10" tyre choice - roadlegal

[phil82]

I'm looking for the best performing road legal 165/70R10 tyre in terms of performance / grip for my "new" mini. It's a '79 Mini that will have a 1293cc engine with about 100bhp, with state of the art brakes (no defined yet) and suspension. I plan to used it one the road, for slalom and some rallying or track days - all on tarmac. I'll be using 4,5*10 Minilites without wheel arch extensions to keep the original / small exterior.

So far I only have experience with the Yokohama A048, but only in 12" and 13" on other Minis.

What would you recommend for 10"? So far I have found:

Avon CR6ZZ
Dunlop D93J
Dunlop R7
Yokohama A032
Hoosier T.D.S.

How do the
Dunlop CR65 or the
Dunlop CR70
perform compared to the other tyres. I know the last two aren't road legal but for trackdays and slalom I don't need road legal tyres, so I could go for a second set.

The bigger slicks from Dunlop (like the Miglias use) or from Hoosier are no choice as the tyres may no stick out of the arch for the slalom races.

Thanks for helping out with your experience.

[guru_1071]

the avons are the best road legal tyre that you will be able to use

even more so as your using 4.5" rims

the side walls on them are so stiff that they dont tuck under like the yokos do.

the hoosiers are (if i remember correctly) only suitable for a 5/6" wide rim

[Matty]

I'd say the 032R are the best. I had the A008s for years and always struggled with grip. As soon as I I fitted the 032Rs it was a completely different car and my 60fts on the 1/4 mile dropped by 0.7 of a second.

Suprisingly they seem better in the wet too, despite almost being a semislick,. The only reason I kept with the A008s for so long is because I was concerned about the 032Rs in the wet. With my current engine spec im expecting to it to be well over the 200bhp mark and they doing very well to keep wheel spinning to a minimum. lol

[newtune]

It depends on how much you want to spend on a tyre ? and how you drive ? the dunlop's and the avon's are both very good tyres but pricey, the yoko are very good to and if you wear a set out in a couple of thousand then their a bit cheaper, but they are not very period looking.

I was going to run a set of R7's for the mini 2 monte, but ran yoko's and glad i did as they did wear down to 1.6 and below, but some of the R7 were sicks and i had a 1380 with a slipy diff are the R7 chaps had 1298 with standard or 4 pin diffs.

cost/performance wise i would use yoko's,

If any one wants some Yokohama's any sizes just pm me as have most in stock, A032R about 35 ish + vat A008,A048R

Cheers James

[steady eddie]

I'm looking for the best performing road legal 165/70R10 tyre in terms of performance / grip for my "new" mini.

How do the
Dunlop CR65 or the
Dunlop CR70
perform compared to the other tyres.

Don't even think about it! The Dunlop Historic Tyres are a totally different animal to the modern tyres you mention and as a result make different demands on driving style, like sliding most of the time, watch how Nick Swift or Andy Hack go on them, great fun but I suspect much slower than modern sticky tyres. Also at around £125 a time, well its a no brainer price wise against the Yoko's! Wear rate is crap on CR65's on our Appendix K racer, front nearside tyre lasts for about an hours racing, some people have a new set of pre-buffed for every meeting.

If you really would like to give CR65's a try for interest, PM me I can most likely fix you up with a set of part worn ones at a significant discount.

I used to use the Yoko A008's on our Historic Road Rally 1293 S in the early 1990's and always found them good once they got warm?

Eddie

[phil82]

wow thx a lot for all those comments.

well my driving style - as I work as a test driver I can "ruin" as set within an afternoon - if it's needed but that's not my normal driving style. Without track days as set of Yokohama A048 in 12" did last about a season. But tyre wear and costs are not so important in that case.

That's why I didn't ask for the A008. I know from a friend who switched from A008 to A032 that the second is a lot better.

In the end I'd come up to this result (at least for me):
Avon CR6ZZ: really good and stiffer than A032
Yokohama A032: also really good. Tyre wear is better than with others. Actually I quite like the look, although I admit - it's not so period.
Dunlop D93J / Dunlop R7: in another older topic in this forum about those tyres I read today that they are good road tyres but can't be really compared with the Yokos / Avons
Hoosier T.D.S. Guru, you're right. They are mend to be used with 5" to 6" rims. Just saw this on the Hoosier site.

Dunlop CR65: "don't even think about it". Thanks Eddie - that was clear. But I come back to you on those used once for testing. That would be great. But that will take a while....

Dunlop CR70 is there a big performance difference to the CR65?

Well, I think I'll give those Avons a try, once I've got the Mini ready to go. Still a long way but I have the goal to get it running during the next summer.

Phil

[steady eddie]

Dunlop CR70 is there a big performance difference to the CR65?

Phil

Really can't say, as we have never used them, but will ask around, any body else on here used CR70 recently?

Eddie

[Vegard]

On a 4,5" wheel, the A032s are hopeless. A008s even more so.

[guru_1071]

I'd say the 032R are the best. I had the A008s for years and always struggled with grip.

i found it the other way.....

with 4.5 inch rims the biggest problem is the rear tyres touching the body work and warming up, with makes the back wilder and wilder as they get hotter, eventually the o/s one will get so hot that it will start to chunk.

with both sorts of yokos (but the 32r was worse) i could ruin both back ones and the front n/s in a 20 min race. the n/s rear 32r would go blue with the heat

on a car that ran wider wheels, or could have the inner arches moved it wouldnt be a problem, but i still wouldnt use them for comp.

a set of avons would last all year, and this was when we where doing 40 min endurance races.

a008s on the road are great tho

the car was a different animal, controllable flat out, progressive breakaway, beautiful to drift and slide

[Vegard]

The thing with A032s and A008s ( Can you even get them anymore?) is that they are too wide for 4,5" wheels. You need to run 4degrees negative camber to get an even tyre wear.

When it comes to CR65s vs A048s,I must admit that Sandman did lap the track faster than me on this year's last outing. It's obviously not down to only tyres, but come one... A Mini can be extremely fast on CR65s. Ed, show us the video from the first Våler race this year. It's only a credit to your driving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1elwtDw ... er&list=UL

[mab01uk]

Very happy with the look and performance of the Japanese Dunlop R7 (CR65 look alike) on my Mini with 6x10 Minilite rims, an expensive 10" tyre but I only do a low annual and mostly road mileage.
http://www.classictyres.com/item/501/16 ... ce--r7--tl

http://www.vintagetyres.com/display.asp ... &m=3&dc=74

http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?ty=pb&pid=42605

I wish I could still buy 165/70x 10 Goodyear Rally Specials though.............my favourite Mini tyre in the 1970/80's.

[phil82]

Thanks Guru for those explanations!

CR70 - I only know that the Mini Se7en guys use them. Performance looked quite good, but it's more than 10years ago that I saw them the last time. Thanks Eddie for asking.

So the first set will be from Avon. If it does make sense (I will go on searching for info and post it here) I will get me a second set with CR70 for the track and slalom (they are not road legal here).

And the Dunlops R7 will be fitted on another car where the period look is more important. That will be an Elf my girlfriend wants to have....

Vegard: that's you driving in your Clubman in that video? Am I correct that you are using A048 / A032? What tyres are the other Mini and the Marcos using? Never thought that a Mini on CR65 would be slow, but it's hard to compare lap times (for example App K with Mini Se7en and Mini Miglia) due to totally different cars, not only tyres.

Cheers Philipp

[Vegard]

Vegard: that's you driving in your Clubman in that video? Am I correct that you are using A048 / A032? What tyres are the other Mini and the Marcos using? Never thought that a Mini on CR65 would be slow, but it's hard to compare lap times (for example App K with Mini Se7en and Mini Miglia) due to totally different cars, not only tyres.

Cheers Philipp

That's me driving. I think I'm on 12s in that video...The Marcos and the green Minis are on 12s as well.All I can say is that Sandman is faster round this track than me. Obviously not all down to tyres, but it just goes to show that a CR65s is not slow.

[Pete]

Very happy with the look and performance of the Japanese Dunlop R7 (CR65 look alike) on my Mini with 6x10 Minilite rims, an expensive 10" tyre but I only do a low annual and mostly road mileage.

http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?ty=pb&pid=42605

And Vat-free at Minispares until the 13th December I understand.

[Steve A]

I have a set of Dunlop Formula 70 SP Sport 165 70 sr10 that were on a set of rims i bought a while back. They look brand new and don't seem to have been on the road. They were stored up a loft for a few years and i was wondering if they will be any good to use as they look fine? Do they not make these any more? regards Steve

[mk1]

The formula 70's are indeed not made any more.

If they have been stored in the dark, there is no reason why you shouldn't use them.

[Steve A]

Were they good tyres? are they good tyres? i have just advertised them as i was going to buy some new tyres after reading this but may change my mind and use them. I have had them removed from the rims and taken a pic of them and do quite like the 'old' tread pattern. If they don't sell i'll use them. Thanks Steve

[Steve A]

What about using 032's on the rosepetals minispares sell 4.75 wide i beleive?

[1071 S]

I quite like the old " Aquajets " - although a lot don't. I find them very sensitive to correct pressure settings ..... and once they get half worn ie if the little "tunnels" at the edge of the tread are no longer complete cylinders then forget it.

At the time they were specifically marketed as "wet" tyres (film shot from below of a tyre running over a glass plate covered with water) so didn't do well in Oz.

While they were a 70s tyre you could buy new retro versions in the noughties...

Cheers, Ian

[Sean1380]

Just for interest sake !!!!!

Did you guys know that Dunlop Japan also make the R7 in a 165/55x12 ?