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Another Tyre Thread! Road/Wet Tyre to Complement Federal 595RSR



JimF

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 172
At the moment I have ditchfinders on my standard wheels, and 595RSR on my Team Dynamics Pro Race track wheels. These are literally for driving to the shops & to stand it on something over winter.
When I had branded tyres on the road wheels I drove to track days etc on them, but the cars barely moved for 6 months so I had these fitted to keep it road legal.
Disclaimer: It doesn’t get driven anywhere near spiritedly on the ditchfinders.

I’ve been pretty pleased with the performance of the 595RSRs so far, not been able to really get a lot of track laps under my belt with them though.
I’m going to the Ring in June and would like some “real” tyres for my road wheels. I want something with decent wet grip in case we get caught by a sudden downpour travelling down from the Netherlands, etc etc

Car is a Clio 172 ph2, 15” track wheels, 16” road wheels, my list of requirements is as follows:
Decent/average dry grip
Good wet grip
Not be a better tyre than the 595RSR! That’s the main one! As silly as it sounds, I wouldn’t my track wheels to have worse performing tyres than my road wheels.

Plus I’m happy not to have the absolute pinnacle of tyres, as long as they’re a quality brand and predictable.
I just want it sorted, I’m not chasing laptimes or pushing the envelope of what’s possible in a Clio.
E.g. with the suspension, the shocks needed replacing. I could have put ASTs or something on, but I went with brand new Cup shocks, the lowering springs it already had & PMS solid topmounts; a marked improvement without going daft.

I also don’t do anywhere near enough miles in it for short lived tyres to be an issue, so that’s almost a moot point.
I’ve narrowed it down to the following, but I managed to confuse myself with all the research, and then reading reviews before realising they were from people driving heavier cars etc.

Kumho KU39
Michelin PS4
Uniroyal Rainsport 3


As with my choice in going for the 595RSR, which were 80% of the performance of its competitor at 50% of the price, I’m happy to make that compromise as long as I’m not buying s**t.
Does that make sense?

Short version of the above: What’s a decent all weather tyre in 16” that doesn’t cost the earth.
 

RSRowe

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 197
PS4 aren't available in anything less than 17", but I'd definitely recommend the PS3

RS3 is a cheaper alternative, but the PS3 feels much better in the dry but with a similar wet performance imo
 

JimF

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 172
See I wondered about this, but if it was dry and I was planning a spirited run, I'd use the Federals on my pretty track wheels. I don't want my normal everyday tyres to be better than my "playing out tyres" :LOL:
 

RSRowe

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 197
they wouldn't be better, it's just that the PS3 wouldn't ruin how the car drives on the road, and they'll cope pretty well when the track starts drying up.
from personal experience with my old track car, the RS3 (even the XL version) are way too soft and feel like driving on jelly... they ruin the way a car feels, and as soon as it starts being more intermediate conditions, they are well out of their depth.
BUT, they are fantastic in the wet!

IMG_1079.JPEG
 


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