Hi, I'm going to do some sprints in my mk1 1600 GTI which happens to fit the "standard class" that a fairly local club runs. This is good because I had sold my proper competition car and got twins and thought I wouldn't be able to do any competition. Anyway, standard really means standard, I can only change wheels, pad material and exhaust from the manifold back. I'm not going to change the exhaust because I don't think there is much to gain. I've already done the pads. Class (up to 1600) was dominated last year by Saxo VTSs. Interestingly the Golf less power but is lighter so has a slightly better power to weight ratio, slightly slower 0-60 (important as sprints are from a standing start) and the Saxo has quite a lot higher top speed, presumably because of better aerodynamics and more power. Saxos handle well too so Im going to have to go well to beat them. I've always agreed with John Robinson (late of Performance Bikes) that you should start with the best tyres available and build everything else from there. The championship limits me to 1A tyres ie ordinary road tyres, not track day ones. Currently the Polish tyres on 14inch P slots the car came with provide enough grip to lift the inside back wheel a clean 6 inches off the ground but it is well balanced. Rember, springs and dampers are standard. I could go standard 13 sizes but there arent many sporty tyres in that size. So, I could go 13 inch and a very low profile. This would lower the gearing and give me, in effect, closer ratios, which should help. However there is only a limited choice of tyres so they arent that good. 175 50 r13 should fit ok which would probably mean Yokohama A539 or possibly Dunlop SP2000's Ive got a set of standard tarantulas to put them on. I could stick with the 14s but I cant find any sporty tyres in that size. I could go to 15s which would allow a number of high performance tyres (though sadly the tyre of choice AD08s are no longer made). Would probably be something like Pilot Sport 2s. Once Id chosen the tyres Id choose the exact wheel size. What do you recon? Im tempted by the Yokos on 13s. Ps theyll all look funny with standard suspension but this isnt the issue I can have a set of normal wheels for road use.
I`d avoid the 15`s, you are going to be hurting the gearing even more. Liking your thinking with the 13`s and it`s what I`d go for too.
Start off with what you have and see what others turn up with at the first event. Are you prepared to buff them down to 4mm ?
185/60 13 should yield a pretty reasonable selection of tyres available (that's one of the sizes I ran on my Firenza) If you're sticking with standard brakes then there's no need to 15s - and you can find some very light weight 13" wheels which will save you a huge amount in unsprung weight. Are the 16v and 8v cars in together? I know a lot of "standard car" classes used to split at 1400 16v and 1600 8v
Hi thanks for the replies. I'm resurecting as still undecided and first event looming. The advantage of 15s is there are many more sporty tyres in that size. There is a lot of debate in the hillclimbing sprinting world as to what will replace the AD08 as the must-have production class tyre. I think I'll folow James' advice and see what does well for the first few events.
They won't be canning the AD0x tyres. They've always filled a gap between run of the mill road tyres and the more hard core A048 and 888 and whatnot haven't they. The AD08 replaced the AD07, and so forth back to something like the AD04 or probably even earlier - I just didn't see any before that. There's no way it's not an earner for them, between the road and track day users and all the series where the AD08 is the best tyre for the regs. There was that Advan video at the end of 2013 still heavily featuring AD08's and although people keep saying they're discontinued all I ever heard from JDM sources was that they were being superseded by AD08R's which are practically the same. But that's kind of off topic and I'm pretty sure I already said something similar in a dedicated thread, so apologies
Just a few local sprints with AEMC - maybe 3 or 4. I'll do a couple of classic rallies too but those will be on differnt tyres.
I agree but the AD08R is in list 1B where as the AD08 was in 1A and therefore allowed for production classes. There are lots of threads on various sites about what to do, including people phoning round suppliers and buying up AD08s in ones and twos and stockpiling them!
Yeah, I did read that they'd still be offering the other compound (same as the AD08) as well as that new 140 tread wear one, but apparently it was going to still carry the new name... Just don't like not seeing anything conclusive on it and can't see the logic binning a tyre that a lot of people practically HAVE to buy from your company Can see why folks are stressing over it though. If anyone gets desperate I've got some 6.5mm AD08's on a set of Comp MO's in the for sale
