Hi there The yokohama AD08 tyre was one of the favourites for the hillclimb and sprint crowd who due to class regulations had to use 'normal' road tyre, what the msa call a list 1a tyre. Tyres like the toyo r888 are not in this category as these are more of a specialised performance tyre, or msa list 1b. The ad08 was a favourite as it was a very marginal call whether it was infact a 1a tyre, and in some respects was more like a 1b, and consequently faster than most other 1a's. And thats why folks rapidly realised this and used it for sprinting. Anyhow.....yoko have stopped making it, and have properly put the cat amongst the pidgeons, as now no road going class records will be broken in 2014, probably. It has been replaced by the ad08-r, which as its a better tyre with softer rubber, is now classified msa list 1b. Its available in some very useful sizes and will be very cometitively priced against the r888, so could be interesting to try for a few trackdays. Cheers Rob
Not quite sure what the 1a boys will do now, its a bit rediculous really, the front runners must spend more on buffed tyres than modprod runners spend on slicks..... Marangioni zetas were the thing for a while, before the ad08 appeared, so maybe back there...dunno. It will be obvious by easter where folks are going.
It will be interesting to see what happens next for sure I think it was the only tyre I saw on the Combe saloon cars during my time in the paddock last season, excluding moments of torrential rain. From what I've seen so far though a lot of those guys still have a few in reserve for this coming season. I will be interested to hear what you see popping up to replace them and how they stack up. If there's no Yoko replacement of course It would be logical as the AD08 replaced the AD07 which was very much a previous incarnation, it was a fairly big change from the AD06/05's at least wasn't it. They must have done well out of the AD0x range both money and reputation/publicity wise so it would seem odd to kill it off...
Nothing 1a-ish new coming from yoko, spoke to them at autosport, think they had received a lot of stick for the changes....... I would say it will be an advantage to run larger wheels since the most tasty 1a rubber comes in bigger dia rubber for the modern breed of hot/ultra hatch. Having looked at whats now available, i would be tempted to try the p-zero or the mich ps3. Buffed of course. Its gonna cost the roadgoing folks a wedge, which is just an idiotic position the rules force folks into
