Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi I'm a new member and currently on the lookout out  for a GT86 and looking for tips on which 

Tyres to put on for the best control on all types of surfaces wet and dry...thanks in advance 😉      

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh, new car owner? Then yes, nothing wrong with stock primacies. They are often misdeservedly ill spoken of, but in reality are good normal tires. Less grip will net more playfulness/fun at slower speeds. They have relatively stiff sidewalls, good/sharp steering feel, wear well and help fuel economy. I wouldn't get them for second set because they are overpriced, but if you get "free set" with new car, imho best choice to wear them down instead of changing tires right away. Mentioned MPS4 will have higher grip .. but that will also mean less playful car, more "tramlining", at least in daily driving.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Primacies are rubbish when it's cold or wet, which is half the year - and sometimes in the middle of summer, before anyone suggests buying winter tyres, which is just a waste of time in most of the UK. They are just not good enough for a 200bhp car. PS4 are much better and perfectly good enough in the wet to be used year round. I've never had any issues with tramlining and don't see why you would, unless you were running very wide wheels.

FWIW my Primacies came off at about 20k miles and still had a ton of tread, after several track days. They would've easily done another 10k. I'm glad I didn't wait for them to wear out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, i'm maybe using it a bit different context, as main meaning, which can be for example googled, as "tendency of wheels to follow contours in the surface upon which it runs".

I'm using more with meaning like - "car has way too much grip for it's capabilities" / "over-tyred" / "car can be driven without care floored everywhere, not dropping speed anywhere" / "always having more grip then needed, needing intentional very stupid driver inputs to overcome grip/traction". In exaggerated fashion - "mini on formula track slicks", car drives like tram on rails no matter what you do.

Just that many may like for giggles some playfulness here and there, especially if those some tire chirps here and there, or small extra rear rotations, or some intentional tire spins do happen at still slow/legal speeds, and may miss with more grippier tires. With later - of course one can still loose grip .. subjective fun aside, problem being, the more grip tire has, that loosing grip now will happen eg. at higher speeds, in more abrupt manner, with less reaction time to correct.

Of course i've seen also line of thought - those "prius" primacies have too little grip, i need to install grippy tires, now car drives "as it should come from factory" .. but from my experiences, when i still had primacies (for around 10-15K daily driven miles and then 4 trackdays, to "finish them off" :)), i still could drive on average a bit faster then (admittedly heavier or less powerful family) cars i drove before (if average speed in same roundabout counts), and yes, car will loose grip/traction when eg. giving gas mid turn, or when going in some turn faster then tire grip allows .. but that doesn't mean that tires are bad, that doesn't mean that right way to "fix" is not to adjust own driver inputs to not mindlessly push everywhere but adding in that much tire grip for it to be more then own wrong inputs may overcome. IIRC twins with stock primacy hp tires pulled 0.89 g on skidpad. I'm not willing to classify that as "bad tires", and one can drive with them without any grip/traction loss aswell .. imho there is misimpression that normal cars have more grip comes from them usually having softer suspension>more roll, which subjectively tells driver to ease off, while twins roll less, thus one guiding by subjective feel/habbits push more .. till grip loss, and then labels these tires as gripless. As to mention that they do bad in cold & wet .. well, they are not winter nor all-season tires. So even if UK winters are relatively warm and snow-less, i'd simply change to all-seasons from mid-autumn to mid-spring. When i drive in rain, i simply push less, drive slower/more careful - it's common sense to do so on other cars, why it should be wrong to do same on these cars/on primacy tires? It's driver duty to drive within car capabilities/available grip/road specifics, adjusting oneself, not requesting that only right way is to mod car to enable not minding how one drives. Yes, for example mentioned PS4 have fenomenal wet grip, to level that it surprised me, remembering track day soon after fitting them, where speed/laptime didn't drop that much in morning when track was still wet, yes, primacies grip less .. but that change is not required, and primacies are usuable, and there are good bits too in having less grip like on Chris Harris video, where he changed all four tires to space-saver donuts on AMG merc and took around track :).

So imho there is nothing wrong when buying twin to drive it on those stock primacies and they are fine for learning/familiarizing with car .. just that i wouldn't get them as next set because of price and because trackdays joined my hobby list :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The problem with the Primacies isn't that you have to adjust your driving in the wet - it's that you have to drive ridiculously cautiously. They really are much worse in the cold and wet than in the dry, and when they lose grip in wet conditions they do it without any warning. It's a cliff edge: grip, then suddenly you're sideways or lighting up the dashboard. I don't consider changing tyres to be a modification. It's not like running semi slicks; PS4 are road tyres that come as standard fit on mid range hot hatches!

The Primacies require too much compromise in your driving and it's just a complete waste of a sports car to have them fitted. Lateral grip isn't too bad in the dry but even then I found the traction pretty poor.

As for using all-seasons tyres, that's just as pointless as using winters. If you're switching between all-seasons and Primacies, you still have a highly compromised "summer" tyre if it rains in the summer - which it often does. PS4 will work year round, and the car is less horrible to drive in the middle of winter on those than it is on a wet summer's day on Primacies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Quite apart from the fine fine fine massive skids nature of the primacy, they're very robust and that tends to mean you might find old tyres on your buy. An old primacy is not to be trifled with on greasy roads!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I must admit the first time I drove mine after I'd changed the Michelins I thought I'd ruined it.
It gripped without sliding.
Now I've had the Hankooks on a while I can safely say they are massively better tyres.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@davbelfast if you don't even have the car yet, I would recommend running the standard Primacy tyres for a few months. When you learn to control the car on those tyres, you won't have to get better tyre purely out of fear like most here do... Sure, there are good tyres like Michelin PS4, but they cost a lot, and take away from the tail happiness and the fun factor of the car imho. I just think that you need to learn to drive the car the best you can with "bad" tyres, so when you're ready to put new good tyres on, you're a better driver and you don't rely on tyres so much, but more on your throttle control and steering.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Depends". There are such that buy it purely for sportish-coupe-ish looks, there are such, that decided upon online video reviews raving about it's handling. Some that like to play around, and some that want absolute performance. Thing is .. grippy tires turn to very different type of handling, and one thing stock not that powerful/torqy engine and not exactly sport-level-stiff suspension paired with limited grip tires, and another - if you pair it with grippy & wide tires (like some do so .. interestingly often guiding in that not for grip, but for "looks"). Lot of points that were voiced in those reviews, lot of first impressions from first drives may become moot. It's not as if it will make car worse, grippy tires will make it - different. And i've seen not only threads of "i installed better tires X, car should have come as such from factory", but also threads like "what other tires would feel like primacies", and where people reverted tire change due not liking grippier/not playful change, or loosing steering sharpness and alike.

To each his own. Different people may have different subjective preferences. Imho simply worth experiencing both ways so that choice is done in educated fashion, by knowing what one will like best, what changes one wishes over what has been before. I myself have had my share of fun on primacies and now moved up for more capable tires on track, but i certainly not regret of having driven on those and wouldn't write them off as something inherently bad.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Beware of bad things too. Like driving half a year, all always was fine, i can push with TC off well, some overconfidence in Hammond's "I AM DRIVING GOD" fashion .. and poof, hello kerb, hello increased insurance premiums :D. Or that it being cheap means also compromises in some areas, such as cheap rattlish interior, or it being small coupe, it has compromises in practicality/capabilities. This is not car for anyone and won't do all roles well, but most of it's owners seem happy (including me, still loving/not regretting it during owning for 5-6 years) with what/how it is and often are willing to ignore some faults of it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

True, it would still be a fun drive with sticky tyres as it's just a great precise chassis. What I would say though, is if it's not driven 'enthusiastically' I would think there's better cars out there, better engines, comfort etc. I happen to think it would make a nice driveway ornament too, cool looking cars.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think my 225 PS4 tyres with supercharger make it playful and predictable. The Primacies are too willing to let go rather suddenly and are horrible in the wet. I wouldn't want 245s on it, either. Too sticky and not fun.

 

Sent from my LG-G7 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello Dave, welcome aboard. :)

I've had my car seven years and have driven 148,000 miles in it from new. In that time I've had the opportunity to try different tyres. I've also driven a fair amount of other people's GT86's too. 

I kept the Primacy tyre for the first 25,000 miles or so. I think it's good to learn the balance of the car with this tyre. You can play with it at low speeds and it's a lot of fun, bringing out the playful nature of what is an excellent and well balanced chassis. The Primacy tyre is also fantastic fun on track if you so wish. After about 4 laps they go off, but stay consistent and you can just slide and drift the car all day. They last really well too. 

That said, they aren't the most progressive tyre and it can be a bit tricky in the wet. Yes in low temperatures in greasy conditions they can prove tricky, though that is true of any tyre. 

Everyone will tell you to fit Michelin Pilot 4 tyres. Whilst they are a great tyre, they take away from the playfulness of the chassis. They are a a great choice if you are not a confident or experienced driver as for the most part they will totally tame the car and you'll feel more confident. I have these on my car because I sprint my car and they are the most competitive tyre in class, giving around a 1.5-2 second advantage on a sprint lap. Yes, at high speeds you can still slide the car and have fun, providing you are committed, but the speeds at which you do this mean that you will not really be able to do so on the public road. 

The PS4 is great in the wet too. In fact they are utterly brilliant in the wet, a point I have underlined whenever it is wet in the Toyota Sprint Series, which will see all of us running them at the top of the leaderboard. 

I like the PS4, it's a great tyre. But, you have to push it to have fun on the road. 

Another really good choice is the Yokohama Advan Sport V105. I have gone through 5 sets of these and would have carried on with them were it not for them not being competitive in the sprint series I compete in. They are perhaps the best balance between grip and playfullness for the GT86. They are more progressive than the Primacy but not as grippy as the PS4. This means you can still have fun drifting a roundabout or on a decent B-road blast. They do really well on track too and  you can slide the car around just as well as the Primacy. 

If I wasn't competing in the sprint series I would run a V105 instead of a PS4. It makes the car far more fun to drive. 

The other point to note is that I use stock 215/45/17 sizes albeit on a forged lightweight 17x8 wheel. If you like to play with the chassis do not make the mistake putting on wider tyres. All it does is detract from the fun and add unsprung weight. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×