theres me starting another thread on these tyres without searching (still can't get used to having a search function that works) i'm thinking of getting these for my MK1 track car, mainly cos i'll only use it in the dry..... my worry is that i'm running stiff suspension, stiff ARB's and a weld in cage(stitched to the a,b and c pillars) do you reckon the car could be too stiff for the tyres especially if i get caught out in the wet?
i shouldn't think so, we use them at work in the clio track days ( great having the same size wheels as them!) and they don't have a problem.
i think i have found my problem, i was on the assumption that i had yokos all the way round... when fitting the ******* exhaust to my car i noticed that the rears are infact falkens. explains a lot. i think i'll take back what i said about the yokos now
I've used them on all my last three track cars which have been used in Hillclimbing,sprinting and track days and never had a problem with them. I've got them on the VR6 as well and its more the suspension which causes more grief than my tryes
Sorry for blatent dead thread revival but I recently have had a bit of an expirence on A539's that makes me think that its slightly more than just the tyre being crap. The tyres are on a MK2 Vr6 that has had the funky wide track mods front and rear and feels incredibly planted round corners in the dry and in the wet. I have never had any problems with them in the many times I have flung the car enthusisticly round roundabouts. Until the day before yesterday. As everyone probably knows its been pretty much socking wet for most of this week and I was out testing a couple of mods I'd done. Came up to a round about, it was very wet, threw it in, and it gripped like **** to a bears ****. With this thread in mind I thought, "A539's **** in the wet my ****" and continued apace up the dual carridgeway ahead of me. Came upto the next roundabout, quite a bit of traffic so backed off quite alot and entered the roundabout at a conservative speed (knowing the police like to sit around that roundabout) and going straight on. As soon as I entered the roundabout and tried to turn, I had movement that felt like in 4 different directions from each corner of the car. A bit of luck panic and skill had me off on my as usual with the car feeling quite loose under neath me untill..... ..... I drove onto a different area of tarmac, where obviously there had been roadworks and the car was solid again. I went back and had a look and noticed that just before the roundabout the surface changed from one type to another and this surface in the wet was shocking. I wasn't the only one that was struggling round there, nearly every car seemed to have a bit of understeer for various amounts.
Yep Nick (realised it's you now ) I can vouch for this elsewhere also. There's a very odd surface camber change on a roundabout near me which turns an understeering Dagenham shed into an oversteer animal (without even trying). But for those who think A539s are bad, may I introduce the 'Ceat' brand tyres bought from from Kwik Fit in a fit of illogic on the part of a former keeper. < Drum roll, ta, daaa! > Swapped my A539s onto the rear and put the concrete Ceats onto the front of said shed. Spins up the fronts in the wet, all day long, all the way up the road. And only 90bhp. Hmmm
I thought the A539's were bad until i put them on the front with the budget tyres on the rear, only then when I was getting oversteer in the wet with the rear kicking out like a mule did I then gain more respect for the A539's. In the dry I find the braking grip really good with a compond that just doesn't break its grip all of a sudden, on the plus side I do find these tyres quite good on the noise front too! Just not my favourite rain tyres, i think uni rainsport's are my next tyre choice on my next car! Been experimenting with the tyre pressures and I've seemed to find a happy pressure now, just took some time!
for your average guy, F1s are a fantastic "safe" tyre, wet grip is not far off dry grip. rubbish for the drifters out there, but if you want it to go where you point it then F!s are the daddy
That sort of ties in with my personal theory that A539's need to warm up more than most to get decent grip. The more relaxed approach to the second roundabout due to traffic and the surface water probably allowed the tyres to cool down a bit. I've never had an issue with them, but I rarely push hard in the wet. Also, having spent a few years on bikes I am pretty sensitive to what my tyres are doing in the wet.
See, when its absolutely belting it down, the A539's were fine. Its the transition from a dry road to just started raining that they used to go to crap! The used to spin up like crazy and slide me about. My trackday at Mallory in the wet was very sketchy on the A539's. Then did a wet track day at Coombe with F1's and the car was much more predictable. The A539's are much better than cheapo budget crap or regular non sporty tyres, just think there are better tyres to be had. Gurds
Tyres are great things, the 539's are a huge laugh in the wet, but no way near as exciting as the old 509's! now who remembers them!! I've got proxes on my 17's and they've been fantastic for a soft tyre in the wet, plus they don't half kick up a lot of water off the roads too.
see, thats the point...yes there are a lot worse tyres than 539's, however at the cost 539's are they should be a lot lot better.
My personal view: - Get an accurate pressure gauge and use it at the correct time - Note the vehicle manufacturers recommendations on pressures and load - Appreciate the condition of your car plus any mods from standard - Maintain the vehicle and the tyres correctly, especially suspension - Appreciate what affect your driving has on the performance of your equipment - tyres - Road conditions - use your head before your foot - Don`t mix brands if you can help it I now use 539`s on a 200bhp Mk2 Golf as I was not happy with the performance of the Toyo T1-R`s it came on. Prior to changing I spoke with both Toyo and Yoko to determine the characteristics of their products and their suitability for my purpose. I`ve used 509 - 510 - 520 - 539 - AO32R so guess I`m a fan (an old one at that), whenever I`ve had a problem related to grip or handling it`s been down to me and not the tyre - they`ll do far more than you think as long as you know how to use them !
For the price though the car's setup shouldn't be as big a factor in using what are sold as everyday road tyres. I'd love to actually talk to someone at Yoko about why they dumped the A520 in the first place. You don't see anyone having had problems with them, I went to A539's when they stopped selling A520's as a natural progression but they weren't the same. (Totally standard VR6 Corrado).
i'm a fan of F1's - had around 4 sets of them, however, on my RM's i have Falken's and i must say i'm very impressed, even in the wet. altho they do squeel a little more in the dry
yeah, i don't get what was so bad with the 520 that they felt the need to change....they were nice tyres.
032's, I had them on my mk1 when I was running 13's, interesting tyre.... As for the 539's, I've had a chat with a few people who do a lot of track days and they cant stand them. My mates mk1 runs them as track tyres (185/60/14s (?), standard p slots) and he says they are fine. Thats at about 24/26psi. This has only ever been in the dry. I run 195/50/15 Toyo S, the older compound and find these are awesome in the dry and on track (running slightly higher psi but will play about with that in the future) but they are awful in the wet! Ok Im relatively new to the mk1 (owned since last August) but in the wet i've had a few 'slippage' incidents. Nothing major as luckily the mk1 tells you whats going on, but wasnt expecting it on a low speed open bend. Ran the same tyre on my old carb'd 205 and that was the same. Isn't the R a softer compound?
Yoko number is 01908 625625 ... call them. When I did I was considering the AVS to replace the Toyo T1-R but they advised the 539 and quoted it`s race experience. The T1-R was flexing too much for my liking and Toyo did admit that it has a `soft` sidewall, they too quoted it`s race experience and advised I try the T1-S which they say is an improvement. However, I stuck with my favourite brand and am not disappointed, the 539`s certainly handle the power under acceleration better than the Toyo`s. Given that I have both makes in the same size it`s quite noticeable that the Toyo has the taller sidewall. 520`s - I still have a set but only for occasional road use to save the Supersoft 32R`s
if by race experience you mean yoko's used on stock hatch cars....well, any manufacturer could sponsor a series and enforce whichever tyres it wants....even champiro could do it, doesn't mean they're good tyres!
