14 inch tyres

[mossy7]

Once more I ask the collective wisdom of blat chat for some advice.. I have scoured the archives and am proper confused. 

for the time being I am sticking with 14 inch wheels for the 7 but want ( read can afford) to upgrade the standard Avon Zv3 tyres to something better. 

I am intending road use only. All year round and it may be out in the rain.( not much though) Stuff like Toyo r888r is a tad too compromised in wet conditions for me so I am thinking Yoko A539, Toyo T1R or Kumho V70.

can anyone offer any recommendations or help please? 

Thanks

[Jonathan Kay]

I have scoured the archives and am proper confused. 

Yes, I can understand that. Did you find the thread that was specifically triggered by the withdrawal of A021Rs?

(I immediately bought a set to avoid this problem.)

Jonathan

[nickh7]

Mossy don't be put off by the "extreme" look of the R888r they are better than you would think in the wet and much better than you can imagine in the dry.  They don't like standing water but then the bridgestones on my MAZDA don't either.  You have to think about the number of very wet trips you do, if you use it every day choose a tyre to suit ,if you use it for blating and occasionally you get a wet run then I'd go for the 888 .  the increased grip 99% of the time is worth that 1% of having to be a little more circumspect when it's wet 

[DJ.]

If you want tyres that grip better than ZV3s, and are safe and fun dry or wet including standing water, then Uniroyal Rain Experts are very good.

 

Obviously they don't have the grip of 888s in the dry, and they will over heat if you're a quick driver on a dry track day.

[Alan Archer]

Ignore, sorry.

[L7 FST]

I agree with Nick (as someone famously said..)

Toyo R888Rs are superbly grippy as in the dry and fine in all but extreme wet conditions. I did an all-day wet trackday at Spa a few years ago with 888s and they were surprisingly good.

[mossy7]

Thanks guys. The R888R was recommended to me when I called George Polley. Its just the Wet rating of E that bothers me slightly, but maybe I'm worrying too much. 

Anyone recommend where I can get some 14 inch Minator where's from? John Brwn wheels ave something similar but they don't have a good online reputation. 

[The_ASH]

If you don't mind 'used' there's a couple of sets on eBay, one is here... they come with yet another set of Avon's.

[nickh7]

Last night in a very heavy rain on the M53 swinging on to the M56 the 7 was rock solid at motorway speeds . No hint of a twitch or a slide very impressive for such an extreme tyre . I understand not everyone wants grip levels that I love but these are the best tyres I've had in nearly 25 years of 7 ownership

[mossy7]

Nickh7, that's really helpful thank you. Thanks everyone. I shall now stop asking silly questions and move on to just driving the car! 

Andy

[Wrightpayne]

Andy,

No such thing as a silly question!!

I ran my seven (1.6 K supersport) for a long time on the original 14" Michelin pile ups before moving to Toyo R888s. I'm now on 13" wheels with R888s.

In the dry, the grip of the R888's is amazing but in the wet you need to be ultra smooth. I've driven Cadwell in the rain and they corner surprisingly well on a wet track.

What they don't like (and the pile ups too) is sudden large inputs of throttle when its wet. Recently, I was traveling to a test day at Curborough when it started raining enough to completely wet the road surface, so was feathering the throttle gently. Coming off a roundabout I decided to test the grip and half planted the throttle and instantly the back stepped out. Eased off and a bit of steering correction and all was fine. Keeping right foot planted I'd have spun it a split second later - its very sudden so you need to be very alert and ready.

If your driving is mainly in the dry then go for the R888's and simply alter your driving style when it rains - if you get the chance of a wet track day then utilise the experience!! 

Regards

Ian

[mossy7]

Thanks for the advice Ian, much appreciated.

Andy