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So I'm in the market for some 205/50/15 semi's. So far I've been through every tyre place I can find in wollongong and they don't really stock any. The exceptions were Blairs tyres which had Toyo Proxes R888 in 205/50/15 for $272. Mo-town tyres in warrawong which was selling Federals 595RS for $230. Otherwise that's all I could find. Due to the Toyo's now starting to approach $300 I was comtemplating going up as high as $300 per tyre and trying to source something like a Bridgestone RE55S(205/50/15) or Dunlop D01J in the 205/55/15(don't come in 205/50/15 afaik).

So those with Semi's....where did you get them, how much were they and what do you think of them?

MX-5 Mania sell a good range of semi-slicks and have a lot of experience with them on MX-5's.

Gordon Levans are cheap for Yokies, but I've also gotta agree with Benny. Mania sem to be really competitive on tyres!

For Dunlops the NSW dealer is Gary's Motor Sport 9679 8655
Unit 3/13 Penny Place, Arndell Park (near Eastern Creek)

Yokies & Avon, Gordon Leven Tyre & More 4735 4500
133 Russell St., Penrith

Both carry second hand tyres also at about $50 ea.

Charlie Brown wrote:Both carry second hand tyres also at about $50 ea.

I used to obtain my scondhand tyres from a track car this price. A lot more affordable for the times I used the car on the track and they usually lasted me about 3-4 track days a set.

Its a bit of a shame the market for these tyres is so tightly controlled and it keeps the prices high. Here in the US I can buy A048's for 2/3 the price I can in Australia (including the exchange rate), basically because you can go to range of tyre outfitters to get them.

In my opinion, with second hand tyres at $50, you get what you pay for. Once they are down to the tread markers, they are no longer working at their best and hence you compromise on lap times. Having said that, they are still a damn site better than road tyres even at their worst, so if its not outright lap times you are after then go for it !

Daz wrote:In my opinion, with second hand tyres at $50, you get what you pay for. Once they are down to the tread markers, they are no longer working at their best and hence you compromise on lap times. Having said that, they are still a damn site better than road tyres even at their worst, so if its not outright lap times you are after then go for it !

Agreed, I picked up a set of 2nd hand semis pretty cheap, they arent anywhere near as grippy as I reckon a good new set would be(they are a few years old) but even when I thought I had not had a very good run and could be nowhere near my times with road tyres I had actually taken 1.5 seconds off my best time.

I have been talking to certain US \"tyre places\" about importing competition tyres at the moment. Lets just say it looks worthwhile even with the duties. A mate at work is bringing in porsche tyres also very well priced from the US at the moment as well.

I have heard that open tyre may need to be fumigated by customs when they come in too?

zoomzoom wrote:I have heard that open tyre may need to be fumigated by customs when they come in too?

Yep, notorious breeding ground for mosquito larvae and other nasties.

CT - Keep it under AUD 1K per shipment and you will duck under GST/Duty threshold.

I have been chasing tyres too and have looked at both the price and range available in the US,It's easy to save $100.00 per tyre but freight is about $100.00 per tyre by air ,so no great benefit but if you can find a cheap freight service by boat instead I would be verry interested in buying some.
Also I have been Quoted $205.00 delivered by tempe tyres sydney for Falken azenis 615 205 -50 -15.

mr_rotary wrote:

Charlie Brown wrote:Both carry second hand tyres also at about $50 ea.

I used to obtain my scondhand tyres from a track car this price. A lot more affordable for the times I used the car on the track and they usually lasted me about 3-4 track days a set.

I have found the same. S/H is a good way to go if you only use them a couple of times a year. It is a waste to have new tyres which deteriorate due to age rather than use. I found I only ever got one good day out of new semis before they became 'old'.

There's a brand new set of Toyo R881 Semi slicks on ebay at the moment. It's at $550 plus $50 postage at the moment:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-205-55-15-TO ... 0148095990

They're 205-55-15. Close enough I think!

Saw those today, its a pity they are 55 profile, it shouldn't hurt the times too badly though, I ran 195/55 old 2nd hand semis at the last track day and also with a taller(4:1) diff(i broke the old one) and still managed to take close to 2 seconds off my previous best times which was on road tyres. Thats in a NA6 too

If your second hand tyres are harder than you want ,there are ways of softening them.There are shop bought softeners but they cost heaps.My opinion is to use brake fluid and turpintine 50-50 and wrap in gladwrap for a week or so,keep away from sidewalls.I take no responsibility for doing this but it has been done since the 50's.Any way just do a search on softening tyres.
Col