Yoko AD08 opinions?

[Captain Snooze]

Has anyone here used Yokohama AD08s on track? What were your impressions?

Thanks.

[Walldodger]

Great. I had them on a RenaultSport Clio, the thing cornered like it was in a cartoon.
Not a budget tyre though. As if that matters.

[Charlie Davis]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Has anyone here used Yokohama AD08s on track? What were your impressions?

Thanks.

I was thinking about replacing Dunlop Star Specs with them last summer on a 2850 lb. BMW E36. It sounded like they really didn't have an advantage over the Hankook RS-3 for hot weather or the Star Specs for all other conditions. I bought another set of Star Specs. I'd say skip the AD08s...

[Dave-ROR]

I love them. I prefer them over the Star Specs hands down. RS-3s are faster but don't behave as well over a long session IMO (although that's based on Integra usage, I haven't used them on the BRZ yet). The RS-3s go away IMO as they get hot more than the AD08s.

I also have over 14k and 4 track days on the AD08s and will do at least 3 more track days and who knows how many more miles before they need to be replaced.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

I also have over 14k

Is that miles? That seems like (to me) a truck load of distance for a performance tire.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Is that miles? That seems like (to me) a truck load of distance for a performance tire.

Yep. Ad08s and re11s last for a long time. I have more mileage on them on the ITR (about 18k) a lot of auto crosses and two track days and just a little more wear than on the BRZ.

[jdrxb9]

No track experience, but just wanted to say my milage experience with one set of AD08's was not as good as Dave's.

First, quoting myself quoting Trev from an older thread:

I've been autocrossing 225/45 AD08's all year and from the 'RTR at Nats' thread:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=26

Quote:
"We had three practice sessions reserved each of which allowed for four total runs (six for each of us in total). We started the first session on John's 42mm Velox wheels with AD08 tires. They had 165+ runs and about 3500 street miles on them. We each took two runs and decided to try out the new Dunlop's. After the first two runs I was still getting a feel for the car but with the new Dunlop stickers, I dropped over a second on my third run in the car. The tires had not even been scrubbed in yet! On my fourth run I dropped another six tenths. I then ran basically the same exact time on the fith run and dropped one more tenth on the sixth."
Obviously not an 'apples-to-apples' comparison, but Trevor and I both agreed that the new 235/40 Z1's were way better than my older 225/45 AD08's. My impression of the Z1's vs the AD08's was the Z1's are much more 'forgiving' with more gradual break-away characteristics. They may also be a bit less 'sharp' on turn-in, though that could've been in the sizing.

I ran just one more event on the AD08's before buying my own set of star specs. Also, my AD08's were not streetable in the rain at 165 runs and <5k street miles - I had to pull off the road in a nasty thunderstorm on the way home from my last event before nats.

edit: also fyi, I had flipped my AD08's at ~115 runs

[Dave-ROR]

Well I've never done 165 Autocross runs on them and that's rougher on tires than track and street use is. The ad08s do have better feel and turn-in. The 235/40 size also equals a smaller diameter (better gearing and less sidewall) and more width which would help. We run star specs on the race car integra and get anywhere from 10-16 hours out of the fronts and probably 30 hours out of the rears

I got about 15k out of my last star specs that saw street/track/Autocross use (maybe 20-30 runs) also.

I'm curious about the new rival and want to test that when they are available and my ad08s should be dead around April so the timing might work out. No 235/40s though iirc

Bridgestone and someone else are updated soon also I think.