Which 1b tyre

[david nelson]

as some classes will (may be)continue to be on list 1b tyres I thought I would bring this to the table.

history: in the old days there were many tyres people used for 1b's. I started with cr500 in soft compound they were too slow and only lasted 1 Llandow track day and then sprint. Then on 32's in super soft that were good but not as good as the ACB 10's. When ACB 10's were banded we then were left with only the Kumho for a few years then either ZZR or Kumho.

as most will need new tyres what is the tyre people should be buying?

we could see some people making the wrong choice and then needed to buy a further set to be compedative.

so is it ZZS, R888, CR500, or another?

 

david

[OliW]

I'm not sure I know, but I think the ZZS will probably the best all round tyre, for all conditions, if not the best in the dry.  Some research required here I think.

[Richard Price]

David,

Don't forget that the OEM spec ZZR is also listed in list 1b for next year....

 

I think we often overlook our own personal performance when considering ANY change that we've made to our cars over the years. I certainly, would like to be able to go back to May 2002's Curborough sprint and get back into my original 1600 roadsport, with 14" Avon ZV1 tyres, none adjustable ride height, standard soft front ARB etc, and see if I could improve on the 69.0x I managed on that day. I'm pretty sure a car of that sort of spec would be capable of a time somewhere in the 64's.

In my case, I certainly developed the car as I developed as a driver, quite where each performance improvement came from is not clear....

I know that my own performances have certainly benefited from analysis of video and data logging.

Once we develop our own ability, our confidence also grows, and I'm certain that this inner confidence is often worth a lot more than a little technical tweek here and there. However, those little tweeks often add to that confidence that is really the difference between one drivers performance and another...

 

Yes, next years 1b tyres are going to be slower that the current A24 compound ZZR's and supersoft Kumhos, but, at this stage we really have little idea quite how much difference there really will be.

I too have the concern about buying the "wrong" tyres.

Maybe we should have an informal agreement between leading competitors to run the same tyres?

I think it's very likely that the OEM spec ZZR would be the better choice at places like Llandow, Hethel (if it's not as wet as this year....), & Goodwood. But, it's also possible that the ZZS may work a little better from cold (or warm up quicker), so may suit Curborough, Loton, Harewood, etc..

After all, there has been quite some discussion around the subject of ZZR's and Kumho's in the past that has not been clearly resolved.....

I'm sure, that what ever choice we make, at some point, we'll wish we'd gone another way (or will we simply be looking for an excuse when we've been out driven by another driver?)

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaun_E]

I reckon your choice will be between Avon ZZS and Toyo R888 or R888R.

R888 are available in soft (SG) compound in  185/60R13, 205/60R13 (same widths also in 14" and 15") so they might well be the best. ZZS and R888R are in medium only.

The problem for me will be that for the width I need, I'm stuck with Avon ZZS which being medium won't be ideal.

[Richard Price]

with these different compound descriptions are we comparing "eggs with eggs"?

How does Toyo's "soft" compare with Avons "medium" ??

Likewise different construction will also affect the performance.

I feel drawn to suggesting the ZZS as an informal control tyre.

[Mark Durrant]

I understand the R888 is being looked at to see if the SG compoound should be on list 1b so I would not rush to buy these tyres just yet.

[Dannyboy]

Whilst my opinion is probably worthless given the paucity of competition over the last few years - I ran ZZS (R300 compound) in the practice and first timed run of the marshalls sprint. Comparing the split and overall time after switching to the borrowed Supersoft Kumko's including the carlos fandango fronts I can see 1 second difference in time overall.

On Sunday that may well have increased as we got quicker. To note - the ZZS were over a year old on my car and the set up has never been optimised for the Avons. Observations are - they are predictable, but slow to warm up (as is to be expected as a medium compound tyre). I'd say they are better than the equivalent A048 (having raced on these for a number of years) better than CR500's and equivalent in performance to a soft Kumho. I haven't tried the ZZR or Toyo's.

As for having an informal Control tyre - I think that would put off more people than it encourages.