johns Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Having had a week of turmoil trying to decide what tyres to get after my spin with the Mitchelin Pile-ups I have reached a decision but wondered if you lot could help me make the final choice for my stndard silver 14inch wheels. I've read ALL the recent tyre threads and chatted with Angus much over this via email to root out an an all year round tyre on the road and its a toss up between Yoko's A539 (which Dan Malkin has currently leant me to try) or Yoko AO21's which you all seem to love. Where would your money go? I was advised also to consider changing my wheels as well to 13 inches as the associated tyre would be cheaper to buy. I am considering the Caterham R300/R400 anthracite 10 spoke wheel or the similar 8 spoke wheel they sell. Looks cool but george Polley do a similar one which is probly cheaper. With my road driving I intend to get through a set of tyres a year 6-7000 miles so is it really worth buying 13inch wheels from the start 🤔 BTW the car is a 1998 1.6K series Supersport. No more tyre questions ever, promise many thanks John S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobP Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 John, I was in this position last year. I bought the 13 inch wheels as the tyres were approx £25 cheaper per corner, and I didn't ever want to be in the position of running them with too little tread on them in order to save money. You can imagine the situation, thinking "just a few more miles on these" then crunch. I have now just bought a second set (13 again) so I can run wet & dry tyres. They are ultimately all that connects you to the road, so are an essential safety feature ( that's what I tell my wife anyway). Good luck Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 To totally confuse the situation... My car (purchased s/h) came with CR500s on 13" KN Minators. Luvverly tyres - but I wasn't really *using* them on the road. The rears went in almost exactly 5k. Being out of work, but expecting to do trackdays, I replaced the rears (£200) and bought a s/h set of 13" minators with Bridgestone RE720s (cheap rubber, but top of list 1B for sprinting (or is that 1A - the boggo class anyway)). The plan was to keep the 500s for the track and road my way through the bridgestones... But the cheaper tyres turned out to be loadsa fun - much less grip than the Cr500s - but way ahead of pileups, ditchmasters etc. Even though they were buffed down to 4mm and then sprinted by the previous owner (and have done at least 3k since on my car), they are still waaaaay legal. They move around more than the 500s - which is fine by me - I get to the limit more accessibly and learn more from the car without overreaching myself at silly speeds - and they were absolutely fine on a trackday at Snetterton (I was keeping in touch with a more experienced driver in an identical car on 500s - but perhaps I'm just a natural ) Soooo, if you are down to 529s or 21s, although I've not driven either, AFAIK, the 21s will be grippier (not too far off 500s) but won't last all that long whereas the 539s will last a bit longer and have lower limits. As for 14" vs 13", again, I can't really comment from experience - but 13"rs will always be resaleable and everybody swears by them... KN Minators aren't that expensive from Polley - or you try to pick up a s/h set for about 230-260 with a partially worn set of somethings on BC... Sooo, not knowing your budget, how about some bridgestones (or similar) for boggo road work on the 14's and a set of 13s with 21s for the track... Or am I confusing matters again.... Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Oh, forgot to say that with no spare wheel, it's handy to have a spare set of wheels somewhere... you just know that the RAC/whomever won't be able to source what you're running when it all goes horribly flat... Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 YHM John NEW pictures posted here 50,000miles in 2 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I've had 539s and 21s on my Seven. Trust the opinions of nearly everyone here - putting decent tyres on a Seven is one of the simplest and best upgrades you can do. 21s blow 539s away (and 539 are an OK ordinary tyre). 21s are one of the best road tyres you can buy for a Seven. I've now got CR500s but can't really offer a bad-weather opinion because my car's been off the road for all of the winter so far :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westyisbesty Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Just bought 185/70 21's on Minators from George Polley, They've been great in the cruddy weather over the last few days. Be interesting to see what happens in the dry but highly commended so far. Rgds Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Another vote for Bridgestone 720s. I had Yoko 032Rs in soft and they went from looking "OK, loads of miles left in these" to "hmm, bit thin, be replacing these soon" over a 600 mile weekend. Replaced with 720s, not as grippy in the dry but good in the wet, nice and cheap, wear well. So you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted January 23, 2004 Support Team Share Posted January 23, 2004 I did my first track day at Llandow about 18 months ago and the conditions were apalling - it rained all day and there was standing water on the back straight. I had no problems in those conditions using A021R tyres and was still out on track when most others had gone home. A few months later I did another Llandow day, this time in the dry - I wasn't that much quicker than I had been in the wet. To me this indicates just how good they are in poor conditions (or just how poor a driver I am ). I believe that price/performance wise it would be hard to beat the A021R. If you expect to change your tyres only once a year then it is probably not cost effective in the short term to move to 13" rims but if you intend to do trackdays and/or keep the car for many years then you need to do the sums. Just so that you don't think that I'm biased towards 21's just because they are what I use, I intend to move to A048R's when this set wear out - but this is driven by track day use and I would probably stick with 21's for road use only. Shaun Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 23 Jan 2004 09:13:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 John PLEASE don't bend my rims 😬 😬 😬 but definately concur with the others, A021's are far superior to A539's....but........well 😬 😬 you probably aren't going to push the limits of the A539's in the dry mate!! Given your annual mileage you will do a set of tyres a year with 21's, the 539's will do 3-4 years..... As for the 13/14 inch debate..well the only issue really comes down to ground clearance given the preference of our local authority for placing speed humps etc all over the shop. My car on 13" cannot get through Ditchling village without very careful manoeuvring. Without adjustable platforms you might find that the reduced ground clearance could be a problem locally mate ☹️. Stick with the 14's get a set of decent tyres and enjoy!!! remember, you can then secretly stash some cash aside and buy a set of 13" later in the year with special tyres... 😬 😬 (it's what I did!!) Dannnneeeeeeeeeboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Depend on your annual mileage 021 will last 3 less time than A539 It could be one year for 3 On stickier tyre you will use more the chassis, the de dion ... and it is less fun 021 is more efficient, perfect on the track but .... may be your car will be more fun on RE 720 or A539 according to your driving style I have A539 for road 032 for track according to my driving style 032 on the road would be a mistake eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Its a bit of a myth that bigger wheels give better ground clearance Sure 14's are better than 13's if you fit same profile but this never happens because most common 13" profile is 70, 14" equal 60 profile, 15" equal 50 profile so as the wheel gets bigger you have less sidewall height and hey presto birtually same diameter. Thats my 2p worth anyway. Ive got 14's with Firestone 660's (as on car when bought) and will be junking them asap for Yoko A021's. Matt 1700 Supersprint, Red Loud and wearing Flares Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irrelevant Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 A small, yet significant point . . . . soft and grippy tyres are not only better than harder tyres round bends, they offer far better breaking ability as well. So even if you're not going to rag it round the bends, you may fell the additional breaking ability is worth while. The fraction of a pence per mile that A048s or whatever cost over Dark-Horses is nothing if one day you need an extra 2m of breaking zone. J351 TPE . . . battered old X/Flow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Its a good point Adam. When we first went from pilots to 32's it was the braking grip that we first noticed during (deliberate) emergancy stop type situations. All the above posts show that it is also an entirely personal and subjective thing as well, the feel of a car and the different driving styles etc. I disagree with some of them, but that is entirely IMO, not because they are wrong! NEW pictures posted here 50,000miles in 2 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johns Posted January 23, 2004 Author Share Posted January 23, 2004 Many thanks crew I'll read all your threads tonight when I have time to digest the info but I think i know what i'm going to do. I'll order from George P next week. I did infact strip the heatguard off the car last week whilst traversing a sleeping P on 13 inch wheels in Eastbourne (the jubilee clip just ripped straight off as it encountered the concrete). even though I was going diagonally and at MEGA slow speed. thanks once again Chat soon John S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johns Posted January 23, 2004 Author Share Posted January 23, 2004 BTW 185/60/14's or 185/70/14's for general road stuff 🤔 PS George Polley is expecting the AO21's mid feb. at £54.85+VAT for the /60's John S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Have to agree witn Angus-braking is so much better with 32'rs than the Pirrelli tyres I had on before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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