xBoostx

For starters these tires are amazing. I wanted to give these a shot cause I know what Yokohama is doing with World Time Attack Challenge. They are making crazy grippy tires for the fastest TA cars in the world, so when they made a 200tw (A052) tire following their support of WTAC, it was a no brainer, sort of.

Why sort of? Because RE71R. This tire has dominated for quite some time. And it's the tire I have been running since 2016. The price is right and the grip is too. So how can it be beat? By making up for what it lacks. And the Yoko A052 does so. There is a price to pay for that though, and it's just that, the price. The Yoko is about $70-$100 more per tire. Thats a price difference an average income, average enthusiast will feel. So maybe if you are an avg consumer/casual track day person, these arent for you? Nope not the case. And so my review begins.

The RE71R has mega grip BUT it falls on its face quickly and heat cycles out quickly. My car (Evo X) with me in it weighs anywhere from 3600 - 3750. On 255s I can see a noticable decline in about 4 track days. Mind you i run TA and when i do track days i still only to about 4-6 laps avg. I'm not killing 20-30 min sessions.

The compound:
-The 71s start to heat cycle out after about 4 track days on my car. Where the tire is very blue and the compound itself isnt very soft anymore. They fall off after 2.5 hot laps (255s). I have also run 275s and they hold up for about 4 hot laps.
-The 52s I have yet to heat cycle out. They fall off gradually after about 4 hot laps (255s). I have done 3 days at RA, 2 Days at Sebring, 2 days at Homestead (only 2 sessions each day at HMS) set TT3 record at HMS. Events were done in that order. I will be taking it to SCCA TT at palm beach soon on the same tires. Super impressive.

Characteristics:
The 71 has lots of grip and when you get to the edge it just stops to grip but you still have control. It's not an on and off but when at the edge going over you get a steep decline of grip.
And this is where I was baffled by the A052. Its completely different. It's not peaky. It's so weird having been used to the 71. But it's so impressive. When I'm pushing it to my limit, and the car starts to slide or be outside the tires peak grip level the tires have this gradual slide where you dont really feel max grip but you dont feel you have lost it lol. It's kinda hard to explain. You dont get the oh **** max grip feeling the 71 does, but you do have a little more (255 vs 255). I suppose I can say the range between peak traction and no traction is much wider on the A052. So when you start to slide on the A052 you feel more control. Its not edgy and it not peaky. It's very intersting and help my confidence knowing if I make a mistake, chances of saving it are very good.

Now here is the cool part. The grip and control I feel on the A052 in 255 is how the RE71 felt when I ran them in 275s.

So all in all size for size my experience has been the A052 is pound for pound the best tire in the 200tw category. It has the grip and more (same size tires) as the 71 but is consistent like a rs4 or direzza.

I'll have some pix and maybe a video up this weekend.

I plan on running atleast 3 more time trial events on these tires. I will update this thread once these are done.

lmk if anyone wants anymore info or has any questions.

DavidNJ

Good review.

On the Evo, curious what your static camber and suspension camber change are like and how your tire temps were distributed across the tire.

xBoostx

Compared to the s2k, camber change is horrible lol. Static camber is around 3ish in the front and 2ish rear. I have added caster to the front as well as fixed the geometry given the ride height out front. I do have some data from RA. but this car needs spherical bearings for sure. My alignment specs wander a bit to much.

Track: Road Atlanta
Tire pressures: 38 square (hot)
Tire temps (outside to inside)
FR: 140 135 135
FL: 135 131 120
RR: 118 120 118
RL: 118 118 114

spaded.racer

Did you notice the yokos take longer to come up to temp? Any wet weather run time(if so how'd they do compared to the stones)?

DavidNJ

Are 140F temps normal?

It seems the outside of the tires are running hot, with a front heavy AWD car with much higher overall weight and poor static and dynamic suspension geometry. While there can be a debate of the geometry of lowered S2000s, there are camber adjusters which will get more static negative camber, the dynamic geometry is most likely better.

Maybe not enough info to see how they will compare on an S2000. It does seem they handle high temps better. A lot of us are more interested in how they compare in an autocross situation.

Cevin

I noticed that the biggest change is the control at the limit, the a052 falls off fast at the limit ( like real race tires do) re71 give and are easier to control

you can see it in my video at CVR how twitchy they get at the limit.

DavidNJ

It looked more like a setup problem (e.g., bump steer, shocks, hitting the bump stops, or overall balance) than the tires per se. Lots of sawing, unwinding, and even opposite lock.

Chibo

I wouldn't really say that, looks pretty comparable to a normal quick lap at chuckwalla when the tires have started moving around a little bit more than normal slip angle after the first two laps.

massiah86

I tested A052 vs the Rival S 1.5 this past weekend at BRP. Both tires are within the noise of each other. The Yok's are a lot more positive in their feel & feedback though.

My previous testing with the RE71r has them at least a second back vs the BFG.

DavidNJ

Should look more like this. Is the driver is wrestling the car, it is leaving stuff on the table. Many classes don't let you fix the problems, but that is a different issue.


How did the tire temps compare? What does the rest of the setup (camber, springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, ride height) look like?