Have used both R and the original, the R is a little grippier that's all I can say about it really. I changed cars from the BM to a hopped up Silvia and now the rears only last 6k, whoopsy.
I couldn't tell you about cornering G but you won't be left wanting.

Good stuff

Really like your Silvia BTW, must be great to drive