Every once in a while we will get a tuner car sent to us for testing that the builder thought needed a bit of an edge. They want to impress us with the cars handling, its ability to put down power and its face altering brakes. For some reason they think we won’t notice the car is on race tires. We always look at tires, some people may think of them as just round and black things that protect the bling, but not us. If seeing the lack of tread and square shoulders wasn’t enough, we would certainly notice the primeval roar reverberating throughout the interior of the car that race tires invariably make, and if nothing else, we would wad up their precious car the first time we tried driving in the wet.
Well Yokohama is about to do these less than scrupulous tuners a favor by offering dang near DOT race tire levels of grip in a street tire package. The last great tire from Yok was the ADVAN Neova AD07. It was dubbed “The fastest street tire around”. As near as we can tell, it was the guys at Yokohama that gave it this nickname, but after driving several cars on the 07, and not having done extensive back to back testing with all its competitors, we find the nickname truly believable.
The new offering from Yokohama is the predictably named ADVAN Neova AD08. Hopefully they will do better in the nickname department than the “The fastester street tire around”. No matter what it’s called, we are left highly impressed after a full track day and a couple of weeks driving the tire on the streets.
We were introduced to the AD08 on the infield track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Yokohama had arranged a wide variety of cars all fitted with the AD08 to really give us an idea of what it could do. Cars ranged from light-weight rear wheel drive RX 8s, all wheel drive EVO Xs, a track ready Stasis tuned Audi, a rear engine rear drive Carrera S, a torque monster C63 and even a big luxurious Audi S8. We really couldn’t ask for a better variety. The infield track in Vegas is a medium speed track that uses mostly third gear and fourth gear. The front straight has some of the cars in triple digits while some of the tighter stuff will really slow some of the bigger heavier machines we had. A good variety of turns to burn up Yok’s newest high tech micro-silica tread compound.
For the non tire geeks out there, silica is a compounding agent that is mixed in with the rubber and carbon black that allows the tire to stay soft on a micro level to get into the grooves in the road surface to maximize grip, while staying resilient on a macro-level to keep the rubber from peeling away and wearing too quickly. The micro-silica is a new development that allows better mixing of the silica in the compound. Silica and rubber don’t naturally bond, so the smaller you can get the silica particles, the better distribution you get, creating a better result.
From what you can’t see to what you can see, the outward design of the 08 has changed from the 07 as well. The pattern of the shoulder blocks has been redesigned to create a continuous tread. This means better, more predictable grip during cornering. The two continuous center ribs are still there to create a solid on center feel and stabilize the car during braking and accelerating. The new tread pattern functions better in wet and dry conditions and is even quieter than the previous model.
As stated earlier, the AD08 offers near race tire levels of grip on track. Some of that grip is forgone for the sake of predictability, but not much. The tires do you give you plenty of warning before letting go and catching a car is pretty easy on these tires. When pushed hard you never feel like your driving the tire more than the car. No matter which vehicle we were in, they always felt as if they were designed for that car.
The AD08 will be coming as standard equipment on some the best performance cars in the world. However more exciting than that is the number of fitments that Yokohama plans of providing for the aftermarket. Unlike the AD07 which had very limited choices, the AD08 will be available in 39 different sizes ranging from 15 to 19 inch. That’s right 15″ older Golfs, e30s and air-cooled 911s will again have the same choices in high performance rubber as everyone else.
Yokohama Tire
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AD07s were one of the best tires I’ve ever used, but wow did they get pricey. Made the switch to Bridgestone RE01Rs and enjoyed very similar performance for a lot less dough.
Wonder what these new shoes are going to cost?
The AD08 will have similar pricing to the AD07. They are expensive, but the prices are competitive with tires of the same of the same caliber. They are within a few bucks of the Michelin PS2, The Goodyear Eagle F1 and Assym, the Pirelli PZero and even the Bridgestone RE11, which is the replacement for the RE01R. Right now you can get amazing deals on RE01R because tire retailers are clearing out old stock.