Steve Riley

Has anyone had experience with these tires? I am looking for a suitable tire that I could use for DE events as well as drive on the street occasionally (3000 mi/yr). This sounded like a good compromise tire to me.

BER

I have used Yoko A032R's on my 911 for about a year. It is a good compromise track tire, especially if you live in areas where it rains. I can drive on them to and from the track, but they are noisy on the street.

Dry handling is very good, but there are sticker "R" compound track tires. Wet performance is excellent, relative to other "R" compound tires. I can still run in the rain at DE events, while others are heading to the pits.

Check out the Survey and Reviews at the Tire Rack:

<a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=A032R" target="_blank">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=A032R</a>

Bruce

Geoffrey

I'll echo BER's comments.

M758

Most of the Local PCA DE guys here run these as track/street tires. Especially 911 SC guys who don't want to change tires. (Those that do run Kumho Victoracers)

There are better R compound tires, but most of them are "almost" street worthy. That means the are technically streel legal when new, but I would not drive them on the street for long.

IMHO, The A032R's are once of the best track/street tires out there. They are very noisy on the road, but they grip much better than any real street tire.
Some guys here are looking at the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. Word is that the grip better than the yoko's and a much more stable grip over the life of the tire. They do cost more $140 vs $200 per tire in most sizes. Some say that this extra cost is balanced by the extra life. I think the jury is still out though.

You can't go wrong with A032R's. Good thing is that they will probably only last one season anyway so you buy a different set next year.

Carrera51

My dad ran A032Rs on his 964 C2 and they lasted almost 2 seasons. (He didn't drive to and from track events, or use them on the street). They are noisy. They are reasonable sticky in the dry and very good in the wet. They are not as sticky as Hoosiers, Michelins, Khumos, or Toyos, but they are a good tire for DE in both dry and wet conditions.

JackOlsen

They're a great mixed use tire. A lot of guys make the mistake of running pressures in them that would be correct for Hoosiers, but are way too high for the A032R's. You want your hot pressures to only be in the 30-34 range with them, which means starting out with something like 23F/25R, and bleeding off frequently.

mm86911

I have to agree with all the above posts and second Jack's reference on pressures. I start with 23/25 and when hot they were 30/35. Bled the rears down a bit. First wet DE was with these tires - better than my street tires! I'll likely get 4-5 autox and 4-5 DEs out of the set.

Scott in Texas

The hokos are good tires. I ran them as rains on my 944 T race car and as DE and Time Trial tires on my early 911 RS replica with no problems. I have a set now on my track wheels for my Boxster S and expect to get good use out of them. As far as their stick, I used to get about 1.5 seconds per lap slower times with them compared to the Hoosiers on the 944 T track car on a 2.9 mile course (same car same conditions back to back comparison). In race conditions that is a ton of time but for a DE it does not matter and the extended life and resulting economy of the Yoko's compared to the Hoosiers make the decision easy when selecting a sticky tire for DE purposes. So in general a thumbs up to the Yoko's for DE use. That said I would not use them for street use except to just drive to and from the track.

Ed Bighi

I have had plenty of experience with the Yokohama A032R's in my car. Up until a few months ago when I switched to Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, they were the only tire I used for street or track. I had been using them since 1998. While they are a track tire, when you compare their durability to a P-Zero for example, they are actually more durable. Most driver's in my region get a year's worth of street/track/autocross out of them. I used to get less not because of street driving but my actual driving style on the track. I enter turns sideways, apex sideways and exit sideways. Every turn, no matter what speed or gear I'm in. So I got a little less durability. But that had nothing to do with the tire since it is a very durable tire.

I have taken trips with them cross country from here in Arizona to Florida, up the east coast, etc... Everywhere basically. I even drove in snow with them. But don't try it. The way I looked at it, there were some ultra-high performance tires out there which were inferior to the A032R's on the track and lasted less on the street. There are also grippier tires for the track, but they are hopeless for the street and won't even last that long on the track anyway. They have a little less grip than a couple of other track tires, but are much, much more economical. Also very reliable since I used to run them past the first rayon belt, the steel belt and when a bubble would pop through the second and inner rayon belt, and only then, I would call it a day. Basically the A032R's have a very good basic carcass since not one ever blew on me from doing that. And I have gone through plenty of sets. The fact that I don't have to go through the bs of switching to street tires after an event makes it all worthwhile for me. Why work when I can spend that time doing something else like drinking a beer. So unless you really like to spend time jacking up your car changing tires or spending more money on tires in the long run, you are spending your money very wisely by going with the Yoko A032R's.

The reason I have gone over to the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup's is because a friend of mine got even more time out of them than he did with the A032R's. And with a more consistent grip than with the Yokos. It makes sense since the Yokos have a treadwear of 60 while the Michelins have 80. If you do the math you will see that 80 is 33% more than 60. The same result almost happens in the price comparison of the Yoko to the Michelin. So when you look at that, the Michelin is no longer that much more expensive. Of course, this is all theoretical. The Michelins are also cut much wider. The Pilot Sport Cup at 245/45 is more like a 255 in width. But that seems to be the case with all Michelin tires. Mine were put on in June. I haven't driven any track events with them yet since it has been too hot here in Arizona. But I have been using for driving around town and also used them to drive to Phoenix to Monterrey for the historics a couple of weeks ago. I aslo drove them ***** out on highway 1 on the way up and back. So far they still look good. So time will tell. But in the end, there are only two tires for me, the A032 and the Sport Cup.
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

UrbanSasquatch

Yokes kick butt. I had three sets of them on my Carrera as dual purpose street/track tires. I went through three sets in 16,000 miles and drove all over the east coast to various tracks, did the DE's and drove home. They are noisy, but a 911 is a noisy car.

I have a set that I use as rain tires for my race car. Most club racers use them as rain tires.

Also, I took a nail through the center of one at 120 MPH (late for an autocross) and the tire held pressure for five minutes before deflating. No kidding.

mm86911

Aside from Ed's experience, how far down (tread wear) is everyone running the tread on the A032Rs and at what point do you begin to experience dry traction loss.

eugene

Just an FYI,

Soft Compound A032R is now available from Tirerack.

Eugene.

mm86911

Unfortunately the 225-50 and 245-45 in 16" aren't offered in the S compound.