Fathead Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Don't think theres been a tyre thread for a while... Thinking of changing my tyres from a539s because they're rubbish in the wet and not amazing in the dry. does anyone think the a048s will be worse in the wet?? I'll get some 21s if i have to, but i enjoy driving in the dry more (oh and the 48s look better 😬) what are peoples opinions of the 48s in winter? Tom The most southerly uk blatter Yellow 1.6 Supersport Edited by - fathead on 24 Nov 2005 12:30:35 Edited by - fathead on 24 Nov 2005 12:30:51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Prepare for all sorts of opinions - depends so much on how people have there cars, how people prefer there cars to feel, when they use the car etc etc, so I can only give my opinion. I am running 48's right now - everyday use. Roads recently have been very very slippery. Advantage of a Caterham is that you can feel that. It is very easy to provoke spinning rear tyres - particularly when you first set off (I do this anyway, just to get a feel for what the road surface is like) I prefer oversteer, so I don't mind this, and indeed use that feeling. We also have some 539's on another set of rims - far easier to provoke rear wheel slip. If you want to do this, then that is great - if you don't then IMO they will slip more than 48's. IMO where the 48's will be better is braking. I found that the 539's would lock up in slippery conditions far more quickly than 48's - and that also includes wet conditions. We use 48's all year round. If I want to play, and not wear away the 48's, I might pop the 539's on - but they scare me under braking, as I have said. In all of this, common sense must prevail!! Caterham is a very light car, and it is so so easy to slip and slide in these recent road conditions, regardless of the tyre. Similarly, 48's may well aquaplane more easily than other more treaded tyres, such as 21's - and we have experienced that - but if I am driving in those conditions with 48's I am aware of the risk, and pay extra attention to standing water and puddles - worst situation IMO is streams of water draining across motorways and dual carriage ways. Anyway, moved a little off topic - IMO get the 48's particularly if you mainly drive in the dry. For general use I would still choose them over 539's for all conditions for safety/braking conditions, but that is my opinion, connected with how I like to drive the car, how I like the car to feel, and the huge mileage (and therefore experience in all conditions) that I have driven with them - if that makes sense!! www.mycaterham.com here 88,500 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 T Y R E ❗ ❗ ❗ Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Here's another opinion :) I've never used 048's but I did used to run on 032r's all the time. I've switched to CR500's and tbh although they aren't quite as sticky in the dry the wet weather performance is so much better it easily makes up for it. They are more expensive but equally they do seem to last a bit longer. Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 I've tried all the above and find the CR500's a good compromise. And like Nifty I was goint to say that we spell it TYRE Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here You and your seven to The French Blatting Company Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Nifty: he may be from the USA for all we know 21's are better in wet conditions & v good in the dry 48's are superb in the dry & not so good in the wet I use 21's on the road & 48's on the track 185/70/13 21's from George Polley are about £35 a corner. Don't be put off using such a tall tyre as the suspension copes very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 arrrrggghh I cannot belive i used an americanism!!! sorry it should've been tyre tyre tyre tyre tyre tyre tyre - there hopefully its sunk in now!! Thanks for your replies folks - i am currently on 14 inch rims and the 21s cost the same as the 48s! so on balance its either the 48s or the cr500s Tom The most southerly uk blatter Yellow 1.6 Supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 Am i right in thinking the cr500s are about 100 pounds a corner and the 48s about 80? making the cost around £400 and £300 respectively for the set? Tom The most southerly uk blatter Yellow 1.6 Supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 P.S. Norm, are you happy i have my name on the bottom of my posts now so you don't have to keep calling me fathead! Tom The most southerly uk blatter Yellow 1.6 Supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 I might be wrong, but I don't think cr500's are available in 14". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 ahhh, that might decide it then Tom The most southerly uk blatter Yellow 1.6 Supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Sell the 14" 's & buy some 13" 's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilesm Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Tom, I have 14 inch wheels, and use 48s all the time. When I decided to go for them I did quite a bit of research (thanks to Angus for a lot of it) and it was between the 500's (and change wheels) or the 48's. I couldn't afford to change the wheels as well, so went for the 48's and have never looked back since. I was getting loads of understeer (probably my driving) on the old set of standards, and they've gone with these. And they're great on the track too. IIRC the exige is now clad with 48s as well for every day driving. As for wet weather, if you remember I came tippy toeing by you in Cornwall on one very wet very muddy day back in September. I've not driven in the ice and snow so can't comment on that, other than I reckon whatever tyre you have on your 7, it will be hairy and fun all at the same time 😬 BTW hope you managed to get home from Dartford the other week as well? she's blue and a super sport, soon to have extra grrrr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 giles, yes my trip home was fantastic, great to have my car back. Tackled it in 2 stages with a stop in Bath sunday night and a very early and very very cold start in frosty conditions (needless to say i took it very easy). Looks like I've made a decision and will be 'investing' in a set of 48s as soon as i have some money (the dartford trip was somewhat pocket emptying!) let me know how the power upgrade goes! 😬 Tom The most southerly uk blatter Yellow 1.6 Supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain A Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Hi Just to throw another viewpoint in.. I have had A048 and A021 on the car over the last year, both 13" The 48s are great on track in the dry... but I don't use them for that anymore since discovering slicks. They are not great in the wet which has lead to some interesing slides... caught them all (so far... thansk Don Palmer!) so interesting and not expensive. Where I find them scary is in the cold. They don't warm up and the levels of grip avalible is less than you think. This generally happens under braking andthen things can get worrying. I have now moved onto A021 on the road and for wet use on track. They warm up very quickly even in the rain. When they do break away it is VERY progressive and reasurring. I tend to hold slides a bit more and play with them rather than just tidying things up as quickly as possible. However they are going to wear quickly in the dry particularly if it is warm. I have only driven on CR500s a couple of times - they are very good.. probably not as good as the A048 in warm dry conditions, and not quite as good as A021 in the wet. But they are an excellent all rounder.. but expensive. Personally I'd go for A021s and live with the high wear rate if you live somewhere cool and drive all the year around.. If you live somewhere warmer & drier then 48s. Have fun One of the Duratectives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 The 539's are better in the wet than the 48's. The 48's are however a good tyre overall and great for dry circuit driving although as Ian says they do take a bit of warming up- all this applies to medium compound and with a soft compound now available thats another option. This time of year I would go for the 21's. MikeW Mega Grad Race No 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 Yes you fathead, it's much better calling you Tom 😬 I think it may be worth calculating the long term cost of changing to 13" wheels. How many sets of 14" tyres vs the cost of 13" gets you a set of 13" wheels. If you see what I mean. I would have 13" wheels tomorrow if They would fit over my huge calipers. Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here You and your seven to The French Blatting Company Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 I know this isn't the Wanted column but as you guys are talking about tyres, I'm still looking for one Yoko 032R S compound 205 60/13, either new or nearly new. Anyone got an unused spare or whatever to go with the three I've found? Somebody must have one somewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 When doing the from 14" to 13" calcululation don't forget to factor in the sale of your 14" wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 Anyone have any views on which compound tyres to go for with the 48s?? I was thinking Soft for the front and Medium for the rear. Is that sensible or shall I go for medium all round? The car is used soley for road use at the moment (I hope to do some trackdays in the future though!) Tom The most southerly uk blatter 😬Yellow 1.6 Supersport 😬 Photos here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Yes Tom - that is sensible. Helps reduce understeer. Having said that we go for the same all round, purely because it increases the opportunity to swap tyres around as they wear - same all round (medium) is still bloody good. www.mycaterham.com here 88,500 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 hmmm, may go for mediums as their life maybe a little longer... Tom The most southerly uk blatter 😬Yellow 1.6 Supersport 😬 Photos here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 To be honest, if mainly for the road, then yes, all round medium will be fine, and gives you more options to replace/swap etc. www.mycaterham.com here 88,500 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fathead Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 Angus, great advice as normal. Thanks Tom The most southerly uk blatter 😬Yellow 1.6 Supersport 😬 Photos here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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