Having had yet another great time at knockhill yesterday I found out that the new modifications to the car made it very competitive against quick evos and scoobies. However once the track started to dry out the tyres really showed their weaknesses and after just a couple of hard laps the tyres went off and understeer/scrubbing occoured.

The tyres i had on were rubbish no brand jobbies I got for free, thats why I thought I would trash them and so these failed pretty much as expected. I have however owned toyo R888 and Yokohama A048 tyres in the past, and they were brilliant. I have also seen Maxsport RB5 tyres for far cheaper.....

what suggestions/comments do you guys have for high grip tyre setups and pressures. Im thinking a 225/45/17 tyre choice and maybe 30psi

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FN2 Civic Type R w/Mugen Parts
Toyota Celica GT4 ST205
Toyota Celica GT4 ST185

Drove some differents types of road tyres an my CS as I use it on public roads as well as on track. Very difficult to find a good compromise. Yokohama Parada where way to soft for track as well as the following Hankook V12 Evo. Currently I use Yokohama s.Drive and they working really good for an ordinary road tyre. Will try Michelin Pilotsport 3 as next or Hankook S1 .

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I've found the Yokohama A048's perform well and don't go off if they are abused. Wet conditions require a more circumspect style of driving (tippy-toe!)

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Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

I use Falken FK-201 tyres on mine and love them, compared to R888 they take longer to get up to temp, but then don't go off nearly as quickly and are also much harder wearing so last longer (making them better value). Outright dry grip is probably a bit more with the R888, i would say if you were doing short sprints they would be better. But the Falkens aren't far off, and I'd say they are also better in the wet, they also let go more progressively than the R888 which are a bit more all or nothing.

I used them on track at Castle Combe last weekend and was going out for up to half an hour at a time without them loosing grip or overheating.

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GT4 no 10 - I must be mad :help:

^^^Click the banner for my Black Treacle project thread ^^^

Now back home and mapped to 531bhp & 411lb/ft - that's enough power for now!

I also use them daily on the road and they are absolutely fine, when it gets greasy you do have to be alot more careful though. I have another set of wheels I'll be fitting standard road tyres onto for everyday use when I get the chance to refurb them.

They weren't ideal in the snow - lots of 5mph power slides! Still, I had a smile on my face.

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GT4 no 10 - I must be mad :help:

^^^Click the banner for my Black Treacle project thread ^^^

Now back home and mapped to 531bhp & 411lb/ft - that's enough power for now!

Hi Ed,

Do you have any more info on the Falken Tyres - googling the tyre model code doesn't yield very much info.

Cheers

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

yea, I cant find much either but am very interested by the sounds of it. Is it a "semi-slick" type type similar to the r888?

I like the sound of progressive, haven't got the skills for anything else

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FN2 Civic Type R w/Mugen Parts
Toyota Celica GT4 ST205
Toyota Celica GT4 ST185

Sorry, that's because my brain is dead after a day at work! It is a Federal FZ-201 not Falken! They are road legal, equivalent to an R888 or A048. They generally get very good reviews.

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GT4 no 10 - I must be mad :help:

^^^Click the banner for my Black Treacle project thread ^^^

Now back home and mapped to 531bhp & 411lb/ft - that's enough power for now!

thats a good looking tyre, similarly priced to the equivalent yoko and toyo, is wear rate pretty low compared others? maybe its a slightly harder compound

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FN2 Civic Type R w/Mugen Parts
Toyota Celica GT4 ST205
Toyota Celica GT4 ST185

Thanks Ed - makes sense now!

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

How would you rate the wear Ed? Judging by your trip to Combe how many trackdays would you say you would get from a set and still be legal to drive home?

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

I'm not sure, when I've made a dent in the tread I'll let you know! Luke had them before me on his track car and had already done a couple of days before I got them. I spoke to a guy at Combe who was there in his Nippon Challenge S14a race car running the same tyres, he said they have a choice of 3 or 4 different models they can use in the series, but the Federals were their favourites as they lasted for the most races and didn't overheat as easily.

Pretty much all of the reviews you read will tell you that they take longer to to warm up then R888, but they don't overheat as quickly and the wear rate is a lot less. Personally I think R888 are better suited to lighter cars than ours, hence why you always see them on the caterhams and hot hatches, they also seem to be a favourite in TSS where you are doing short sprints and need a tyre that gets up to temp quickly. On longer track outings or for races I think the Federal is a much better choice on our cars.

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GT4 no 10 - I must be mad :help:

^^^Click the banner for my Black Treacle project thread ^^^

Now back home and mapped to 531bhp & 411lb/ft - that's enough power for now!

Sounds good - I agree with your comments on the R888's I had them on my Westfield in the medium compound, they were excellent but I definitely feel a heavier car would destroy them in short order.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK