S2 Exige Tyres

[Vlad the Imp]

I have Yokohama AO48 tyres on my S2 Exige that are coming to the end of their life and looking at the date codes appear to be well beyond what I'd expect to give the best grip levels.

I understand the AO48 is no longer available as a road tyre and want something equivalent. ie a tyre with a mix of road and track use with good dry grip on track but able to just about cope with a wet trackday. Is the Yokohama AOAO52 the nearest direct replacement?

Any thoughts on other options?

[Shnozz]

Haven't owned a S2 Exige for some years but I switched to AD08s and thought they were a superb tyre and far less scary in the wet to 48's or 888 Toyos.

[itcaptainslow]

I’ve got AD08’s too and really like them - however isn’t availability of those now an issue, too?

[Shnozz]

itcaptainslow said:

I ve got AD08 s too and really like them - however isn t availability of those now an issue, too?

Shame. It's why I caveated my post as I thought things might have changed.

[matt5964]

Vlad the Imp said:

I have Yokohama AO48 tyres on my S2 Exige that are coming to the end of their life and looking at the date codes appear to be well beyond what I'd expect to give the best grip levels.

I understand the AO48 is no longer available as a road tyre and want something equivalent. ie a tyre with a mix of road and track use with good dry grip on track but able to just about cope with a wet trackday. Is the Yokohama AOAO52 the nearest direct replacement?

Any thoughts on other options?

I have a set of Braid wheels with practically new A052s on for sale that I got earlier this year but sold the car now, probably done less than 200 miles, for sale not much more than the tyers alone

They are pretty much the best tyre you could go for with your intended use, could put more road biased tyers on your wheels and get best of both worlds

[Vlad the Imp]

Thanks all for the comments. I went with a set of Yokohama V105s in the end as they were available at short notice and cheaper than the A052s. I did a trackday at Goodwood and they were ok in that they were more consistent than the very old A048, however unsurprisingly max grip was a bit disappointing.

I think I'll go for the A052s in future.

matt5964 - I'll DM you about the wheels.

[itcaptainslow]

Do you think the feel of the car (apart from the outright grip ceiling being lower) has changed with the V105 fitted?

[Vlad the Imp]

itcaptainslow said:

Do you think the feel of the car (apart from the outright grip ceiling being lower) has changed with the V105 fitted?

To be honest it's very difficult to compare feel. The A048s that were on the car when I bought it about a year ago turned out to have 2015/16 dates on them. Unless they were fully up to temperature on track, they were very understeery on the road and had that horrible lack of grip and lack of consistency that I've had in the past from old track tyres.

On the road the V105s feel great and to be fair they're perfectly adequate on track.

[matt5964]

Vlad the Imp said:

Thanks all for the comments. I went with a set of Yokohama V105s in the end as they were available at short notice and cheaper than the A052s. I did a trackday at Goodwood and they were ok in that they were more consistent than the very old A048, however unsurprisingly max grip was a bit disappointing.

I think I'll go for the A052s in future.

matt5964 - I'll DM you about the wheels.

Just replied to you.