Paul Milton Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Bought a used Roadsport K series 125 with 135 upgrade from Caterham earlier this year fitted with Avon ZV3 186/60/R14. Spoken with some club members who recommend changing to Yokohama A021R but have also come across A048. Appreciate any thoughts and experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 The AO21R is a very good all weather tyre & an excellent upgrade on the hard ZV3 tyres. I did a couple of thousand miles on ZV3's & they didn't inspire confidence. I have since done about 20K miles on 21's (second set). The AO48's are even softer & will give even better grip in the dry but are not as good in the wet as the 21's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted October 26, 2013 Leadership Team Share Posted October 26, 2013 I've run 21R's in the past and they're really good all-round tyres, especially in the wet. I'm currently running 48R's and in the dry they're better planted and offer superior grip, just take it easy in the wet .... but that's obvious if you look at the tread pattern! 48R's will give better mileage than 21R's if pushed hard. Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastair B Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Any tyre upgrade is probably one of the most noticeable and effective upgrades you can make, the car corners like it should with 'sticky' tyres. Before you decide you should read the many threads here on tyres...if you are to do track work the AO21's in the hotter months could overheat after a while, but if for general road work, they are hard to beat IMO. They have smaller tread blocks than the A048's that give you confidence as you can feel the car loading up against the block movement very progressively. In any case whatever you choose, you really should be aware of 'oil surge' if you are cornering hard with sticky tyres for sustained periods...oil tank sump gasket/pick up mods as per Dave Andrews recommendations as a start and then Apollo tank etc. If you buy Yokohama's one of the cheapest places to buy is George Polley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Paul check members area on club website for discount codes for Camskill Tyres One of the best upgrades you can do is to better tyres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Milton Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thanks guys. All very useful and informative. Inclined to go for 21's as will get little track use and they appear to be better for all weather use. Tempted by the 48's though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 do it you'll never look back , its epic 😬 the grip is stunning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacP Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 If you want them for road use go for the 21Rs. I had A048s on my Caterham 21 and they're not great in cold or wet conditions: Cold A048 Sevens are fantastic in the dry anyway (even on ZV3s, which I had on my 7). I'd go for wet weather tyres which warm up quickly if it's road mainly. Which implies A021s. On my one serious Caterham track day experience we shredded the tyres in a single day anyway (CR500s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 I am interested in this having just bought an ex-Roadsport car on CR500s. 1 tyre is in need of replacing so deciding whether to continue with CR500s despite some of the comments regarding the new compound and the price difference. I previously had A021's on a bik engined Westfield. It was 10 years ago but they were great at the time. Have things moved on that much with compounds like the CR500 that makes them worth the extra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 CR500 sidewalls develop alarming splits due to heat difference across the tyre width. They are a very expensive tyre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadsport06 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 My 2d worth... I didn't enjoy the ZV3 tyres in the wet. I moved to A048 which were super by comparison. I now have R888 and are better still, the side wall isn't as stiff so it doesn't tramline like the A048. Mine is a Roadsport on 14" wheels. As already said, if yours is a k series then you'll have oil surge even on the road so an Apollo should be a minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeMan Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 I just swapped my ZV3s with 21s for a trip to Spa (which almost always rains). My ZV3s were over 5 years old too and although OK in the dry they were comically bad in the wet. The 21s are noticeably grippier in the dry, the windscreen washer spits out water on most roundabouts now 😬 As for Spa; too be honest you have to be so careful in a Caterham in the wet anyway, so although they were no doubt better its hard comparing the 21s with something I never did a wet track day on as we are talking about maybe an extra hairs width of throttle coming out of most corners. Lots of fun though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Milton Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Finally got AO21Rs fitted by Pollysport (best deal and very helpful) on Friday. What a difference! Took the B660 Ramsey to Kimbolton. Fantastic road and virtually empty of traffic. Car now feels and drives like it should. Cannot understand why it had Z3s in the first place, they were just wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 There are ZV3s on the car I'm collecting in a couple of days. I'm hearing overwhelming support for Yoko A021Rs, so a set of these will be the first upgrade on my list. I'm just hoping the ZV3s don't hurl me into a ditch in the meantime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Try 'em em at sensible pressures for a & first - I run 16/17 psi at the rear, and 15 at the front qwith ZV3s and I find them pretty good all year round. Bri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyR Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Quoting SM25T: CR500 sidewalls develop alarming splits due to heat difference across the tyre width. They are a very expensive tyre. I've had many sets of CR500's and never had any splits and the cost per mile is not as expensive as several other makes. They are also very light and don't have over hard side walls like others do. TonyR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James.S Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 *arrowup*Agreed. CR500's are the best all round tyre with only ZZR's bettering them - although they don't like standing water. Used 48's/88's and Ecsta's nad they are all too heavy, too stiff and they ruin the feel of the car onthe limit, in fact some provide too much grip. Stick to Avons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Out of interest, where is the best place to buy CR500s from, and by that I mean the best place that will actually have stock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I got good service and fast delivery from BMS in Birmingham for CR500s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenF Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Out of interest, where is the best place to buy CR500s from, and by that I mean the best place that will actually have stock! I think Bradders means BMTR in Birmingham which is where I normally get mine from. They usually have stock of 13" at least, as that's what they supply to graduates etc. I think you can only get them from there, CC or Avon directly and also there is no 'cheap' option, I believe they are the same price everywhere, although maybe someone can prove me wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Quoting BenF: Out of interest, where is the best place to buy CR500s from, and by that I mean the best place that will actually have stock! I think Bradders means BMTR in Birmingham which is where I normally get mine from. They usually have stock of 13" at least, as that's what they supply to graduates etc. I think you can only get them from there, CC or Avon directly and also there is no 'cheap' option, I believe they are the same price everywhere, although maybe someone can prove me wrong! That's right BMTR. I'm full of man flu; that's my excuse. Price was a little cheaper than CC but only marginal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thanks for clearing that up...Google interprets 'BMS Birmingham' as the British Muslim Society. Not exactly what I was look for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Quoting BenF: They usually have stock of 13" at least, as that's what they supply to graduates etc. Not Grads - we run on A048s. Cheaper and more grip (in the dry!). They're heavier, which some people don't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FramerateUK Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 The splitting seems to be a problem on the 15" CR500 and less so on the 13". My 15" CR500 have cracks in the sidewall, but I've read that these are cosmetic only and have no impact on the strength of the sidewall or tyre. I used mine for a trackday this month and had no issues at all. All that said, I'm heading to 13" wheels once I've worn these out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeMan Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Quoting FramerateUK: All that said, I'm heading to 13" wheels once I've worn these out... Do they make that much difference? I have a Roadsport SV with a 188BHP 1.8 K-series which I use for the odd track day and road. I put the A021R on my 14" rims before Spa last year and they are without doubt grippier in both wet any dry than the out-of-date ZV3 they replaced. But what benefit would going to 13" rims provide, or at the middle ground of 14" am I already in a good place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now