Tyres and shrubbery

I think I told some of you, but one of us backed the Manta over a kerb on an on-ramp and ended up in the bushes the day after the first rain of the season. I guess these things happen, but it would be nice if it didn't happen to us...

Actually, if truth be known, I'm thinking it might be the new tyres. I've bored most of you to death in the past about tyre compounds, but I really think this time it was down to those. We have a weird tyre size on the Manta at the moment (205/55x15) and, especially here, it's difficult to find anything decent in tyres for wheels smaller than 16". If I changed to the more normal 205/50x15 I'd be better served, but the Manta just doesn't ride well on 50 series tyres, not surprising for a car designed in the early 70's.

We used to be lucky, our first tyres on these wheels were Bridgestone S-03 Pole Position, and superb tyres they were too. They wore so quickly that they almost left black lines behind you, but they gripped way more than either of our abilities. And what was funny for summer tyres, they gripped in the cold and wet almost as well as they did in the heat of the summer. We've still got sets on the GT and Jo's Manta in England, but unfortunately they're the last of the line as Bridgestone don't seem to care much about cars with 15" wheels anymore.

Our next try was Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2's, and we've got those on my silver Manta in the UK. Not as grippy as the Bridgestones, but pretty decent tyres, all in all. Of course, you can't get them in 205/55x15 over here.

But about six months ago I needed new tyres for the Manta here, and went to Tirerack as normal. Choices were severely limited, to say the least, with only a handful of tyres I'd consider buying. The best of the reviews was the Yokohama S.drive, but I'd not had much luck with the old AVSes in the wet in the past so I wasn't rushing to order a set. Still, the reviews said they were OK and after checking other online tyre retailers I realized they were pretty much my only option (all the others had wear ratings that meant I'd never weat them out!), so I bought a set.

They're definitely OK in the dry, which is what they're advertised as, but they really don't like gripping much in the wet. Straight after the shrubbery incident I took the car round the block to make sure everything was OK, and it definitely liked losing grip at the back end a lot more than I remembered. Not too bad, I suppose, if you can catch the back end before things get too bad, but if you can't it's a visit off-road or worse.

I think I'll try a set of 205/50x15 on the Manta when these wear out. I really love Bridgestones these days (we have 225/50x16 RE050A Pole Positions on the Monza) and they've brought out a new tyre called the RE-11 which is available in the right size. The wear rating's a lot better too - 180 for the RE-11 vs 300 for the Yokos.

Oh, and we're doing something about catching slides too - we're off to Laguna Seca for a handling course next weekend! Pictures and story to follow.