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I'm the first to acknowledge that tyre choice is a very subjective thing; and due to such a wide range of variables in both car and driver, what works for one, will not necessarily work for another.

I'm looking for a tyre in 195/50x15 that I can use for occasional general highway use (to save my track tyres) and for occasional track days when the track is absolutely saturated. I've narrowed down my list to either the Goodyear Eagle F1 (on special with a 4 for 3 deal at present) or the Toyo T1-R. Both have a high silica tread compound and a heavily directional tread pattern which should be good in the wet.

I have the T1-Rs on another sports car and am pleased with their performance, but I have no experience with the Goodyears. Some chatter on other forums has left me somewhat hesitant.

Does anyone here have any recent experience with the Goodyears, or any other superb wet weather tyre?

Many thanks in advance...

http://www.goodyear.com.au/TyreDetailAction.do?website=GYR&websegmentcode=PASSENGER&mtpcode=00373&from=nPerPage

Tony it's worth noting that there are two different Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres ... Assym and GS-D3. Your link shows the GS-D3 version. I had a set of them on my MINI Cooper S for the last few months before I sold it - that was more than two years ago. Unfortunately I didn't do much wet weather driving in it at the time, so can't really help answer your question.

Have a look at the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs. They're extremely good in the dry and are reputedly also excellent in the wet.

I had 195/50R15 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s on mine for a while 3 years ago. Made in Thailand. Total rubbish. I did a 2:24 on them at Phillip Island and was scared shitless, came in and threw on old Yokohama C-Drives and went straight out and did 2:08 and kept my undies clean.

That was in the dry. They were MUCH, MUCH worse in the wet. Guran speaks with wisdom.

Ahh, OK then!

Yes Bryan, I was looking at the GS-D3 version and it would appear as though the chatter I was referring to was on the money.

Thanks for the tip re the Star Specs, I'll give them some thought. I wonder whether they'd be better than the T1-Rs in exceptionally wet conditions.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do some back to back testing on a skid pan?

Regards...

Hmmm perhaps, just like our "favourite" RE001 discussion, Goodyear changed the compound and/or manufacturing process/places.
Many years ago, I drove a friend's Ford Laser SR2 (yeeees, I know it's front wheel drive) in quite wet conditions, for the first time, on unfamiliar roads and I did a U-turn at a round-a-bout with a fair bit of speed. I probably did around 30km/h, so nothing spectacular, but I distinctly remember that grip was outstanding. Felt like the road was quite dry.

I remember reading that review in 2007 [I thought it was much earlier] (cause at the time no other tyre looked anything like it, so it really stood out) that gave praises for this tyre, but can't remember the cars involved, so although this tyre might lend itself well for a front-driver, it seems alot less so for a rear-driver.

1red5 wrote:Hmmm perhaps, just like our "favourite" RE001 discussion, Goodyear changed the compound and/or manufacturing process/places.

That could well be the case. I've also read the comparison reviews and that's what made me consider them. However, the real world feedback on various forums was not so complementary.

As mentioned above, I have the T1-Rs on my old 911 and I've run them on the skid pan at Eastern Creek. As part of the program you go around and around in a right hand circle, gradually building up speed until the car starts to slide.

Well, photographic evidence confirms that the right front wheel was off the ground before the left hand front would understeer; and the only way we could get the rears to break loose was to rely on the 'ole Porsche trailing throttle oversteer - otherwise it just wasn't going to happen. And this is on a wet skid pan!

I hope the T1-Rs will perform as well on an MX5 in the wet; I can't see why they wouldn't.

Are there any other suggestions for a superb wet weather tyre?

Regards...

most tyres with big channels in them and a farely low wear rating should do the trick.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the T1-R is a rather soft compound, thus it's wet-weather adhesion qualities.
I had a friend that ran them on the track, one lap was fine, but once they got hot it was game over.

Treadware is 280, so relatively soft for a street tyre I suppose. Of course, you're right though, when I occasionally take my 911 to a speed off the streets day at Wakefield, the tyres are fairly "greasy" within a couple of laps. The T1-Rs have a fairly high tread void ratio which is good in the wet, but in the dry the tread blocks move around when its pushed reasonably hard and it generates a lot of heat. The sidewalls are fairly soft too.

I have the RS-3s as my track tyre and I'm really happy with their performance. What I'm looking for in this tyre is something I can bolt on to save my track tyres if I'm taking the car to Sydney for repairs etc; or a tyre I can use at the track or a hillclimb when its "absolutely p!ssing down". In both those instances I think the T1-Rs should go pretty well based on my experience with them on the 911.

Never-the-less, I'm still keen to hear any experiences others may have had with a good wet weather tyre.

Wear rating of 280 is on the highish side of things.

I was more thinking 140-180. Silica tyres with this sort of rating tend to have a soft street compound and warm up alot and are marketed as Ultra High Performance tyres.

p.s. I'm getting some RS-3s also. Good to here some positive feedback about them.

project.r.racing wrote:Wear rating of 280 is on the highish side of things.

I was more thinking 140-180. Silica tyres with this sort of rating tend to have a soft street compound and warm up alot and are marketed as Ultra High Performance tyres.

p.s. I'm getting some RS-3s also. Good to here some positive feedback about them.

You're not thinking of the Toyo R1R are you? Its UTQG is 140.

With a large majority of the S-spec tyres in the 180-200 range, I'd say that 280 is relatively soft for an everyday street tyre. Off the top of my head I can't think of what treadware rating the RE001s are.

Tony wrote:

project.r.racing wrote:Wear rating of 280 is on the highish side of things.

I was more thinking 140-180. Silica tyres with this sort of rating tend to have a soft street compound and warm up alot and are marketed as Ultra High Performance tyres.

p.s. I'm getting some RS-3s also. Good to here some positive feedback about them.

You're not thinking of the Toyo R1R are you? Its UTQG is 140.

With a large majority of the S-spec tyres in the 180-200 range, I'd say that 280 is relatively soft for an everyday street tyre. Off the top of my head I can't think of what treadware rating the RE001s are.

I wasn't thinking of any tyre in peticular. Just a vague reference to something to look for.

I do not think majority for street tyres are 180-200 wear rating. Most Dot approved semi slicks range from 140-180 wear rating. Both the Kumho KU36 and Advan AD08 have a wear rating of 180 in 205/50R15. The RS3s I want in 225/45R15 have a wear rating of 140.

Maybe we are talking about different things?

Thanks for your input, and yes there seems to be some confusion. Perhaps I didn't make myself clear; I apologise.

My inital posts are referring to everyday street tyres for very weather use.

My post above is referring to "a large majority of S-spec" trackday/street tyres with a treadware of 180-200 (ie. KU36, AD03 etc) and by comparison an everyday street tyre (ie. T1-R) was relatively soft with a UTQG of 280; no mention of R-spec competition semi-slicks.

I have the RS=3s in 225/45x15 as a trackday tyre and I've decided to get a set of the T1-Rs for a general road/extremely wet track use.

Thanks...

I've got a set of the symmetrical ones on mine.
Fantastic while it's dry, absolutely horrid when it's wet. Traction is practically non-existant, I'd go for Adrenalins if you can find jap made ones

Tony wrote:

project.r.racing wrote:With a large majority of the S-spec tyres in the 180-200 range, I'd say that 280 is relatively soft for an everyday street tyre. Off the top of my head I can't think of what treadware rating the RE001s are.

RE001's are 220.