13" Tyre Reccomendations...
Discussion
Having recently purchased my fisher fury i took it out for its first proper drive today.
Now when i bought it i knew the tyres were poor (Woosung Dark Horses)
but thought i could live with them for a few months because they were brand new. Erm....Or not!
To be frank they are hurrendous.
So i have come home and am now on the hunt for some replacements.
After some quick research i have probably decided that Yoko A539's are the way to go at circa £50 a corner they get good reviews and seem to do the job.
However in case i am missing something obvious i thought i would throw it open to the pistonheads knowledge bank and see what you guys reccomend!
Looking for 185/60r13 for fast road / track use (I'm planning on doing my first track day in the new year).
So then ladies and gents what you got!........
Now when i bought it i knew the tyres were poor (Woosung Dark Horses)

but thought i could live with them for a few months because they were brand new. Erm....Or not!To be frank they are hurrendous.
So i have come home and am now on the hunt for some replacements.
After some quick research i have probably decided that Yoko A539's are the way to go at circa £50 a corner they get good reviews and seem to do the job.
However in case i am missing something obvious i thought i would throw it open to the pistonheads knowledge bank and see what you guys reccomend!
Looking for 185/60r13 for fast road / track use (I'm planning on doing my first track day in the new year).
So then ladies and gents what you got!........
I had 539s on a GTM Libra.
A good tyre for a 1000Kg+ car, but way to hard on the Libra. They did nothing wrong and their loss of grip on the limit was progressive, but a softer rubber would have held on better and a lighter side wall would have worked better with the suspension.
I really think that a light car as yours would be best of with a tyre which is known to work on a 600Kg car, examples as other have already posted.
A good tyre for a 1000Kg+ car, but way to hard on the Libra. They did nothing wrong and their loss of grip on the limit was progressive, but a softer rubber would have held on better and a lighter side wall would have worked better with the suspension.
I really think that a light car as yours would be best of with a tyre which is known to work on a 600Kg car, examples as other have already posted.
Paul Drawmer said:
...I really think that a light car as yours would be best of with a tyre which is known to work on a 600Kg car, examples as other have already posted.
Do bear in mind that the more track orientated tyres can be fairly useless for road use when you can't get them up to temperature (ie. at this time of year, on cold, damp, leaf-mould coated tarmac). I can confirm from personal experience that you'd be better off with a set of cheap Korean remoulds than a set of A048R's on a lightweight car in these conditions... they're bloody lethal when they're cold!Surely a softer compound will get up to temperature faster and grip more than a harder tyre at a certain temperature.
Ignoring the tread patterns, I was always under the impression that winter tyres had a softer compound than summer tyres, and that was why they aren't good in the summer because they would over heat too easily.
The 048s won't be good in winter because the tread pattern isn't suited to wet road. 021s have much better water displacement, and a softer compound that suits Seven style cars. I know a lot of people who swear by them, and my car is much better on them than the original tyres.
Ignoring the tread patterns, I was always under the impression that winter tyres had a softer compound than summer tyres, and that was why they aren't good in the summer because they would over heat too easily.
The 048s won't be good in winter because the tread pattern isn't suited to wet road. 021s have much better water displacement, and a softer compound that suits Seven style cars. I know a lot of people who swear by them, and my car is much better on them than the original tyres.
downsman said:
Surely a softer compound will get up to temperature faster and grip more than a harder tyre at a certain temperature.
Ignoring the tread patterns, I was always under the impression that winter tyres had a softer compound than summer tyres, and that was why they aren't good in the summer because they would over heat too easily.
The 048s won't be good in winter because the tread pattern isn't suited to wet road. 021s have much better water displacement, and a softer compound that suits Seven style cars. I know a lot of people who swear by them, and my car is much better on them than the original tyres.
Partly correct - much of the heat comes from deflection in the treadblocks when loaded. The problem with 48s et al, is that the tread blocks are massive so take a hell of a lot of moving around to get them warm.Ignoring the tread patterns, I was always under the impression that winter tyres had a softer compound than summer tyres, and that was why they aren't good in the summer because they would over heat too easily.
The 048s won't be good in winter because the tread pattern isn't suited to wet road. 021s have much better water displacement, and a softer compound that suits Seven style cars. I know a lot of people who swear by them, and my car is much better on them than the original tyres.
I used to run 48s / 32s all year round and you could get them warm in winter but really only on a dry road. I had the scariest drive I've ever had coming back across the cat and fiddle, where every time I touched the throttle I was having to put on half a turn of lock to keep the car straight due to the LSD. They're dreadful in deep water, but surprisingly good on a damp road as long as the pressure is low enough.
I'm about 18months into running an R1-engined Fury, and have to say I find with a very little care Yoko A048s can really work well even at this time of year - against my expectation.
As above, pressure setting is critical - but when is it not in a low-mass car. Yes, the total grip is more limited in the cool/damp right now. But my car was set-up around them and frankly grip remains still much, much better than expected - 'utterly progressive' for one thing, for which much can be forgiven. Summary: it all remains great fun, just at rather more appropriate-to-condition speeds
(And yes, the grip offered can be unbelievable in the dry , and I look forward to exploiting it again. But right now it's ...educational, and respected)
As above, pressure setting is critical - but when is it not in a low-mass car. Yes, the total grip is more limited in the cool/damp right now. But my car was set-up around them and frankly grip remains still much, much better than expected - 'utterly progressive' for one thing, for which much can be forgiven. Summary: it all remains great fun, just at rather more appropriate-to-condition speeds

(And yes, the grip offered can be unbelievable in the dry , and I look forward to exploiting it again. But right now it's ...educational, and respected)
PS - while Paul is joking, he makes a very good & serious point on tyre pressure. The set point makes a big difference, and 2-3psi differential acros the 'axle' can utterly spoil handling behaviour in such light cars, when you'd just not notice such in 98% of production cars.
I'd expect you are / have had recommended quite low tyre pressures, something like 18-24psi would be normal - maybe 18psi in summer for a BEC, maybe 22-24 for a CEC. Something like that anyway. Personally I set for 18psi, max, cold in the warm & dry, and am favouring 16psi right now (on a 425kg car) Trying even 21psi in midsummer feels like skating on ice!
I'd expect you are / have had recommended quite low tyre pressures, something like 18-24psi would be normal - maybe 18psi in summer for a BEC, maybe 22-24 for a CEC. Something like that anyway. Personally I set for 18psi, max, cold in the warm & dry, and am favouring 16psi right now (on a 425kg car) Trying even 21psi in midsummer feels like skating on ice!
- Do* experiment for what works for you & your car - and while it may appear a rather smaller number than you expect; don't let that put you off.
Huff said:
PS - while Paul is joking, he makes a very good & serious point on tyre pressure. The set point makes a big difference, and 2-3psi differential acros the 'axle' can utterly spoil handling behaviour in such light cars, when you'd just not notice such in 98% of production cars.
I'd expect you are / have had recommended quite low tyre pressures, something like 18-24psi would be normal - maybe 18psi in summer for a BEC, maybe 22-24 for a CEC. Something like that anyway. Personally I set for 18psi, max, cold in the warm & dry, and am favouring 16psi right now (on a 425kg car) Trying even 21psi in midsummer feels like skating on ice!
I used to run 18 on my westy in winter - similar weight. I would use 20 hot on track - 1 warm up lap, 1 hot lap then back in for pressure setting. I'd expect you are / have had recommended quite low tyre pressures, something like 18-24psi would be normal - maybe 18psi in summer for a BEC, maybe 22-24 for a CEC. Something like that anyway. Personally I set for 18psi, max, cold in the warm & dry, and am favouring 16psi right now (on a 425kg car) Trying even 21psi in midsummer feels like skating on ice!
- Do* experiment for what works for you & your car - and while it may appear a rather smaller number than you expect; don't let that put you off.
A hard lesson learned after some terrible advice by an instructor who told me the tyres pressure was too low causing them to melt - they were about 22 and he said I should up it to 28 - tosser! Needless to say they were dead in 5 or 6 laps.
one eyed mick]Ok my car comes in at 800k wet after some time playing with pressures 14 to 22have settled on 18 psi year round on premium 205 x50 x15 road tyres haven't found it's limits yet [not for lack of trying said:
wear is very good too . Its an all s/s RobinHood with about 120 bhp
That at least goes some way to explaining your satisfaction with R**** H***. If you have never managed to lock the brakes or provoked a tail-slide (not even in the wet?) on an 800 kilo, 120bhp car and it's not for lack of trying you must be an exceptionally cautious and pedestrian driver.
Sam_68 said:
That at least goes some way to explaining your satisfaction with R**** H***.
If you have never managed to lock the brakes or provoked a tail-slide (not even in the wet?) on an 800 kilo, 120bhp car and it's not for lack of trying you must be an exceptionally cautious and pedestrian driver.
Hi Sam I probably am as you cautious but certainly not pedestrian I got most of the silliness out of my system a good few years ago ,rallying a Cooper S for 3/4 seasons followed by 50/60k in a 2 litre MARCOS and god knows how much milage in a raft of other things from mopeds to trucks ,I just like get to were I'm going with out going to hosp or the undertakers . Yes Ivedone both the things you mention but don't find it particularly enjoyable and would like to keep my licence to a good while longer as well as keeping my ROBIN HOOD in use . By the way it's not harmfull to type the 2 words in full. regards oem If you have never managed to lock the brakes or provoked a tail-slide (not even in the wet?) on an 800 kilo, 120bhp car and it's not for lack of trying you must be an exceptionally cautious and pedestrian driver.
I'd avoid A048's for all year round use if you are driving to get somewhere. I use them but I only drive it for fun. Grip is rubbish when they are cold and it is hard to get them up to temperature when it gets much below 10C. They are very progressive but I can spin them rears up in pretty much any gear in my Fisher Fury R1, whe cold and wet. Best I've seen from a set of 4 is 2800 miles, worst 1800 miles. I run 16psi front and 17psi rear.
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