We have had experience of Michelin Pilots, Yokohama AO-32r's, 21r's and 48r's. I shall write my thoughts on each type here, both on road and track. We have bought all our tires from George Polley, who usually deliver the next day if they have the tires in stock. Ask them what tire is best for you - they have always been very helpful with advice, and if they do not have a tire in stock, they will recommend somewhere else you could try. Always the best prices in our experience - often by a long way.

George Polley: 01354 688111

Yokohama AO-32r

I can only speak from my point of view, and from the way we use the car. It is notoriously difficult to describe 'feel' so here goes. As a reference point, we went from Michelin Pilots straight to Yoko AO-32's. When we got the 32's fitted the tire chap told us the Pilots were 6 years old - in other words they were the original tires that had been fitted to the car from new. Despite this the tread looked hardly worn at all! Its also worth noting the tires were well past their 'sell by' date - manufacturers only guarantee tires for a few years. Numbers on the tire will tell you the year of manufacture.

With the 32r's the difference was huge. Initially the car felt more 'darty' - as we got used to this we recognized it as making the car more 'direct', with turn-in transformed. One of the biggest difference on the road was the braking. We could really slam the anchors on and just stop. The old Pilots would lock easily, particularly at the rear, but 32's were much less prone to this. Loved it! We drove in all conditions, all year with these 32's, getting through 2 or 3 sets, I think. We drove many miles used in the wet, and the tires were still superior to the old Pilots. We did have two 'brown trouser' aquaplaning moments, (both on the A303 by chance) but I think people get over sensitive about the wet weather performance on the road, and we never had any problems. Put the aqua-planing moments down to driver error/simply going too fast for conditions etc.

Last September we wanted to order some more 32's from GPolley, but he had none. Current tires were illegal so we had to get something. We bought some A0-21's (all these are 185/60/14 by the way) Straight away I could feel the extra 'squirm' of these tires compared to the 32's - as a result of the blocks moving a bit more. As it happened, much of the following 6 months motoring was in torrential rain, including two track days at Spa and a few continental trips. I was impressed with how they felt, and I suppose it is true to say I felt more 'secure' in the wet than I would have done with the 32's. I missed the extra grip of the 32's in the dry at Croix but was still impressed with the 21 over all. As many people suggest, it has to be one of the best options for an 'all round' tire.

Yokohama AO-48r's Our current tire - very good. Has 'replaced' the 32r. Recently the time came to change tires again! With Summer coming, it was back to 32's or 48's. I spoke to GPolley and they said that the 48's were better in the wet and the dry than the 32's - they are after all a newer design. They explained why the new tread pattern was better in standing water (the 32's 'weakness') - its to do with the tread creating a high pressure to force the water out from under the tire - easy to understand if you look at the tread and imagine it turning into water. Unfortunately they did not have any 185/60/14, but said that 195 would fit our wheels. They are a little more expensive than the 32's - about £57 plus VAT. I figured that if I liked the 32's then I should like these.

First drive and the car felt very 'planted' right away. Partly because the tires we had been driving on were so past their sell by date, but also aware that there was more rubber on the road - a seat of the pants thing really. The tires are very quiet on smooth roads (opposite affect of the buzzing noise you get when a knobbly tired Land Rover drives past I guess) they 'smack' quite loudly over cats eyes etc. (I know that’s hardly relevant, just putting all thoughts down!)

The tires look fantastic! Like wide superbike treads.

On the day we fitted them we drove 140 miles down to Somerset, and on the way went through a HUGE amount of really heavy rain. There was a large amount of standing water on the motorway - obviously we had slowed down, but car felt fine. In fact a few days later we were on the M1 at night, motorway damp but not raining. We suddenly came across one of those 'streams' across the road, (these are what had caused my aqua-planing moments on the A303) and I braced myself for 'impact' - whilst keeping my hands relaxed on the wheel I might add. Not a thing - did not really notice that the water was there. No pulling or sudden jolts. Of course, all this is a hugely subjective thing, but hopefully it gives an idea.We had recently moved to the Staines/Ascot/Windsor area, and had noticed that the fast roads here around and through the Great Park can be very 'jiggly' - lots of small bumps, and the car does like to 'wander' and tram line more than was noticeable before. I think this was down to the wider tires. In fact I was starting to think that the car felt 'over tired' - again, massively subjective. We don’t need the wider tires with our car, particularly on the front, so the idea would be to change back to 185's at the next tire change.

After a few days of having the tire we spent half and hour 'playing' on motorway slip roads and roundabouts - i.e. fast sweeping curves and big fast roundabouts, and the grip felt brilliant. It was the first time we had managed to get any heat in the tires, and get some good looking bobbles on the edges! Turn in and direction changes feel very secure and the front dives into the corners fantastically and with real confidence. There was a nice progressive feeling to slides - sorry 'break away' - nothing dramatic of course, just an awareness that things were happening evenly. Braking grip was again superb - of course we had more rubber in contact with the road with the bigger tires and low tread area.

Wear rate - the point about 32's and 48s is that they start off with a shallower tread pattern than 21's, so they have less to wear away before becoming illegal, but to be honest I have never thought the wear rate/fun factor to be a problem. The compound of the 48's according to GPolley is the same as the 21's, and at the moment unlike the 32's they are only available in one compound. AO-32's are available in 'Soft' (S) and 'Super Soft' (SS) compounds. We have always used 'Soft' all round - although if we use 32's again we will follow common practice and use 'Soft' on the rears and 'SuperSoft' on the fronts. This helps front end grip and should reduce understeer. Having said that, I am very happy with the 48's, so we would only return to 32's if there is an availability problem with the 48's.

Rear tires after an excellent day at Llandow track!

A few weeks after having the 48's fitted we attended a Track Day at Llandow organized by Dave Jackson. It was a lovely sunny day, and was excellent fun! The track, we have since found out (!) is pretty hard on tires, and the wear rate above shows where!. Obviously this depends on car set up etc etc. If you know Llandow you will know the 'chicane' at the end of the back straight, which leads straight into a sweeping, fast right hand bend. A really fun sequence! well - thats where our rear near-side tire dissapeared! As our first dry, fast track day the tire wear was a shock - but hell it was worth it!

Worn tire on the right was our rear near-side tire.

A few days later, whilst in the middle of Avebury Stone circle in Wiltshire, I picked up this puncture - my first ever in my driving life!

The puncture shown above happened about 80 miles from home. No problem - we carry a spare. Except we didn't because I had taken it off for the Llandow track day. However I had put a can of tire weld in the boot - just in case. I was very impressed with how this stuff worked. It filled the tire quickly, and was very stable. I am ashamed to say that I ran the car on this for about two weeks before getting a new tire.

I ordered two new 185 section tires, and put these on the front, putting the 195 section wheels that had been on the front on the rear. This combination, with the narrower tires on the front again restored the steering feel on the car, and reduced the tramlining that the 195 tires had produced.

In the last month the 'feel' of the car has changed. The car has become much more 'darty' on the road, it violently follows camber changes. The steering wheel does not seem to self-centre as much as it used to after turning out of a junction. Steering seems heavier. The inner part of the tread on the front wheels seems to be wearing more quickly than the outer half, where as before wear has always been very even.

I cannot think of any 'event' when something could have changed - we did come off (and re-join) the track at Mas du Clos at considerable speed, and cross some pretty bumpy grass, but I do not remember any change in feel right after that - could something have been bent or twisted? Unlikely surely?

Evidence points to too much toe-out, but why has it changed? Has it changed?!

Whilst on the road the car feels not quiet right (or perhaps just different) on the track at Castle Combe it felt great!!

You can just about see how the chalk band is thicker onthe outside shoulder of the tires - this is new.

A close up of the tire. Its hard to see, but the inner half of the tire is very smooth, where as the outer half still shows evidence of fun at Castle Combe!