Oak

Curious about these tires, anyone try these?
Blurb from tr site.

The ADVAN A048 is Yokohama's DOT-Legal Competition tire designed for the drivers of vehicles who participate in autocross competition, track schools, lapping days and circuit-type club racing. The ADVAN A048 was developed from Yokohama racing technology for applications that include the 18-inch rim diameter fitments used on the Porsche 911, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Boxster and others.

On the outside, the ADVAN A048 molds a race-ready compound that provides dry grip over a wide range of temperatures into a 6/32-inch deep, "single block" tread design that increases tread stiffness and features a wide center area that stays in continuous contact with the track to enhance cornering stability, on-center feel and steering response. As the tire's outer shoulder tread wears from hard cornering, the ADVAN A048's directional tread design and symmetric internal construction allows worn tires to be remounted "inside-out" on their wheels to help prolong their life. We suggest shaving ADVAN A048 tires to between 3/32" to 4/32" of tread depth for competitive road racing.

On the inside, the ADVAN A048 features twin steel belts that are reinforced with spirally wrapped nylon cap plies and belt edge strips. The belt package is placed on top of a rounded casing design that allows the tire to predictably handle transitions from straight-line travel to high g-force cornering and back.

frank320

I had them on my 996 for half the DE season last year. About 5 weekends of DE (2 Watkins Glen, 2 Pocono, 1 Shenandoah) including driving to and from the track on them. Probably 2500 miles on the street and 1000 miles on the track. They were extremely sticky initially, but degrades progressively after each heat-cycle. They get up to temperature rather quickly. IMO, not as sticky as MPSCs or Hoosiers but better tire wear, as sticky as RA1, but tire wear is not as good as RA1. After all that, i still have about 30% of the tread left and will be using them for at least one more DE weekend. Works ok in the rain.

wross996tt

That is my next tire to try!

Oak

thanks for your insights. These tires might be the ticket for me. I like the fact that they provide grip wider range of temps. I noted that the autocross guys seem to like them due to the fact that they don't require the tires to be heated upto temps for good grip. Also, I like the idea of being able to switch out the tires inside out for longer life. From my experience the MPSC also degrades after repeated heat cycles. From my experience the MPSC are very unpredictable when cold. And takes some time to get them upto optimum temps for good grip.

Woodster

Oak,
will you run these tires full time (on the street and track)?
do you do any driving in the rain and how are these in the rain?

Please advise,

Marty K.

calcareer

None of these class tires are designed to be rain tires, but I have used mine in the rain on the street.
You just have to live live below 1.0 BAR when ever it is raining outside!

tkerrmd

anyone know the tread wear rating on them?? MPSC's are 80

KPG

Tom, according to Tire Rack's spec sheet the UTQG Ratting is 60AA. Kevin

tkerrmd

thanks KPG, and if that's true Frank are you sure about your mileage? cause if so I'm going to try them also cause I cant get that out of the MPSC's

frank320

the tire wear ratings, if i recall correctly, are manufacturer specific. For example, MPSCs and Hoosiers could have the same rating index, but one tire could be a lot softer than the other. The wear ratings are better used to compare against tires from the same manufacturer. Another example is that the Toyo RA1s used to have a tire wear rating of 40 or 60, but changed recently to 100 even though it is still the same tire and wear.

Also, when i drive to the track, i inflate the tires to 36 front and 44 rear cold for the commute. Tires are stiffer for the commute, but don;t flex as much and remain cold for the drive don't heat cycle and wear as much. Once at the track, i deflate them into the high 20s cold, around 36 hot all round. At the end the weekend, i re-inflate them for the drive home. I also realign the car every 4 months or so.

All that helps with prolonging tire life and wear.

Frank

frank320

Tom,
Don't expect the same grip as MPSCs from the A048s though. the yokos are definitely down on grip and performance compared to MPSCs. Again, if i recall correctly, the yokos were originally made for the Elises for autox type use, short spurts, up to 6-8 heat cycles and they are done. But, for the larger tire sizes for our heavier porsches, they have the MH (medium-hard) compound, which tends to lasts a little longer, but is still prone to heat cycling(unlike the Toyo RA1s). The yokos are worth trying out, but if you are already comfortable with MPSCs or Hoosiers, you might be better off sticking with them.

Frank

ceboyd

what you didn't realize maybe is the A048s are in 2 or 3 compounds... Medium, Medium-soft and Medium HARD

...I believe the Lotus comes in the Medium-Soft OR Medium compound but I just ordered Medium-hard for my 993... we'll see as I have yet to use them.....

tkerrmd

Frank that tire inflation pressure idea is good. So the higher PSI kepts them cooler on the way to the track and avoids heat cycles? Good info. thanks

ceboyd

...but it does seem that the A048s like LOWER HOT temps from what I've researched and seen at the track...