12 GT4's for sale on PistonHeads and growing (Vol. 2)

12 GT4's for sale on PistonHeads and growing (Vol. 2)

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Discussion

TDT

4,931 posts

119 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
The N1 spec Cup2 is a lot better in standing water than the N0 was.

Having said that, driving to the tyres capability as it gets wetter generally means it’s fine. That can mean 60mph on the motorway if it’s really bad, but 99% of the time I drive it in the dry, so I’d much rather have the correct tyres on.
Yep.

HalfDay

117 posts

188 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
The N1 spec Cup2 is a lot better in standing water than the N0 was.

Having said that, driving to the tyres capability as it gets wetter generally means it’s fine. That can mean 60mph on the motorway if it’s really bad, but 99% of the time I drive it in the dry, so I’d much rather have the correct tyres on.
I've no experience of the N0 spec Cup 2 and, prior to buying a GT4 last year, was slightly concerned that it might spit me off into the scenery at the slightest hint of rain going by its fearsome online reputation - however a year down the line I've can completely agree that when driving to the road and conditions the N1 spec is a superb tyre. I've got a hair under 14,000 miles of daily driving in almost every weather on my current set of N1s and I've certainly not died yet!

I can only assume that the N0 spec was perhaps made under license by LingLong?


Bincenzo

2,606 posts

179 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
The N1 spec Cup2 is a lot better in standing water than the N0 was.

Having said that, driving to the tyres capability as it gets wetter generally means it’s fine. That can mean 60mph on the motorway if it’s really bad, but 99% of the time I drive it in the dry, so I’d much rather have the correct tyres on.
Clearly driving to the tyres capability will prevent aquaplaning, but knowing it’s capability is a different thing. That takes experience in a controlled environment on any given tyre. How do you get that and how can you prepare for unseen and unexpected standing water on a motorway? I had reduced speed (clearly not enough), but I didn’t expect a manufacturer to fit a tyre that is clearly not capable of maintaining grip at below the legal speed limit on an average, standard British motorway. I’m not after an argument, but just how much do you need to slow down? That’s the point, there is no evidence of the limit until you’ve exceeded it, and unless you are very lucky, no amount of driving skill can gather it back up as you are simply not in contact with the tarmac and the cars weight and physics take over. Hindsight is wonderful. Crashing into the barrier not so much.

finmac

1,506 posts

238 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all
Bincenzo said:
RacerMike said:
The N1 spec Cup2 is a lot better in standing water than the N0 was.

Having said that, driving to the tyres capability as it gets wetter generally means it’s fine. That can mean 60mph on the motorway if it’s really bad, but 99% of the time I drive it in the dry, so I’d much rather have the correct tyres on.
Clearly driving to the tyres capability will prevent aquaplaning, but knowing it’s capability is a different thing. That takes experience in a controlled environment on any given tyre. How do you get that and how can you prepare for unseen and unexpected standing water on a motorway? I had reduced speed (clearly not enough), but I didn’t expect a manufacturer to fit a tyre that is clearly not capable of maintaining grip at below the legal speed limit on an average, standard British motorway. I’m not after an argument, but just how much do you need to slow down? That’s the point, there is no evidence of the limit until you’ve exceeded it, and unless you are very lucky, no amount of driving skill can gather it back up as you are simply not in contact with the tarmac and the cars weight and physics take over. Hindsight is wonderful. Crashing into the barrier not so much.
Wholeheartedly agree. I live in Scotland and it rains a lot here plus it’s often cool temperature wise. I want to drive my cars and have confidence the tyres are going to do their job. That’s why I fitted PS4s to both GT4s before they left the dealership. Likewise why I immediately fitted my Caterham 620R with Avon ZZS tyres rather than the track oriented ZZR. On such a powerful car the ZZR tyre could best be described as potentially lethal in the damp cool Scottish weather.

bigmowley

1,887 posts

176 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all
Bincenzo said:
RacerMike said:
The N1 spec Cup2 is a lot better in standing water than the N0 was.

Having said that, driving to the tyres capability as it gets wetter generally means it’s fine. That can mean 60mph on the motorway if it’s really bad, but 99% of the time I drive it in the dry, so I’d much rather have the correct tyres on.
Clearly driving to the tyres capability will prevent aquaplaning, but knowing it’s capability is a different thing. That takes experience in a controlled environment on any given tyre. How do you get that and how can you prepare for unseen and unexpected standing water on a motorway? I had reduced speed (clearly not enough), but I didn’t expect a manufacturer to fit a tyre that is clearly not capable of maintaining grip at below the legal speed limit on an average, standard British motorway. I’m not after an argument, but just how much do you need to slow down? That’s the point, there is no evidence of the limit until you’ve exceeded it, and unless you are very lucky, no amount of driving skill can gather it back up as you are simply not in contact with the tarmac and the cars weight and physics take over. Hindsight is wonderful. Crashing into the barrier not so much.
I can understand your frustration with the situation and you have my every sympathy with the outcome. However I would respectfully disagree on one point. It’s not impossible to survive a big aquaplaning incident and it’s perfectly possible to gather it all up again. Having done many hundreds of thousands of miles on Cup2 tyres of all generations I have had my fair share of heart stoppers but so far kept it all pointing the right way. In my experience there is also plenty of warning with Cup2 tyres as conditions deteriorate, the odd snatch at the steering as the grip loads and unloads is usually the first indication. The best advice is to do as much driver training as possible, the PEC being a very good place to start.

bigmowley

1,887 posts

176 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all

I've no experience of the N0 spec Cup 2 and, prior to buying a GT4 last year, was slightly concerned that it might spit me off into the scenery at the slightest hint of rain going by its fearsome online reputation - however a year down the line I've can completely agree that when driving to the road and conditions the N1 spec is a superb tyre. I've got a hair under 14,000 miles of daily driving in almost every weather on my current set of N1s and I've certainly not died


[/quote]

Kudos to you sir if you have got 14,000 miles out of a set of Cup 2 tyres, that is outstanding, best I have ever managed is about 6000. You must be a very “sympathetic” driver smile

RacerMike

4,198 posts

211 months

Sunday 17th April 2022
quotequote all
bigmowley said:
Bincenzo said:
RacerMike said:
The N1 spec Cup2 is a lot better in standing water than the N0 was.

Having said that, driving to the tyres capability as it gets wetter generally means it’s fine. That can mean 60mph on the motorway if it’s really bad, but 99% of the time I drive it in the dry, so I’d much rather have the correct tyres on.
Clearly driving to the tyres capability will prevent aquaplaning, but knowing it’s capability is a different thing. That takes experience in a controlled environment on any given tyre. How do you get that and how can you prepare for unseen and unexpected standing water on a motorway? I had reduced speed (clearly not enough), but I didn’t expect a manufacturer to fit a tyre that is clearly not capable of maintaining grip at below the legal speed limit on an average, standard British motorway. I’m not after an argument, but just how much do you need to slow down? That’s the point, there is no evidence of the limit until you’ve exceeded it, and unless you are very lucky, no amount of driving skill can gather it back up as you are simply not in contact with the tarmac and the cars weight and physics take over. Hindsight is wonderful. Crashing into the barrier not so much.
I can understand your frustration with the situation and you have my every sympathy with the outcome. However I would respectfully disagree on one point. It’s not impossible to survive a big aquaplaning incident and it’s perfectly possible to gather it all up again. Having done many hundreds of thousands of miles on Cup2 tyres of all generations I have had my fair share of heart stoppers but so far kept it all pointing the right way. In my experience there is also plenty of warning with Cup2 tyres as conditions deteriorate, the odd snatch at the steering as the grip loads and unloads is usually the first indication. The best advice is to do as much driver training as possible, the PEC being a very good place to start.
Agree with you on this. Also very sympathetic to the situation!

For sure the clues are there in the steering. You can feel the treads if the tyres struggling to clear the water quite early on, and once you feel that, it’s time to play it safe. And generally any standing water is to be avoided or aproqched with great care.

bosshog

1,579 posts

276 months

Andyoz

2,887 posts

54 months

Saturday 14th May 2022
quotequote all
bosshog said:
For a Cat S?

akadk

1,497 posts

179 months

Saturday 14th May 2022
quotequote all
Great for anyone who owns a straight one !

keo

2,046 posts

170 months

Saturday 14th May 2022
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I think I sold mine to cheap!

200Plus Club

10,725 posts

278 months

Saturday 14th May 2022
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Way overpriced for accident damaged.

paddy1970

698 posts

109 months

Saturday 14th May 2022
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A lot of people get scared about unrecorded write off. They are normally very easy to spot with a paint thickness gauge.

Just measure every panel at 4 different points and you will know if the car has been repainted and how many panels were affected.

As a matter of principle, I never buy a car that has been repainted even if if it is the front bumper/bonnet due to stone chips.

Armitage.Shanks

2,271 posts

85 months

Sunday 15th May 2022
quotequote all
I thought paint thickness gauges only work on metal panels? A lot of 981 parts are plastic - front/rear/side sills.

paddy1970

698 posts

109 months

Sunday 15th May 2022
quotequote all
Armitage.Shanks said:
I thought paint thickness gauges only work on metal panels? A lot of 981 parts are plastic - front/rear/side sills.
Ultrasonic paint thickness gauge works on plastic ...

bosshog

1,579 posts

276 months

Sunday 15th May 2022
quotequote all
Andyoz said:
For a Cat S?
Oops didn’t notice that :-)

julian987R

6,840 posts

59 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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shakesc

19 posts

209 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
julian987R said:
oooo, thats nice

julian987R

6,840 posts

59 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
shakesc said:
julian987R said:
oooo, thats nice
really is isn't it. One heck of a spec on it.

HighwayStar

4,248 posts

144 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
julian987R said:
shakesc said:
julian987R said:
oooo, thats nice
really is isn't it. One heck of a spec on it.
Indeed… it has 15k more miles but very close to my own car.