E30 Zone

I know there has been much discussion on track tyre choice here in the past. I have been looking into this myself over the last few weeks and seem to have narrowed it down to Colway.

The F2's have been recommended by several people on here and were to be my first choice, although i thought they were road legal, it seems this is a bit of a grey area, some people say yes some say no.

The car is only used on track but has to go on the public road to get there. My other thought is how would the F2's perform if the typical british weather started to show you the wet stuff as i really wouldn't want to have to to change the wheels during the day (i'm lazy....ok..)

So, the Colway Intermediates became favourite. They are a race compound tyre but would still perform in the wet. They are the control tyre for the Porsche 924 championship so it seems they are also well proven for tarmac racing.

Does anyone have experience of these tyres?

I have found that there is no such thing as a "all round" tire!

If you cant strech to buying two sets (dry/wet) then go for these F2s, but i have had no experience with them.

Andrew

was chatting to a guy at snetterton when i was there in sept....he ran an MX5 in a championship where the control tyre was the colway intermediates. He said they took ages to scrub in and only came into their "zone" when they were 50% worn. I guess this process takes longer on a lighter MX5 though. dont know if this info is of any use ??

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't expect an all round tyre to be great at everything, I'll see if i can streeeetttchhh to another set of F2's then, trouble is, like i said, i'll be changing rims on the day, can't be arsed with that. Besides, the intermediates have got to be a better option than the brand new Pirelli P6000's i used for the last track day!!!

I've used colway F2's in rallying they are hard as nails! Required a good bit of smoking to get them up to speed and are fairly good for the price.

Glad you said that as i ordered some F2's yesterday and they have arrived today.

Any suggestions for scrubbing them in?

The best way we find is to drive on them!

Very Funny!!

How much are these F2's in 205 50 15? They don't look like they would be legal on the road to me.

About 50 quid a pop mate.

They are road legal in certain circustances i believe, such as pre-determined link routes on rally stages.....

I would take it that they are not road legal though to be safe. I only do very short distances

Ceeman wrote:Thanks for the replies.

I didn't expect an all round tyre to be great at everything, I'll see if i can streeeetttchhh to another set of F2's then, trouble is, like i said, i'll be changing rims on the day, can't be arsed with that. Besides, the intermediates have got to be a better option than the brand new Pirelli P6000's i used for the last track day!!!

Probably right there
P6000 <---- gash tyres!

Cheers Ceeman, have you used them? I just missed out on a couple on ebay, one brand new and the other one scrubbed for Ԛ£36. Was on the phone to the bloody misses and missed out on them.

Jon_Bmw wrote:Cheers Ceeman, have you used them? I just missed out on a couple on ebay, one brand new and the other one scrubbed for Ԛ£36. Was on the phone to the bloody misses and missed out on them.

Yeah, i used them earlier this month. Some of the comments about Colway tyres on the zone have been really good, but on the trackdays i attend, people don't seem to know much about them. I think that because remoulds have a budget reputation most 'motorsport' people stay away. In fact, the ARDS instructor i took out on the last trackday admitted he knew very little about them or how much grip they provided, but after a few dry laps i think he was pleasantly surprised. Besides, i can't see the point in having mega expensive 'sticky tyres' unless you are a) racing or b) using them on a car with a chassis that can make the most. I don't see my E30 coming into either of those

I bought two sets of BMW 15" wheels from ebay total Ԛ£200.00 with road legal tyres.

Tyres for use on the Track I bought:

For wet days - I chose Goodyear F1 195 x 50 x 15 and Ԛ£50.00 each, slightly narrower to cut through the 'puddles' and any standing water

And for dry days - I chose Maxsport RB5 205 x 50 x15 at Ԛ£56.00 ish each
Maxsport info on this tyre reads:
Best results can be obtained from your Maxsport tyres by 'scrubbing in'. This is done by driving on a tarmac or concrete surface to warm the compound and casing to operating temperature, without hard acceleration, braking or cornering, then allowing them to cool off. This will improve their life and enhance performance. The moulded slick, a road legal tyre for dry, hard smooth surfaces. Design to maximise road to tyre contact area within FIA regulations.

I've yet to try them all out but as soon as I so I'll be posting my thoughts on the forum - could be early dec but unlikely for the Maxsports as no doubt it will be pi55ing it down second thoughts - could be fun..

Pictures of both tyre treads are on my webside click on the www icon below

Cheers