What's the current Tyre that's in vogue?

[Rambo]

I'm sure someone on here or Pissedonheads has, or rather had, Nanking's and referred to them as "ditchfinders" I'll see if I can unearth the post

They are usually a good tyre at a good price but in reality are 2nd division imo.

[Rambo]

I can't find the post on here but have found an interesting article about Nankang and tyres

https://www.fitmentindustries.com/blogs ... res&id=116

PS type in Nankang ditchfinders on Google and you will get some interesting comments. Not for me

[scotlan]

The steering on my car had gone to pot and when checking my tyres found different ages , makes and speed ratings. "( only owned the car for a year)
So after checking forums, websites etc etc came to my own decision.
I don't drive very fast on the straights or corners, don't do track days and will do about 1,000 miles a year. So I went for Nexens at £50 each, Wetgrip rating "B". Second choice was Avons

[dapinky]

So I went for Nexens at £50 each,

I often used Nexens as the 'road tyres' on the Triumph rally car ......... some events had 'Tarmac' stages and allowed a tyre change so they didn't have to be done on the knobbly gravel tyres (Would have been interesting on a wet road with knobly tyres!). They were one of the few makes I could get in the right size that would perform well enough.

[david924s]

Used Nexens for a few daily use cars myself and will probably put four on my Elan when I can get to the tyre place, for what I need and how much it gets used for me its a good tyre choice. They seem good in the wet and dry not too noisy and a good price, last reasonably well but tyre life isn't an issue for the Elan it currently has tyres well past their sell by date with full tread.

[Rocklobster]

Found this on Pistonheads. Some interesting views regarding the Nankang NS2R and several other tyres. It's intetresting to see how many people are categorising tyres by the brand and not by the model though.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1690979

[rip]

The steering on my car had gone to pot and when checking my tyres found different ages , makes and speed ratings. "( only owned the car for a year)
So after checking forums, websites etc etc came to my own decision.

It seems many people treat tyres as an evil expense & are willing to change 1 at a time. They really don't care that tyres should be there to grip the road & I expect most not-new cars have mixed sets.
There seems to be a lot more appreciation for tyres on here & I understand from a friend that the Lotus/Caterham Seven owners club discuss them in even greater detail.
Many think I am extravagant in having a set of winter tyres for my daily.

[dapinky]

There seems to be a lot more appreciation for tyres on here & I understand from a friend that the Lotus/Caterham Seven owners club discuss them in even greater detail.
Many think I am extravagant in having a set of winter tyres for my daily.

Not at all..... I'm even more paranoid about tyres than that.

Whenever I look at a car to buy, I always budget for a new set of tyres (the only exception was when we bought a brand new car a few years ago), as I always change the ones on the car as soon as I can.

I'd rather buy a car with a set of nearly bald tyres, than one with a newish set of crap ones (or even worse, a newish set of expensive ones!), as the seller always thinks it's a 'selling point'........

...... but to me, it's wasted cash, as they'll end up in a bin somewhere (or possibly sold on by a dealer as a 'part worn').

I've seen far too many defective tyres in my life to trust anyone who tells me that they have never been curbed, or run flat..... and would rather know for sure.

(I also dislike using hire vehicles for similar reasons).

[Rambo]

Me too. I think money spent on premium rubber is well spent. After all, we go everywhere faster these days and our lives depend on those 4 small points of contact of rubber with tarmac. And money spent on stopping ie good brakes is also not money wasted

[scotlan]

[/quote]

Many think I am extravagant in having a set of winter tyres for my daily.[/quote]

Not me. I live in a remote part of Perthshire and have a good set of winter tyres on my daily driver. They say they come into their own below 7 degrees and I can vouch for that, far better grip and braking. We get plenty of days here below 7. Mine are Nexen on steel wheels which i change round every April & October, it protects the alloys too. Mind you, not for the Elan which hibernates.

[Rocklobster]

OK, a full set of NS2R's being fitted tomorrow. Unbeatable prices by Camskill, so I'm taking the plunge. I found the following which was quite interesting and informative. I'll post an update after I've driven a bit and got an idea how they're performing.

https://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=259833

[Rocklobster]

OK then, a bit of a follow-up after having 4 new NS2R's fitted and putting a few road miles on them.

At the time of fitting, I'm on standard suspension, so it's a bit soggy. I'm running approx 1/2 degree neg camber with 1/2 degree toe out on the fronts and 1 degree neg camber with 1mm toe in on each rear. Info on tyre pressures below.

I bedded them in for about 150 miles before pushing them. Stiffer sidewalls than the old T1R's, the steering is much more direct, I think they tramline a bit more than the T1R's, but a couple of geo adjustments should sort that out. Other than that, very stable under acceleration, braking and at speed. Turn in is more precise, no understeer as yet (but I'm not the worlds best or bravest driver) and there's definitely more braking and turning grip with these. Confidence inspiring.

I've driven them in the dry and in the wet, though not monsoon conditions. In the dry, all of the above. On wet roads, they're a bit more skittish, but I could feel what was going on and I thought they performed well. No aquaplaning and no drama. In monsoom conditions, I expect them to be the wrong tyre as the tread won't clear as much water as a normal road tyre.

Pressures. After monitoring pressures and checking temperatures across treads in various ambient conditions (as we've had quite a mix lately), I've settled on Offside front - 27 psi,
Nearside front - 29 psi,
both rears - 27 psi.
Tyre pressures set at approx 15 to 20 degrees ambient. When we hit temps of 30+, I let a bit out because any tyres will heat up noticeably faster.

The reason that the nearside front is different is because the offside front has more weight on it and works harder, so heats up more, resulting in a greater pressure gain. I found that as the tyres came up to temperature, both fronts stabilised at about 32 psi and both rears at 29. The car felt good and drove well at these pressures (but every one has their own preferences)

I've got a track day booked in September. I'll post my further opinions after that.

[chris.t]

Useful info there. I'll be interested in your findings post track day. Some photos from the end of the day would be interesting.

[Rambo]

Pressures. After monitoring pressures and checking temperatures across treads in various ambient conditions (as we've had quite a mix lately), I've settled on Offside front - 27 psi,
Nearside front - 29 psi,
both rears - 27 psi.
Tyre pressures set at approx 15 to 20 degrees ambient. When we hit temps of 30+, I let a bit out because any tyres will heat up noticeably faster.

The reason that the nearside front is different is because the offside front has more weight on it and works harder, so heats up more, resulting in a greater pressure gain. I found that as the tyres came up to temperature, both fronts stabilised at about 32 dgrees and both rears at 29. The car felt good and drove well at these pressures (but every one has their own preferences)

Are you using these tyre pressures for a specific, clockwise track or for general road use ? I find for general road use you can't go far wrong with 26-27 psi (1.8 bar) all round. In fact, I think these were the original pressures recommended by Lotus for the original fit tyre, the Michelin MXX-2, fitted to turbo models

[chris.t]

Similar to me Mark, but it doesn't mean it's good for all tyre compounds and wall stiffness. I think tyre manufacturers should give max and min pressures as guidance.

[Rocklobster]

So far, I'm only using these pressures for road use and only since changing to these tyres (300ish miles). My driving has been moderate (ish) with occasional more spirited episodes when I've found myself on more interesting sections of road.

I've arrived at these pressures by measuring temperatures across the width of the treads to check whether the inside, outside or centre of each tyre is working hardest. To be honest though, although I've tried to be scientific about it, the temp readings have been quite variable and they are affected by the type of driving that I've just been doing, so 'A' roads give different results to 'B' roads for example because of the balance of straights to corners etc. You're never actually going to get a perfect one-size-fits-all tyre temperature as the factors are so variable, but luckily, the tyres are made from rubber and filled with air, so there's quite a large tolerance for general driving.

In the real world on the road, none of us are going to notice the difference if the fronts are a couple of psi either way unless we're risking our licenses, so you're right that 26/27 psi all round will do the trick. What I've found with these particular tyres and with my driving style (like B A Barracus) is that the centre tread of the fronts isn't heating up as much as the edges which indicates too low pressure and will result in higher shoulder wear. That's why I commited to the uneven pressures.

My thinking is that if I have the above knowledge to start with, I should be able to adapt it when I get to track and it'll help me arrive at sensible track pressures faster. I'm just messing about really though, the wife thinks I'm about 12....

Pete.

[Rocklobster]

One more thing to mention. The reason that the offside front is higher is because the engine and driver are both on the offside, so the car's weight is unevenly distributed. Only a wild guess because I haven't had it measured, but the weight distribution is probably about 28% FNS, 36%FOS, 18% RNS and 18% ROS. Hence the fronts are bearing more weight and warrant higher pressures than the rears, and the front offside in particular is loaded the most.

Having driven on normal roads, I haven't favoured left or right hand corners, it's been a pretty even mix.

Pete.

[chris.t]

On my track car Avon said, " make sure the pressure doesn't go above 29psi on ZZR's". On the road from the normal 25/27, not a problem but on track I've dropped 10psi out of the loaded rear. Pressure is much easier to read and adjust than temperature unless you've got a F1 team on hand to make small adjustments to your suspension geo. I find on the road comfort and economy are more important than leaning on the shoulder on B roads.

[Rambo]

Pete - you need some of these https://www.capitshop.com/tyrewarmers-c ... a-leo.html Christmas is only just round the corner

I like your thinking, it sounds common sense to me but I think you may be overthinking it ? I suspect it makes more sense on track but for everyday fast driving I wouldn't have thought that it would make much difference.

PS Don't forget in your calculations that you might or might not have a full tank of fuel and another 100 kg of male passenger in the FNS on track

[Rambo]

On my track car Avon said, " make sure the pressure doesn't go above 29psi on ZZR's". On the road from the normal 25/27, not a problem but on track I've dropped 10psi out of the loaded rear. Pressure is much easier to read and adjust than temperature unless you've got a F1 team on hand to make small adjustments to your suspension geo. I find on the road comfort and economy are more important than leaning on the shoulder on B roads.

Are you running 15/17 on the loaded rear then Chris ? And is this for your M100 or your VX220 ? Or both ?