Hard or Soft Compound for 928
 

I'm looking for tire info on the Yokohama A032 tires.

Since my search for a replacement Hoosier slick has been fruitless, I was wondering what the panel's opinion of the Yokohama fodder is.

Is it generally wiser to go with the hard compound for the heavier 928? I will be doing some auto-x and DE in AZ.

I haven't seen anyone running A-032-S at track days around here. I have seen some Mustang guys running the regular A-032R's.

May I ask a more fundamental question (instead of hard vs. soft Yokos)? Why Yokos at all?

Track tires can be rated on three characteristics; price, life and stick. From what I've seen, the Yokos aren't outstanding in any of those categories. They are cheaper and longer lasting (A032R) than average but for the same price you can get Toyo RA-1's which cost about the same, last longer and have way more grip. RA-1's are much more popular around here. The Speed GT series runs exclusively on RA-1's and they've turned some amazing laptimes on them (close to Hoosier RS303 or Hoosier GrandAm spec slicks).

I haven't seen the Toyo's in a suitable size. As it sits right now, I'm using a set of 16" wheels (7 and 9 inch) that are wearing 225 and 275 width tires respectively. They are Hoosiers' A3S04 and they were a steal from the Tire Rack. Unfortunately, they are discontinued and I already corded one slick.

The main question is "am I wasting a pile of money with soft compounds?" The Yok's come up because the Tire Rack sells them and there is a basis for comparison in the reviews.

Tim:

I too ran the Hoosiers last year and was always a little disappointed in the A compound versus the R compound choice I had to make every year. I do a lot of autocross and a few DE events, and so like you was faced the the decision of a soft tire where I could pickup a little time in the autocross or an R compound that would live through the DE events but never quite got warm enough to hookup well on the autcross courses. I usually chose the R coumpound to be safe.

This year before purchasing tires for the year I happened to do some lurking on the Corvette board and Mustang board. What I learned there was that the southern boys who have already had nice weather for a month more than us yankees, were reporting that the new Kumho V710 was kicking butt on the autocross circuits and were reportedly faster than the A compound Hoosier by more than a second.

The plus which sold me was that the tire is rated for both autocross and DE events.

I purchased a set in 275/17 for the front on a 9.5 inch rim and 295/17 in the rear for my 11 inch rims. My initial impression has been good. My first PCA autocross event is Sunday at Kilcare Raceway in Dayton, Ohio. I will have a better idea if they are the ticket or not after I get to compare my times to the benchmark drivers in the modified group.

Here is the link to the tire at the tire rack and they do have a few tires which would probably suit you in the 16 inch range. I would think maybe the 225 and 265 set up would work well for you. Do you have adjustable shocks or sway bars?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=ECSTA+V710

And they are cheaper than the Hoosier.

One last comment for anyone else playing with these tires, they like pressure. I'm currently running 39 PSI front and 35 rear and when I hit the tires with my pyrometer I am seeing linear temperatures from inside to out and all within 10 degrees. (Lots of camber)

Hope this helps and I will try to remember and post my final impression after the autocross on Sunday. If anyone is in the Dayton area....come on out.

Here is our IRAC race link and there are a couple of pics of me having fun there. I had FTD at the Cincinnati, Ohio event last year and won the I-3 class for the third year in a row.

http://www.morpca.org/main.htm

Good luck,

Ken

Thanks Ken. I've looked at the 710's and I'm inclined to agree with you.

I'm running A3s04s in 225 front and 275 rear configuration. They stick like glue, which was awesome on the last auto-x I ran. I'd really like to get another one for the front rather than scrapping the remaining three at less than a quarter of their use. It's an aweful waste of money.

The end all be all answer is to get my track car out there with 17" or 18" wheels and tires that are appropriate. They just don't make a lot of big rubber for the 16" wheels. Bummer :(

Incidentaly, when I do get the track car going, I am going to petition Goodyear to make a 275/40 16 GS-D3. I know I'd buy a few sets!

Correction 285/40 16. I just redid the math. Hey I guy can dream right?

Watch out for those V710's. From what I've heard they are fantastic tires but only last one weekend.

I used V710 the last outing hours of track time over two days and they still look pretty good and these are only 225x50x15 little tires and several sessions I had students riding with me so 3400 -3600 lbs I thought they worked well and came within .02 seconds of setting a class record for POC- HI .

Why don't you just get 2 new fronts?

Matt makes a good point it is generally OK to run different brand front and rear tires may not be ideal but not really all that much of a compromise. Some race teams "tune the chassis" that way. BESIDES you are running for FUN !

I've run those Yokos. While they advertise two compounds, only the hard is available. That was OK by me as they lasted through 6 or 7 DE weekends plus 2000 street miles. I thought they were a good value at that. Slower then other tires, though. Maybe a second or two.

I went with Kumho Victoracers this year as they're cheaper and (supposedly) faster. I'll not be driving them on the street to prolong tread life.

does cooper make any good tires? I heard some people say they make a few performance tires and that they are pretty good.

What are "they" doing to those poor tires??? :rolleyes: It's been my experience that the 710's last a LOT longer than the A3S04's and grip better as well. Sounds like someone is learning how to drive rather expensively :to_order:

I figured that the tires had to be the same all around. I guess the V710s are about equivalent to the A3S04s, so I could order a set of them. I'm just concerned about bringing in more instability when I don't need it.

What about the Avon Tyres?