195/45/15 Tyre choice

[i l k e r]

hi all,

I've just bought a new set of 15*7" wheels for my Gtt with ET35 offset.

I really would like a set of R888s but as they don't come in 45 profile I'm on the look out for something else.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a decent set of tires.

thanks in advance

[djinuk]

on the 205 boards the eagle f1s are highly rated, expensive tyres though. myself ive always had odds and sods, nankang, continentals yokos etc

[jure]

Conti SportContact2 and Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 if you're aiming for the "street" tires. I had both and have only words of praise :agree:

[Bigfoot]

Cant go wrong with toyo T1r's :D

[i l k e r]

thanks for the suggestions guys

I've been consindering the T1Rs as I've had T1S' in the past and they weren't too bad :)


keep 'em coming lads :D

[jure]

I have to disagree with djinuk and Bigfoot. I had F1 GSD3 and Toyo T1S both very "fresh", only two-three weeks old and both were total disaster on my GTT. Simply, I think that V shaped rubber on powerful and light FWD car isn't good combination. Don't know about your roads guys but at my place these two types of tires are :sad2:

I tried various setups from 1.4 bar to 2.2 bars front/rear and car was still going right-left across whole lane under heavy acceleration. Braking was fair and cornering was pretty good but only after good warm-up lap across the town. Don't know about life time of 'em since I replaced both after not more than 2000 km.

My suggestion is to narrow your choice to asymmetric type of tire.


p.s. Potenza RE720 was great tire :agree:

[Chris Hebden]

With the rain over here i cant fault the Yoko Sdrives! The Yoko A539 are good tyres as well specially in the warm weather that you guys get but they are soft and wear quickly!

[Coops]

used gds3's, t1-s , parada spec 2 and r888 on my clio turbo, all in 195/50 15 profile and of the lot the spec 2's are the best all rounders, but for outright grip in the dry the r888 are far superior to anything i've ever used. never had issues with them pulling over the road under heavy acceleration etc, no more than more traditional tread patterened tyres i've used, thats with 254bhp and 230lb/ft @15psi, so fair but of grunt through front wheels,lol!all of them wear pretty quick tho!

45 profile is too low pro imo, ride quality suffers massively in my experience and they also look ****, not a fan of rubber band on the wheels, need a bit of tyre wall on show;)

[Brigsy]

50 profile is too big for a gtt imo, especially on a lowered car. Too much hassle with arch mods.

Toyo's get my vote. T1r were good on the gtt, currently got toyo 4rf on the van seem pretty good, cheap too.

[Ian S]

Marangoni. I forget the name of the version.

A search on here might reveal it.


p.s. Potenza RE720 was great tireRussell Thorpe was a fan of these until he change to the Marangoni.

BWilkie (Puppy boy on old the site) got a set and rates them very well in all ways. His 5 is also in the 240+ bhp area.

[c7borg]

45 profile is too low pro imo, ride quality suffers massively in my experience and they also look ****, not a fan of rubber band on the wheels, need a bit of tyre wall on show;)

what? so you can paint 'em white? :niceone:

[Coops]

yank tank homage for the win:cool:;)

spose 5 arches were only ever designed to take 13's werent they? so 15's and a slam would cause a few issues i guess lol, am just not a fan of the look of 45 profile tyres, but needs must:D

[BriC]

yank tank homage for the win:cool:;)

spose 5 arches were only ever designed to take 13's werent they? so 15's and a slam would cause a few issues i guess lol, am just not a fan of the look of 45 profile tyres, but needs must:D

The rolling radius of 195/45/15 is pretty much dot on the same as standard speedlines with their big fat tyres.

[Mudslinger]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260228672824&cguid=67993c8011d0a0aad486a106ff8a935e

[Bigfoot]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260228672824&cguid=67993c8011d0a0aad486a106ff8a935e

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m4b0s92p7556

Depends on what that eBay person charges on carriage, £20 or £40 :confused:

[RussellT]

Back on the Bridgestone Potenza RE720. Scrap the Marangoni's the side walls are too soft.

[i l k e r]

I have used Marangoni in the past with very dissappointing results :disagree:

[i l k e r]

here is a sneak peak of the wheels btw

[Os8472]

I use T1-R's as my road tyre and there bloody great, nearly as good in the wet as they are in the dry.

Interesting that u say u can't get 45 profile R888's, I'm sure there was some when I bought my 50 profile R888's, I'll dig out the web address and take alook for ya.

[i l k e r]

I use T1-R's as my road tyre and there bloody great, nearly as good in the wet as they are in the dry.

Interesting that u say u can't get 45 profile R888's, I'm sure there was some when I bought my 50 profile R888's, I'll dig out the web address and take alook for ya.


that would be awesome mate :agree:

I had a look on Toyo's global website and it isn't listed there tho :cry:

[jure]

AFAIK there is only 50 profile for R888. On some markets including Croatia just 55.

[Os8472]

Sorry dude, must have been mistaken, only in 50 profile, besides when you buy slicks even semi slicks you want a fairly tall side wall so it can flex alittle during hard launches and take some of the stress off the transmission, at least thats what I was told anyway

[i l k e r]

Sorry dude, must have been mistaken, only in 50 profile, besides when you buy slicks even semi slicks you want a fairly tall side wall so it can flex alittle during hard launches and take some of the stress off the transmission, at least thats what I was told anyway


yeah I know mate I'm running 205/55R16 R888's on the 11 but when it comes to Gtt unfortunately 45 profile is a must :(

[rs250nut]

With the rain over here i cant fault the Yoko Sdrives! The Yoko A539 are good tyres as well specially in the warm weather that you guys get but they are soft and wear quickly!

A539's ftw, had these on my old five worked a treat in the wet as well as dry

[Os8472]

yeah I know mate I'm running 205/55R16 R888's on the 11 but when it comes to Gtt unfortunately 45 profile is a must :(

Really, I've got a pair 50 profile R888s for track use and odd warm dry day and I've had no clearance issues, maybe cus I've only lowered the front 40mm, how much have your dropped yours?

[i l k e r]

Really, I've got a pair 50 profile R888s for track use and odd warm dry day and I've had no clearance issues, maybe cus I've only lowered the front 40mm, how much have your dropped yours?


lowered the front 50mm and matched the rear.

[Os8472]

lowered the front 50mm and matched the rear.

That extra 10mm must make all the difference, mine clears no problem even at full lock and throttle:burnrubber:

[i l k e r]

That extra 10mm must make all the difference, mine clears no problem even at full lock and throttle:burnrubber:


although I haven't tried them yet I'm not concerned about the front but I assume there will some rubbing at the rear

I might as well get a second hand 50 profile tyre streched over and have a looksie :)

[Os8472]

although I haven't tried them yet I'm not concerned about the front but I assume there will some rubbing at the rear

If you've only dropped the arse 50mm I wouldn't worry, mine is dropped 75mm with no probs, then again I don't have any back seats for people to sit in:laugh:

[i l k e r]

If you've only dropped the arse 50mm I wouldn't worry, mine is dropped 75mm with no probs, then again I don't have any back seats for people to sit in:laugh:


that's good news thanks mate :agree:

my back seats are only there for the MOT anyway :coffee:

[Os8472]

that's good news thanks mate :agree:

my back seats are only there for the MOT anyway :coffee:

Are you using standard rear dampers or some stiffer ones?

[Penfold aka The Dealer]

I used Toyo's R on all my 5's cant fault them,

But my white 5 has Yoko's A539's and tbh there pretty good but will go back to Toyo's once they need replacing.

[Andrew Cooke]

Back on the Bridgestone Potenza RE720. Scrap the Marangoni's the side walls are too soft.

how about Bridgestone front, Marangoni rear?

[newbstar*]

falken good allround weather tyre.yokos not good in the wet.

[renault5gtboi]

my brother does trackdays with his mazda rx7 i recomend r888 50 profile as omg when them beasts are warm runnig his rx at 380hp rwd thay just dont wanna spin still there the unlimate tracktire but dont last long :( i use tr1 proxies on my renault 5 gt thair awsome stik to the tr1 or r888 thair the best in my book:)

[Penfold aka The Dealer]

QRanualt5gtboi
What compound was he using? Soft compounds are more for hill sprints... ie: short distance's.... and a crap on a full day track day.... Medium are better but still wont last to long out on track.... but are great tyres.!

[i l k e r]

how about Bridgestone front, Marangoni rear?


good call Mr. Cooke,

it's not going to be the first time for me to run different tires front and back anyway :laugh:

I might even squeeze some R888's front and run someting else at the back :agree:

[Ian S]

Brad said of the Marangoni he has "I love them and...for the money, can you compare the potenza?"

[i l k e r]

Brad said of the Marangoni he has "I love them and...for the money, can you compare the potenza?"


I'd be more concerned about spinning out of a corner and parking it into a tree than the cost of the tires :eek:

as I said I've used Marangoni in the past and they were crap, I don't know about these new models though they may have improved.

[Harrison01]

Falken ze512's

good tyre and good price. i get them from www.camskill.com (http://www.camskill.com) then get a friend to put them on the rims for me..

[Ian S]

There's the thing, you have to compare like with like. Brads new models might be utterly better in all ways.

Compare the Yoko A539 and AVS. Both Yokos for similar money but far from the same performance.

They problem with tyres is that few of us really compare many ourselves. Unless we do a high mileage or knacker them on tracks, we have the same set for years.

Unless one can borrow some on identical wheels and bolt them on for a while.

A pal had some T1S on his 15" 7j wheels then bought a set of same sized wheels with a pair of A539 and a pair of AVS. He thought the A539 were not all that good, the T1S OK, but the AVS were way better.

I drove another pals car with same sized wheels and same suspension as mine but new AVS, was very different to my car with A539 or the A520 they just replaced. Or the Avon ZV1 I subsequently tried from some spare wheels I bought.

Alas, Yoko appear to now not make the AVS or an equivalent.

Brad felt his new tryes were a lot better that the ones they replaced, I forget what they were, just cheapish ones.

But the Marangoni are low cost too. If money is not a factor then there is more choice.

I had some Yoko A032r 185 /60 13 for a while. I only used them in the dry, I was impressed with the way they stopped wheelspin and gripped while turning very hard into low speed tight corners and bends. If R888 are like those, then I'd go for those. People say they're OK in the wet. Maybe run the rear a few mm higher if there's rubbing.

[Mudslinger]

what would be the effects of running 50's on the front and 45's on the back if there was any ?

[renault5gtboi]

QRanualt5gtboi
What compound was he using? Soft compounds are more for hill sprints... ie: short distance's.... and a crap on a full day track day.... Medium are better but still wont last to long out on track.... but are great tyres.!

think they were full blown softs mate :) awsome tyre wear fast but pull 100's of geeeees threw the corner and dont put u in the hedge :)

[i l k e r]

what would be the effects of running 50's on the front and 45's on the back if there was any ?


I can't see it being too much of a problem on a road car tbh.

[i l k e r]

There's the thing, you have to compare like with like. Brads new models might be utterly better in all ways.

Compare the Yoko A539 and AVS. Both Yokos for similar money but far from the same performance.

They problem with tyres is that few of us really compare many ourselves. Unless we do a high mileage or knacker them on tracks, we have the same set for years.

Unless one can borrow some on identical wheels and bolt them on for a while.

A pal had some T1S on his 15" 7j wheels then bought a set of same sized wheels with a pair of A539 and a pair of AVS. He thought the A539 were not all that good, the T1S OK, but the AVS were way better.

I drove another pals car with same sized wheels and same suspension as mine but new AVS, was very different to my car with A539 or the A520 they just replaced. Or the Avon ZV1 I subsequently tried from some spare wheels I bought.

Alas, Yoko appear to now not make the AVS or an equivalent.

Brad felt his new tryes were a lot better that the ones they replaced, I forget what they were, just cheapish ones.

But the Marangoni are low cost too. If money is not a factor then there is more choice.

I had some Yoko A032r 185 /60 13 for a while. I only used them in the dry, I was impressed with the way they stopped wheelspin and gripped while turning very hard into low speed tight corners and bends. If R888 are like those, then I'd go for those. People say they're OK in the wet. Maybe run the rear a few mm higher if there's rubbing.


I see what you mean Ian but I really wouldn't let money get in the way about tyre choices, too risky if you ask me :)

[Woznaldo]

I'm going to try some Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE001 tyres. Hearing lots of good stuff about them in Oz.

Just checked the Bridgestone site and they only come in 195/50/15. No 45 profile for 15s.

[i l k e r]

just got my wheels back from the paint shop, they look nice :cool:

and a set of 195 45 T1R's been put on order :)

[Andrew Cooke]

anyone know a good source for the RE720s?