I guess Avon has been a big name in Europe for a while, right?

anyway, price is lower then the hoosier, and they come in a 225/45/15
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/avon/avon.jsp

 

They've been around for awhile, I've heard mixed reviews about them.

One MR2 owner said they grip near the level of Hoosiers, but with longevity more towards the Kumho range. However I've also heard that they don't work well on camber-challenged cars.

 

I was going to make a thread about this just a minute ago.. Yea guys, whats the deal with these tires, I know someone knows!

 

There was a guy at the last track day with Avons of some sort on his '03 S2000. they weren't the R compounds, so they were probably the M500s.

I drove the car, and it was incredibly loose, although that could just be how S2k's drive (it was my first time behind the wheel of one at the track). but the *** end was out all the time.

by the end of the day, the rear tires showed severe wear and chunking at the sidewalls. obviously overheated. But then again, this was at streets of willow on a relatively hot day early in september.

The driver did mention that his last set of kumho's (712s I think) held up better than the Avons.

 

A guy in a stock class ITR had them at the DC tour in the spring.
Results are here :http://www.scca.com/_Filelibrary/Fil...dctour-sun.pdf
He did fairly well, coming in 7th in a 15 car field and said that he was not the best driver so I would think that they are between the Hoosiers and the Kumho V700s. They are between them price-wise as well. I would think that the Kumho V710 would be a better choice for most people.

regards,
alan

 

I have heard a "rumor" that the Avons are really Hoosiers in disguise. Can't remember the rest of the story but it has something to do with Vintage racing groups. The conspiracy theorist on this has looked at the two tires side by side and opined that other than the name they are identical. At least in pictures on the Tire Rack site they sure look it.

Hoosier
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...A3S04

Avon
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...ech+R

I don't know what do you think?
(Spec pages don't match up though)

Barry H.

 

I had one event on the Avon Tech R. They grip better than the RA1 but since I haven't driven Hoosiers before, I can't compare them with the Hoosiers. I like the Avon a lot.

Visually, the wear rate is reasonable but definitely won't last as long as the RA1.

Avon as a company, they have been around for a hundred years and been making race tires for formula cars for decades. So I'm sure they know something about tires.

 

i talked to hoosier yesterday. they said in their testing on a neon, that the tires were almost as fast as the R3S04, but after about 8 laps the tread started to separate.

take that FWIW.

 

+1 as I know two autocrossers who have separated tread on the Avon Tech R's.

The M500's are pretty awesome street tires for the price though, I've tried them on a Miata and really liked them.

 

They do look suspiciously similar....however, I don't think they are....

As Wai mentioned, Avon has been in the racing tyre industry for long enough to have developed their own compounds....although they may have looked the Hoosier over very well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by apexinghonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have heard a "rumor" that the Avons are really Hoosiers in disguise. Can't remember the rest of the story but it has something to do with Vintage racing groups. The conspiracy theorist on this has looked at the two tires side by side and opined that other than the name they are identical. At least in pictures on the Tire Rack site they sure look it.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not the same tire. Avon is made by Cooper. Hoosier is made by...Hoosier.

Our local autox club was solicited for participation in some testing on the Avon versus both Kumho and Hoosier at a tire testing facility south of San Antonio. This was testing by the manufacturer (Cooper). Why would they test against the Hoosier if the tire *is* a Hoosier?

--Andy

 

Further debunking of the Avon is a Hoosier myth:

The Avons are generally significantly taller in the same size. There's no way it can be the same tire and have a different height for the same size.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike-y &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There was a guy at the last track day with Avons of some sort on his '03 S2000. they weren't the R compounds, so they were probably the M500s.

I drove the car, and it was incredibly loose, although that could just be how S2k's drive (it was my first time behind the wheel of one at the track). but the *** end was out all the time.

by the end of the day, the rear tires showed severe wear and chunking at the sidewalls. obviously overheated. But then again, this was at streets of willow on a relatively hot day early in september.

The driver did mention that his last set of kumho's (712s I think) held up better than the Avons.</TD></TR></TABLE>

These are the tires that mike-y posted about.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda318dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was going to make a thread about this just a minute ago.. Yea guys, whats the deal with these tires, I know someone knows!</TD></TR></TABLE>


CORY why would anyone want to run anything other than Hankook
you saw what they did to the competition
spanked them
ian

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by icarp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


CORY why would anyone want to run anything other than Hankook
you saw what they did to the competition
spanked them
ian</TD></TR></TABLE>

hankook's? really? seriously? is this an inside joke or are the hankook's a good choice?

Any more info about the Avon's R compounds?

And the pic above. yeah, well he used a street tire on the track. I dont' think it's a fair comparison. Just my .02. Anyone with any info on the Avon R compounds?

I was wondering how many heat cycles they're good for. I want to get an R compound for HPDE. I was thinking the RA-1 cause they can take a ton of heat cycles.

s

 

First RA-1 are the longest lasting R compund tire. Period. If you need them we have them in stock.

As for the Avons. We did a Hoosier test in the summer. The Avon's were just as fast as the hoosiers. But after 10 laps the wires were hanging out. Since we are also the Avon dealer for the Midwest and SoCal, Southwest, we found out that the tires are an Autocross only compound. Cooper in it's infinte wisdom has done what most tire companies do, undercut the "race dealer" and let the Rack have exclusive rights. (at least until end of 2004)

On the Hankook front. The are good tire, very fast out of the box. Tend to fall off a bit and as is usuall with all other D.O.T. R compound tires, dont' wear near as well as the Toyo RA1.

Here is how I sell tires. If you are a top runner and want ultimate grip Hoosier. If you want just a bit less grip but want to not buy tires every weekend, Toyo RA1. It is as simple as that. Big heavy high HP cars will wear out tires faster than small light low HP cars. Must keep that in mind. What I've said is the general rule of course there are exceptions.

Need help? http://www.frisbyracetire.com Racing is all we do!

 

For longest tread life, would you reccomend shaved or unshaved? And how many track days should I expect out of the RA-1?

Edit: This is for a 140whp 2400lb Civic w/205/50/15

 

i would contest the statement that the hankook doesn't last as long as the toyo. traditionally, the toyo has been fastest right at the end of its life. this leads to people shaving down to 3/32, or maybe even 2/32nd, significantly reducing their life.

hankooks on the other hand are fast at the beginning, and then fall off as you say after a while. so people use them for 3 or 4 weekends and get new ones. (i should know, i ran the first 1/2 of this season on free Hankook take-off's, and have a total of 10 of them at my house + 4 RA-1's).

effectively, both tires last about the same amount of time. recently, Spec Miata drivers have been getting extremely accelerated wear out of the toyo's. i've personally seen RA-1's shaved to 4/32nd that were corded after 2 weekends. you used to be able to use these things for almost a full year. also, hankook has a new compound for the Ventus Z211 (the R compound). at the ARRC race Tom Long set the lap record on these tires in a SM and finished 3rd iirc (something like 13 of the top 15 were on Hoosier).

so....
for next year Hoosier isn't necessarily the fastest tire anymore. the RA-1's don't necessarily last the longest, and everything you knew before about tires, isn't necessarily true anymore.

 

So then, which tire would be the best bang for the buck (grip AND wear vs. cost) for a guy with a weekend lapping day warrior?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bull &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So then, which tire would be the best bang for the buck (grip AND wear vs. cost) for a guy with a weekend lapping day warrior?</TD></TR></TABLE>

step one: find a friend or someone who is a serious racer. he will be pulling his tires off his rims before they are "worn out". he will then mount fresh tires.

step two: beg, borrow, or steal the older, used tires.

step three: mount the used tires and get quite a few weekends out of them.

step four: use the tire money you saved to pay for more HPDE days or other useful mods to your car.

i haven't new tires in a long long time. in fact, i have only bought one set of new tires, in the spring of 2002. every other tire before or since has been "used". and i race on them

good luck

todd

ps if you really want to have new tires, i'd suggest yoko 032rH tires. they feel good and last a long time. they aren't as fast as other R tires, but i have used them very frequently.....

 

are they going to be used for the street as well?

 

Track use only. I've got 2 sets of wheels & tires.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

hankook's? really? seriously? is this an inside joke or are the hankook's a good choice?s</TD></TR></TABLE>

NO JOKE
i won h4 echc on hankooks against hoosiers . Set track Record at Summit Pt
and VIR , They last and are consistant . best value out there
toyo and kuhmo did'nt even come close
ian

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by swift-speed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As for the Avons. We did a Hoosier test in the summer. The Avon's were just as fast as the hoosiers. But after 10 laps the wires were hanging out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Would camber has an effect on the outcome? My race car has -5 camber and I put a lot more than 10 laps on the Avons and they didn't fall apart.

They sure grip very well!

 

Bringing this thread back from the dead.

Anyone with more experience on Avon Tech Rs on the race track?... how 'bout you southern folk? You guys race this time of the year, right?