R888 advice for lightweight kitcar

[aww999]

Hi guys, I have a Fisher Fury with a 2l Zetec engine, I have done a couple of track days in it so far but I think the tyres on the car at the moment are really slowing it down. They are called ZEIX or something, and seem to be a very hard compound as I never get any heat in them on the road, and they are not wearing out at all on track (despite my best efforts!).

I would like to replace them with R888's, is there a significant difference between the SG and GG compounds available? My car is about 600kg I guess, I would welcome any feedback about how many trackdays I could expect to get out of them; and whether any additional grip from the softer compound is worth putting up with their faster wear rate?

Looking forward to your comments

[swtmerce]

I believe the softer compound (well actually I know from reading information from Toyo technical) is meant for sprinting i.e. runs of 2-3 minutes MAX. They are not meant for trackdays. They heat up very quick and start to go off very quick too.

[Munter]

Someone on here sent an e-mail to Toyo about tyre pressures and got a very good e-mail back with lots of info. So might be worth poking them an e-mail for their advice.

[jcas]

You will want GG for trackdays, as one of the other guys mentioned, SG are really only suitable for a few laps and will go off after that. We run them on the Tiger race cars (888 is the control tyre) and the only time people use SG's is when it is wet and the temps are lower.

[teabagger]

We run GG r888's on our bike engined MNR. They grip really well and are wearing well for the action they have seen.

We do struggle to get heat into them though. A change in the geo at the front is probably needed to sort this.

[LaurenceFrost]

Go with the GG compound as others have said. They are a good start. If you struggle to heat the tyres then drop your tyre pressures a little. It's down to experimentation, but I'm sure they will work a lot better than hat you have now even if they are not getting that hot.

[aww999]

That's great advioce guys. thanks. Quite ironic that I bought the car to reduce tyre wear and I am now binning a set of tyres with masses of tread on them!

[Crippo]

I've got a Fury also weighing around 670kgs. I have Yoko AO48s Medium compound and run about 19psi. I've done 3 track days so far this year and the tyres have very little wear on them, they heat up quite nicely and have oodles of grip. Thoroughly recommended.

[LaurenceFrost]

What sized tyres are you planning to run (width)?

[aww999]

Well I have 205/50/13 on it at the moment which is a really weird size that no one seems to make anymore. The R888 is available in 185/60/13 or 205/60/13. The 185/60 is the closest rolling radius to what I have now, and about 30% cheaper than the 205/60 so I was going to go for the narrower option. I know more rubber on the road will give me more grip, but I'm sure they will be way better than the current tyres. I seriously doubt my driving is good enough to justify paying an extra £30 a tyre for 20mm extra width!

[LaurenceFrost]

aww999 said:

Well I have 205/50/13 on it at the moment which is a really weird size that no one seems to make anymore. The R888 is available in 185/60/13 or 205/60/13. The 185/60 is the closest rolling radius to what I have now, and about 30% cheaper than the 205/60 so I was going to go for the narrower option. I know more rubber on the road will give me more grip, but I'm sure they will be way better than the current tyres. I seriously doubt my driving is good enough to justify paying an extra £30 a tyre for 20mm extra width!

Actually believe it or not, a wider tyre will not actually have any more rubber on the road. 185 is a good width for your car. The only reason you would want to move to a 205 is if you overheat the tyres. A wider tyre will stay cooler, but it's all down to testing really.

Personally I run 185 at the front and 205 at the rear, but trackdays are always done 2-up, so there is a bit more weight at the rear of the car (around 60/40).