SO3 to Toyo experience...
Discussion
Just had the Griff's annual service and MOT by the very capable chaps at Scole engineering. My 10 year old rear SO3s had a bald spot, and were out of shape, possibly just due to age. So opted for some Toyo replacements. Last time I looked at tyres, they seem to have a good reputation, so just went with them as we have limited tyre choice. Also, could have matching fronts when needed. The other option was Continental but they don't do appropriate fronts.
Was told I'd notice a difference as they were single ply rather than double and deeper tread, so would feel a bit more movement but softer ride which some people like and others not.
He wasn't joking about feeling a difference! Under 50, down the A140 I noticed the softer ride, which was pleasant, but didn't notice anything else... until I hit the A14 and opened up a bit. Difficult to describe, but basically unnerving. The whole ride at speed is like the back on ball bearings, or jelly, or really deflated tryes. Even small movements to change lane start to feel like oversteer which you want to ease up and correct for. It's more like being in a boat, but more fidgety!
So I'm wondering what I can do to help things. Maybe it's something I can get used to and just trust the tyres. Taking it easy anyway to burn off the gel coat. I have adjustable Gaz shocks, not sure if stiffening them would help (but they might start squeaking), or I still have the original shocks and wonder if they would be better (I found them hard and jittery originally).
With tyre choice becoming limited, maybe the future is hub changes to larger spyders?
Any thought gratefully received
Cheers
Paul
Was told I'd notice a difference as they were single ply rather than double and deeper tread, so would feel a bit more movement but softer ride which some people like and others not.
He wasn't joking about feeling a difference! Under 50, down the A140 I noticed the softer ride, which was pleasant, but didn't notice anything else... until I hit the A14 and opened up a bit. Difficult to describe, but basically unnerving. The whole ride at speed is like the back on ball bearings, or jelly, or really deflated tryes. Even small movements to change lane start to feel like oversteer which you want to ease up and correct for. It's more like being in a boat, but more fidgety!
So I'm wondering what I can do to help things. Maybe it's something I can get used to and just trust the tyres. Taking it easy anyway to burn off the gel coat. I have adjustable Gaz shocks, not sure if stiffening them would help (but they might start squeaking), or I still have the original shocks and wonder if they would be better (I found them hard and jittery originally).
With tyre choice becoming limited, maybe the future is hub changes to larger spyders?
Any thought gratefully received
Cheers
Paul
Three things, based on comments posted over the years, and experience...
1) Toyo's do have softer side walls, so to compensate for this a few extra pounds of air are required above TVR's recomendations.... suggest 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.
2) The tyres are not the best from the off, need to either get some heat cycles into the ( a quiet private car park and do a few No 11's ), or aprox 200 miles on the road driving ... and then you notice a marked improvement.
3)People have done the same as you mixing front and rear tyres and they haven't been happy (I had this once when the garage MOT my car put the wrong tyres on the rear and I felt like the car was going to kill me), yet been totally happy when the miss match has been rectified by fitting the same all round.
Hope this gives an all round summary
1) Toyo's do have softer side walls, so to compensate for this a few extra pounds of air are required above TVR's recomendations.... suggest 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.
2) The tyres are not the best from the off, need to either get some heat cycles into the ( a quiet private car park and do a few No 11's ), or aprox 200 miles on the road driving ... and then you notice a marked improvement.
3)People have done the same as you mixing front and rear tyres and they haven't been happy (I had this once when the garage MOT my car put the wrong tyres on the rear and I felt like the car was going to kill me), yet been totally happy when the miss match has been rectified by fitting the same all round.
Hope this gives an all round summary
Thanks guys, that makes sense re imbalance, hard fronts and soft rears. I'll try upping the pressure, was thinking of that anyway. I'll run them in a bit to see if thy improve and if I can live with them, if not buy some new fronts... which I suspect will be the answer.
Cheers for the thoughts chaps. Happy blatting.
Cheers for the thoughts chaps. Happy blatting.
Hoover. said:
Three things, based on comments posted over the years, and experience...
1) Toyo's do have softer side walls, so to compensate for this a few extra pounds of air are required above TVR's recomendations.... suggest 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.
2) The tyres are not the best from the off, need to either get some heat cycles into the ( a quiet private car park and do a few No 11's ), or aprox 200 miles on the road driving ... and then you notice a marked improvement.
3)People have done the same as you mixing front and rear tyres and they haven't been happy (I had this once when the garage MOT my car put the wrong tyres on the rear and I felt like the car was going to kill me), yet been totally happy when the miss match has been rectified by fitting the same all round.
Hope this gives an all round summary
+1 on all these.... but mine took 750 miles or so before I was happy with them... they are great now! 1) Toyo's do have softer side walls, so to compensate for this a few extra pounds of air are required above TVR's recomendations.... suggest 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.
2) The tyres are not the best from the off, need to either get some heat cycles into the ( a quiet private car park and do a few No 11's ), or aprox 200 miles on the road driving ... and then you notice a marked improvement.
3)People have done the same as you mixing front and rear tyres and they haven't been happy (I had this once when the garage MOT my car put the wrong tyres on the rear and I felt like the car was going to kill me), yet been totally happy when the miss match has been rectified by fitting the same all round.
Hope this gives an all round summary
I made the same 'mistake' of fitting Toyo rears and retaining Bridgestone fronts. No amount of setup and pressure changes brought the handling back from dangerous. Not even Neil Garner (ex Alonso's Renault F1 front end man) could fix it. The ONLY solution is Toyos all round and then, like magic, good handling returns.
I had Toyo's fitted on all corners to replace old but plenty of tread left S03's on the front and worn SO2's on the rear.
From the 1st drive it felt like a different car, far better handling and a softer more confident ride. So another vote for Toyo's all round.
Infact I still have the SO3's which Intend to sell when I get around to it!
From the 1st drive it felt like a different car, far better handling and a softer more confident ride. So another vote for Toyo's all round.
Infact I still have the SO3's which Intend to sell when I get around to it!
griff50tvr said:
I made the same 'mistake' of fitting Toyo rears and retaining Bridgestone fronts. No amount of setup and pressure changes brought the handling back from dangerous. Not even Neil Garner (ex Alonso's Renault F1 front end man) could fix it. The ONLY solution is Toyos all round and then, like magic, good handling returns.
I went through the same with my Griff last year. Abysmal handling with the rock hard Bridgestones (SO3), the front used to tramline badly and cornering was dicy at the best, I thought the suspension was shot! Changed to the softer Toyo Proxes and what a difference. The car was more compliant , didn't tramline, and grips like the proverbial to a blanket - what a transformation. My advice is to get shot of the Bridgestones ASAP and fit Toyos, Camskill are doing some great deals at the moment. Regards, PeteBacardi said:
... until I hit the A14 and opened up a bit. Difficult to describe, but basically unnerving. The whole ride at speed is like the back on ball bearings, or jelly, or really deflated tryes.
I changed all four tyres for Toyo's last year and, as suggested here, had the tyre pressures at 24psi front, 26psi rear. Under hard acceleration the rears did feel as you describe. They did improve a bit after heat cycling, but eventually I increased the rear pressure to 28psi and they are so much better.I guess the pressure you require will depend on your car's set-up. Maybe just start at 24f/26r and see how it feels, but don't be afraid to alter the pressure to suit your car.
Hoover. said:
Three things, based on comments posted over the years, and experience...
1) Toyo's do have softer side walls, so to compensate for this a few extra pounds of air are required above TVR's recomendations.... suggest 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.
2) The tyres are not the best from the off, need to either get some heat cycles into the ( a quiet private car park and do a few No 11's ), or aprox 200 miles on the road driving ... and then you notice a marked improvement.
3)People have done the same as you mixing front and rear tyres and they haven't been happy (I had this once when the garage MOT my car put the wrong tyres on the rear and I felt like the car was going to kill me), yet been totally happy when the miss match has been rectified by fitting the same all round.
Hope this gives an all round summary
+1 This is spot on and mirrors my experience. I really was not happy when I changed my rears for Toyo T1Rs despite using T1Rs (and before that T1S's) on all my performance motors as long as I can remember and being very happy with them. About 200 miles later they were much improved but the main difference was also putting T1Rs on the front and going to 24 front and 26 rear pressures.1) Toyo's do have softer side walls, so to compensate for this a few extra pounds of air are required above TVR's recomendations.... suggest 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.
2) The tyres are not the best from the off, need to either get some heat cycles into the ( a quiet private car park and do a few No 11's ), or aprox 200 miles on the road driving ... and then you notice a marked improvement.
3)People have done the same as you mixing front and rear tyres and they haven't been happy (I had this once when the garage MOT my car put the wrong tyres on the rear and I felt like the car was going to kill me), yet been totally happy when the miss match has been rectified by fitting the same all round.
Hope this gives an all round summary
V8 GRF said:
I bet you'll find a lot of low mileage cars are still running the original tyres.....
I bought my 1999 Griff in 2009 24k on the clock, the fronts were the original Bridgestone S01 tyres from the factory. They were hard as rocks and had started to crack.... still perfectly legal tho.MPoxon said:
I bought my 1999 Griff in 2009 24k on the clock, the fronts were the original Bridgestone S01 tyres from the factory. They were hard as rocks and had started to crack.... still perfectly legal tho.Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff