JustCallMeMac Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Ford, those tyres might look good but at 10 years old the rubber will be hard and they won't be performing anywhere near to the levels you hope and really need replacing. If you can, get yourself a set of semi-slicks, Toyo R888's, Yoko A048r etc, in medium compound, which are both an excellent dry weather track tyre. (888's not too bad in damp conditions either) I'm sure the car will feel planted by comparison, especially once you've got some heat in to them and they are sticky. That alone will give you a lot of confidence when braking and pushing on and help you explore the limits and your lap times will tumble. On top of this and if not already done, get a geo done by the professionals, (suspension alignment, camber and ride height adjustment etc), which is probably the best and most important mod you can have done. Have fun, take it easy, get plenty of tuition and you'll see and feel the improvements being made....it's addictive stuff. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.RAD Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Ten year old tyres will be fun, but not grippy! The silica in the rubber goes hard over time, great for longevity but awful for everything else. You can still use them but they will be much more willing to slip and slide than an up to date set (makes for huge smiles, but not speed!). I have a 14 year old pair of soft compound yokohama a032 on at the moment and after a full day at bedford Autodrome on Monday, they hadn't lost a mm of tread and not a sign of graining They were fun for controlled slides, but not fast. My new soft r888's are massively quicker as they just grip and grip. You don't have to spend a fortune as any new set will be better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.RAD Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Clearly too slow to type! Great minds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisisWolf Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I don't think I have found its limit yet. I'm slightly nervous as to how it might behave on the edge. I know that feeling! Second track day coming up for me soon. I recommend having an instructor for 20-30mins if they offer it (I know MSE do) just helps you push harder in the right areas. I'm still slow but felt lots faster after 20mins of being told to brake later, accelerate sooner, turn in later etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Bin them - positively dangerous on track at speed. Get some half decent rubber and it transform the experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordboi Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 Come to think of it, they did seem a bit hard. There was a lot of low speed understeer through the tight hair pin bend as if the front was just skating but when I looked at the tyres, there was little or no abrasion on the surface. Certainly no graining or rolled rubber etc. Mmm any ideas for cheapest place to buy R888s? Demon tweeks have them at 100+VAT in 195/50R15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordboi Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 For those of you who are interested, this is what happened when I got slightly too enthusiastic and the mighty Crossflow got the better of me. 70MPH, 3rd gear, full throttle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I refer the honourable gentleman to my earlier comment - get some some new rubber and a geo and then unleash the mighty beast on the tarmac of the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveH Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'd agree with the comments on tyres, also about instruction. It's very hard to tell from a video how much harder you should be pushing on the car; there's improvements to be had on line and technique but the car could already be at it's limit or have loads left to go, getting some tuition will help guide you on how much is left and how to approach it safely. We do have free tuition available at the club trackday at Blyton in a few weeks……… Come to think of it, they did seem a bit hard. There was a lot of low speed understeer through the tight hair pin bend as if the front was just skating One of the tricks on a slow corner (most corners really but it's more obvious on the slow ones) is not to use any throttle until you are reducing the amount of lock on the wheel. Hard to tell on your video past the wind noise but it sounds like you are starting to blend back on the gas while still entering the corner which will tend to transfer weight and grip to the rear of the car and so cause understeer. On a slowish, short entry corner like Mallory hairpin, if you feel like you need to add power before you've reached the apex then it's a message that you entered the corner too slowly. Go in faster and stay off the gas, even carry light braking into the corner to keep the front end weighted up and you'll find the steering has much more bite and you are getting closer to the ideal of fast-in-fast-out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Turner - Black Country AO Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Come to think of it, they did seem a bit hard. There was a lot of low speed understeer through the tight hair pin bend as if the front was just skating but when I looked at the tyres, there was little or no abrasion on the surface. Certainly no graining or rolled rubber etc. Mmm any ideas for cheapest place to buy R888s? Demon tweeks have them at 100+VAT in 195/50R15 If you want something less expensive but still very good all round tyres look at Toyo R1Rs, reportedly almost as good as 888s in the dry but much much better in the wet, and closer to half the cost. (both Westfield and Playskool are offering them at a good price at the moment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Everall Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Choice and price depends a bit on rim size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordboi Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 I'd agree with the comments on tyres, also about instruction. It's very hard to tell from a video how much harder you should be pushing on the car; there's improvements to be had on line and technique but the car could already be at it's limit or have loads left to go, getting some tuition will help guide you on how much is left and how to approach it safely. We do have free tuition available at the club trackday at Blyton in a few weeks……… One of the tricks on a slow corner (most corners really but it's more obvious on the slow ones) is not to use any throttle until you are reducing the amount of lock on the wheel. Hard to tell on your video past the wind noise but it sounds like you are starting to blend back on the gas while still entering the corner which will tend to transfer weight and grip to the rear of the car and so cause understeer. On a slowish, short entry corner like Mallory hairpin, if you feel like you need to add power before you've reached the apex then it's a message that you entered the corner too slowly. Go in faster and stay off the gas, even carry light braking into the corner to keep the front end weighted up and you'll find the steering has much more bite and you are getting closer to the ideal of fast-in-fast-out. Ahh got you....I have a lot to learn as this goes against everything I have taught myself on the road in a front wheel drive where I have always found blending the power back in gently mid corner helps the front bite harder. I'll give this technique a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveH Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 It depends a lot on your diff and setup but on track we'd generally still think about weight transfer a lot in FWD as well; next time BTCC is on watch some of the in-car footage in the fwd stuff and listen to how they are going into the apex without throttle in most cases. For sure the lessons learned on the road are often completely wrong on circuit and while you may learn some of this stuff with experience, getting regular tuition will make you think a lot harder about every detail of what you are doing and get you up to pace much quicker. If you are trying this out at Mallory make sure you do it a bit at a time, one of the risks is oversteer on the way into the corner and the banking at the hairpin apex is pretty solid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.RAD Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Tyre choice is a minefield but pretty much anything will be better than what you have now! Have a look at camskill as they are usually competitive with a good selection. http://www.camskill.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Like SteveH says, come to Blyton (or if you can't manage that then one of the other trackdays which Steve promotes on this boardroom) then you can have some free tuition. Now how often do you get something really useful for free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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