Need Tire Advise from those who've tried and compared/ yoko a048 vs ad07

[chris22104]

Width/wear/rain. I need to order 4 new tires for an 08 roadster, today. I know the a048's are softer than the ad07's, and grab better on dry roads. Not so good in the rain, right? Any one drive on them in the rain? If so, how bad are they? But I like the idea of having the wider 195's on the front (with the a048) as opposed to the narrower 175's (with the ad07.) For those of you that have used the softer a048, with a wear rating of only 60, how many miles are/did you get out of them? Is tire rack the most reasonably priced place to buy?
Thanks for your advice guys!
Chris

 

[Jaff]

Yes, I'd like to hear some experience reports from those with the A048's with respect to wet weather performance as well.

I use my Roadster as a daily driver...I put snow tires on in the winter, but have taken a conservative approach to driving the rest of the year with the AD07's...I'd like to move up to the A048's though...

 

[Doug_G]

I've got myself a second set of rims with A048 for autocross etc. Once the weather improves I'll be able to give you a pretty much back-to-back comparison.

 

[Jaff]

Sounds good...thanks Doug!

 

[ggr]

I started with AD048s. San Diego doesn't have much wet, but they handled it fine. My big problem with them (beside the cost) was noise... I was shocked at the difference when I replaced the rears with something else (Michelins) at about 4.5k. I replaced all four with Kumho's (don't do that) at about 13k, but was again surprised just how much road noise the old fronts had contributed.

 

[Jaff]

Thanks for the reply ggr...other than the noise, how did you find the wet weather performance (in the few times you experienced it) versus the Michelins?

Were the Michelins you put on closer (in performance) to the AD07's or the stickier A048's?

The noise doesn't really bother me too much as I usually have the music on (and the lid off when the weather permits)...

 

[Doug_G]

I have driven once with A048's, and I'll second the motion on noise. They're loud.

 

[chris22104]

The a048's are actually cheaper than the ad07's on tirerack.com. Thanks for the input on the noise factor. But what about tread wear ggr? How many miles did you get out of them? (for comparison purposes.)

 

[smorgasbord]

As discussed in the 2.5 Tire Thread, there are also AD08's available for the rear. $100 cheaper per tire, 1lb lighter than AD07s, and a better compound (supposedly). Still have to run AD07s on the front, though.

 

[Doug_G]

As discussed in the 2.5 Tire Thread, there are also AD08's available for the rear. $100 cheaper per tire, 1lb lighter than AD07s, and a better compound (supposedly). Still have to run AD07s on the front, though.

I know a guy who is running his Elise that way, and he says it works just fine.

 

[chris22104]

Reading all the reviews on tirerack about the a048's, it doesn't sound like a good choice for the street compared to the ad07's. Plus as ggr mentioned (and most comments on the tirerack reviews,) the a048's are extremely noisy. As much as I'd like to put the wider 195mm tires on the front (a048,) I'm leaning toward the (unfortunately) narrower but quieter 175 mm (ad07's.) Plus being in the northeast, we don't get a ton of super hot days thru the year (spring and fall are nice, but not hot by any means.) One more question; whats the LTS designation on the end of the ADVAN Neova AD07 LTS in the service manual? The tire rack site list the correct ADVAN Neova AD07 tire, but no "LTS" on the end.....

 

[evinfairfax]

The tire rack site list the correct ADVAN Neova AD07 tire, but no "LTS" on the end.....

LTS is the Lotus specific version of that tire. I'm not sure if "LTS" is the general Lotus equivalent to "N0"/"N1" or "M0", etc, for Porsche and Mercedes. Or if "LTS" is just specific to this particular tire.

I'm a track junkie, and I've had a lot of friends and track day students with Elise's. I've noticed this is a popular tire with that crowd. I've used the 048's, and as others have said, I wouldn't recommend them for street use (noise)

 

[ggr]

Thanks for the reply ggr...other than the noise, how did you find the wet weather performance (in the few times you experienced it) versus the Michelins?

Were the Michelins you put on closer (in performance) to the AD07's or the stickier A048's?

I didn't push it hard enough in the rain to have a good comparison, I'm afraid. When it rains in San Diego all the drivers (possibly including me ) go completely stupid, either driving as normal or crawling along. All I can say is that neither of them surprised me in the wet. Just based on tread design, I would worry a bit about the AD048s aquaplaning, particularly once worn down a bit. The Michelins are definitely more like the AD07s, though.

The noise doesn't really bother me too much as I usually have the music on (and the lid off when the weather permits)...

I would have thought that too... but as I say, I was surprised. At mid-speeds, say 20-50 mph, about half the noise was the AD048s, at least by my subjective evaluation.

 

[Concept:Carbon]

Chris,

We run the 048's on a lot of our track cars, with Toyo's R888s as a less expensive alternative. They are "R" compound tires which means they will be super sticky at temp but not the best when cold and have tread patterns supporting more dry conditions, though we have ran both in wet conditions without much issue. Also as ggr pointed out they are typically louder than an extreme summer performance tire due to stiffer sidewalls. So unless you track/Autox/ or drive pretty spiritedly then an "R" compound tire is typically not the best for street only use. I use the 048s on my street Exige and usually get ~4-5k miles out of them

AD08s (Replaced the 07s for all intensive purposes), Dunlop Star Specs, Hankook RS-3 and Bridgestone RE-11, are the top rated (non R compound) street tires on the market. I have always been a fan of the Yokos. The star specs have great feedback but I do not know if they will fit your wheels.

"LTS"
The LTS A-048 compound (Lotus Sport Package tire) is a unique compound that has been spec'd and tuned by Lotus, and is very similar to the Medium-Hard compound.
Lotus has 2 compounds when it comes to the A-048s, a Medium hard is for track/street duty and the Medium is more for AutoX.
The construction of the LTS tire is different than all other A-048 versions. The Lotus spec has a nylon carcass, while all others have a Polyester carcass. In true lotus fashion, they are lighter.

I hope this helps.

-Chris
Concept:Carbon

 

[Jaff]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[chris22104]

Thanks guys! Despite wanting the widest tire I could fit in front (a048 in 195,) I decided to get the stock ad07's in their 175. Buffalo, N.Y. weather is not hot in the spring and fall, and the car will only be street driven. So for what I'm doing, I think this is the best bet. I didn't want the extra noise of the 048's either. I received the ad07's today from tire rack. Despite them not listing them as "LTS" on their website, the "LTS" designation is indeed on the tires themselves. Exact match to the stock 08 tires. Thanks again guys! Chris

 

[W.Petefish]

I started with AD048s. San Diego doesn't have much wet, but they handled it fine. My big problem with them (beside the cost) was noise... I was shocked at the difference when I replaced the rears with something else (Michelins) at about 4.5k. I replaced all four with Kumho's (don't do that) at about 13k, but was again surprised just how much road noise the old fronts had contributed.

Out of curiosity what was wrong with the Kumho's that you had?