Best Tyres for fast road use for an E30

[knob]

Hi Everyone,
I'm needing new tyres for my 90 IS, with 15" BBS wheels and original m tech suspension and a good LSD. 90% of the time just me in the car and no excess baggage in the boot. For the last 10 years I have always used Goodyear NCT's. I have found that to get good grip from these I have to run them at 35psi front and back. The problem with this though is they wear rapidly down to the legal limit on the centre of the tyre while the outer edges are only half worn. Especially on the rears. They are lasting about 4-5000 miles. If i drop the pressure down to try and level the wear out the back end becomes very twitchy and a handful on wet roads. great if your having fun but not so good if your in a hurry.......
I do drive the car "enthusiastically" when ever I can but I'n not guilty of deliberately drifting or inducing wheelspin on take off but I do push it to its limits on corners given the chance.
I fancy a change of tyre so does anyone out there reccomend a good tyre for fast road use?
I also have a 325 sport which I bought last year and it came with nearly new Avons on it and i,m not that impressed with them either. Dynamically the 325 is an entirely different car to the IS. the extra weight up front is so noticeable and the balance and feel of it when pushing on is, in my opinion, not as good or as sharp as the IS. So I tend not to push the sport as much as I do the IS so tyre choice is less of an issue with it
Great forum by the way.

[Mitchen]

Hi knob.. not too clued up on racing tyres, I use conti pro's all day long, but lets see some pictures of the IS

[knob]

Hi Mitchen,
not much to see with the pics of this one as its in the workshop waiting for me to finish a bit of welding, fit a new fuel tank and change all the bushes, suspension, brakes etc at the rear. All the front end has been done and I hope to have it back on the road for 1st October. Sorry I cant upload the pics for some reason.
I'm not too clever with computers etc. Can any one tell me how to upload photos from a PC running on windows please?

[Brianmoooore]

Can any one tell me how to upload photos from a PC running on windows please?

See the instructions in the 'for sale' forum.

[knob]

[knob]

[knob]

[knob]

[knob]

[knob]

[knob]

Will update with text shortly

[knob]

What a palaver that was trying to get those photos on the forum. I only have access to a PC at work and it was not up to the job and I had to get some help from a friend to upload them. My apologies to the purists among you who will think these photos should be on another part of the forum and not the technical help section. I have no idea how to move them so if anyone out there can then please do. Thanks in advance.
Anyway the "H" plate IS in the garage is my long term friend, 11 years now, a fabulous car to drive. It came from the factory with the M tech 2 body kit, no sun roof, with ABS and the LSD options. it has done 215 K miles now and still has the heart of a lion. it has been off the road for 2 years now for a number of other reasons and I'm looking forward to getting it back on the road later this year.
The "G" plate IS in the pics i have had for 2 years now which I bought to run while the other one was getting its makeover and although a bit rough and ready looking it is a very solid car and runs very well. It is a"standard" IS without the LSD, with a sunroof, and a previous owner has stuck a fake Mtech rear spoiler on it and eyebrows. I use this most days for work and have had very little bother with it. Some day I will tidy it up and paint it....
I found the grey 325 sport by accident in a lock up where it had lain undisturbed for 12 years about 18 months ago. I could not turn it down even though I had enough on my plate. It needed a bit of welding and a few other bits and bobs to get it back on the road back in April. Since then I have covered about 4k miles in it and its a fabulous car, a bit sore on petrol though, and has 198K on the clock.
If I can improve my computer skills I hope to put more posts on the forum as thing ss progress.

[heathy325]

I have a m52 in mine and have always run toyo t1r tyres these are great for grip but as yours there quite soft and I get about the same miles out of the rears if not hoofing it all the time

[miniblob]

I'm no expert, but surely if they're wearing in the middle and not the edges, they must be over inflated??? Suspension/bushes/alignment all good???
I normally run at 30psi and have never noticed a lack of grip in my 2.7 touring!!! (Toyo T1R's on the rear at the mo!)
Never really worried/checked the mileage on the tyres on an E30, but get way more than 4/5000 miles on any tires I've had (and I don't drive gently!!!) - in fact I would say double that, barring punctures, etc!!!
I used to run softish tyres (Eagle F1's I think), on my old 850CSi, a 2 tonne 5.6 V12 monster, drove that hard & sideways everywhere, daily, and used to get a good 6k out of a pair or rears normally!!!

I believe that if you drive hard and get any warmth in the tyres it also pushes the pressures up slightly from cold, which will give you an even smaller footprint on the road???
Probably not enough for most people to notice, especially on the road, but that's why race cars will start and run on much lower pressures, so they reach the optimum pressure when hot!!!

[knob]

Thanks for the reply,
Yes the wear pattern does mean their over inflated but that is part of the problem with my experience with the Goodyear tyres. In order to get good grip I have to have them at least at 34 lbs and hence the wear down the middle. If i put them at 30lbs or so to get an even wear pattern they are much less grippy especially on damp or cold roads. as you can imagine that happens a lot in Scotland The oversteer is ok as it is more controllable but the understeer can be a bit scary at times !! but at 35 lbs hardly any drama at all just loads of grip.
Ideally what i'm after is the best tyre at the correct pressure so that I can have the best of both worlds, grip and wear.
I can get the goodyears for around £80 a corner (usually) how much do you pay for the Toyos

[age]

Nangkang ns2r is a great tyre for the money.

[miniblob]

Do find it strange that you get better grip at a slightly higher pressure, but I guess all tyres are slightly different!!!
Prob unfair to compare to mine as there's nothing standard on my touring!!!

I've used Toyo T1R's on many cars and several times on E30's and always been pretty happy with them.

I must have cursed myself, as I now have punctures in both my rear tyres!!! Screws through both of them!!!! They were almost exactly a year old and easily less than half worn!!!

I'm on 225/45/16's and the cheapest Toyo's seem to be from Demon Tweeks at £145.46 a pair delivered!!! 15's should be a bit less than that - about £60 each last time iirc!!!

[foggy50361]

If you want fast road tires you may as we'll go to Yoko's, I run them on mine at 28psi and they stick like s**t to a blanket.
If you need to increase the pressure to "get rid of the sloppy feel" would suggest the side walls of the tire are the problem.

[knob]

Thanks for all the replies,
I have another few weeks to decide what to go for and wil get some prices in the meantime for the different tyres suggested and get sorted out by the end of Sept hopefully.
Its going to be a busy month ahead........
Cheers