Mid range semi slick for 17's

[mattdyson]

Hi all,

I have a spare set of wheels for my Yaris GRMN which I plan to put some semi slicks on and use for occasional track days (handful a year). My priorities are longevity above out right lap times, and they need to have good enough road manners to drive 3+ hours to and from the track. I'm looking for something on the less expensive end that I can use reliability and won't destroy themselves in a couple of track days.

Been a big fan of Cup 2's but they seem to be harder to come at decent prices (170€+ a corner here in Spain for 215/45R17). I used to use Kumho KU36 or Federal RSR as more budget semi slicks and liked them both, but has been a few years.

The latest options seem to be:
Yokohama AD08RS
Federal RSR-Pro
Nankang NS-2R
Zestino Gredge 07R
Accelera 651 Sport

Any recommendations on the above, need 215/45 R17?

[brillomaster]

got a couple of mates who run Nankangs... one who races an rx8 happily does an entire season on one set of tyres, and the other in an elise which has oodles of grip.

i've tried the harder acceleras, they're ok, lasted fairly well, not sure the grip was there. i'm keen to try the zestinos at some point, but i've gone down the route of a set of used toyo r888rs on my weekend and track car - i dont care so much about longevity, rather maximum dry grip levels.

personally, i'd give the nankangs a go.

[Redline88]

What about the Nanking AR-1s? A bit more aggressive than some of your other options above but as a spare set for trackdays I’m sure they would be a good shout? I’ve not used them myself but have several mates who love them and they always seem to be quite popular at the ring.

[mattdyson]

The AR-1s are mean to be pretty loud on the road, might be a bit too much for some.of the further away tracks.

[iguana]

I use Ns2R as my road & wet track tyre, its not a patch on the 888R I use in the dry, or stuff like Ar1 or Direzzas etc, but is a step over regular road tyres, tho it's not really that great in the wet tbh.

[philrs03]

mattdyson said:

Hi all,

I have a spare set of wheels for my Yaris GRMN which I plan to put some semi slicks on and use for occasional track days (handful a year). My priorities are longevity above out right lap times, and they need to have good enough road manners to drive 3+ hours to and from the track. I'm looking for something on the less expensive end that I can use reliability and won't destroy themselves in a couple of track days.

Been a big fan of Cup 2's but they seem to be harder to come at decent prices (170€+ a corner here in Spain for 215/45R17). I used to use Kumho KU36 or Federal RSR as more budget semi slicks and liked them both, but has been a few years.

The latest options seem to be:
Yokohama AD08RS
Federal RSR-Pro
Nankang NS-2R
Zestino Gredge 07R
Accelera 651 Sport

Any recommendations on the above, need 215/45 R17?

I have an MX5 NC track car with a set of 16” ADO8R’s on standard wheels and 17” NS2R’s on Rota’s. They are both excellent. The NS2R’s I also ran on my Mk1 Focus RS and were equally brilliant on that as well. There is a reason they are the control tyre on numerous race series!

[Goatwidcoat]

mattdyson said:

The AR-1s are mean to be pretty loud on the road, might be a bit too much for some.of the further away tracks.

They are loud on the road and they sound like they are winding down and gripping even while coasting. Phenomenal tyre on track and I see after using them for the first time recently why so many people use them now. Not used them in the wet though.

Before this I used AD08R and they wore really well, almost too well because they didn't die fast enough for me and I was getting impatient before wanting to use the AR-1. They were also half decent in the wet too in my opinion.

[Dave.]

The new Nankang CR-S sounds promising.

https://www.nankangtyre.co.uk/products/motorsport/...

Not a review as such - https://youtu.be/C4QgIVFxnCw?feature=shared

Edited by Dave. on Tuesday 9th April 17:16

[Turbojuice]

I was in a similar position to you last year. After trying to run a single set of Goodyear Supersports as a road and track tyre and getting only 2/3 track days out of them (impressive for a road tyre to be fair), I wanted a dedicated track tyre that was consistent, lasted a long time, and worked well enough on the roads to get me to the track and back. I went for the NS2R's and have been very happy with them. At last count they've done 6 or 7 track days for me and still have 5mm of tread left, albeit a few of those days were a little wet. Actually found them pretty ok in the wet, maybe because mine still have lots of tread left, and in the dry you can really lean on them and they won't throw you any surprises. Only note is when new, they are a little loud on the road but once you've worn the first couple mm off the tread they quieten down.

Their new CR-S looks very promising. 200TW compound (NS2R is 180, AR1 is 100), lots of sizes available, supposedly faster than the AR1 in the dry and significantly faster in the wet, and superior on the roads to the AR1. On paper at least, they seem to combine the best characteristics of the AR1 and NS2R. Think I will give them a go when my NS2Rs finally wear out, but I'd also be more than happy to just get another set of NS2Rs.

BTW the Yoko AD08RS have now been superceeded by the AD09.

Edited by Turbojuice on Wednesday 10th April 11:28

[teeCup]

I’ve just had some 225 45 17 Cup 2’s put on my track wheels for my GT86, due to the large difference in price over the standard 215 45 17 size. The garage fitted and checked for any rubbing (lowered car with non standard geo / camber) but gave it the all clear.

Wheels are 7j wide so as wide a tyre as you’d want to go but it’s within Michelins spec.

You may be able to do the same, given the very marginal increase in width?

If you try this be aware that the rolling circumference will be ever so slightly larger which will mean a speedometer over read of around 1%, at least according to the tyre fitter.

[E-bmw]

teeCup said:

If you try this be aware that the rolling circumference will be ever so slightly larger which will mean a speedometer over read of around 1%, at least according to the tyre fitter.

The tyre monkey is an idiot.

The circumference is larger, so for the same engine revs the car is moving faster but the speedo reads the same so the speedo is relatively reading under.

In the real world as pretty much all speedos read over generically it will likely make it more accurate.

[Cambs_Stuart]

I've got AD08s on my Clio 172. They're not the best track tyre in terms of outright grip and they're also terrible in the wet. However, they last really well and are a definitely step up over the Pilot sport 3's (which are my road/wet tyre), in terms of sidewall strength and resistance to heat.