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Avon ZZR 333 Compound


BlakeJ

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I'm curious to know as well  I've scoured the internet for any comments on these but haven't found any. I would say try them now if you're curious, as they (along with all Avon Motorsport tires) may be on the way out). 

 

 

Edited by KnifeySpoony
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I have a new set mounted on my UK "dry" track day wheels - first day looks like March 13 next year at Silverstone.  The other Caterham guys looked after by TFL all rave about how good they are.  They prefer them over slicks.  I will see when I get to try them for myself.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a set ready for the Mitty in April (along with A64s and A24s). I would hope the grip will be better, but the main interest for me is how many laps will they take to get going. 6 laps on the A64 is too long, about 2/3 of a sprint race.

 

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Edited by sf4018
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9 hours ago, sf4018 said:
I heard Avon will be shutting down production the end of this year and the molds may move to the US (Goodyear). Don’t know how much of that is true.
 
 
That is eactly what Roger Krauss said when I was ordering the Avons recently. Time will tell...
 
 
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Sadly, it is most certainly true that Avon will be shutting down operations sometime in the latter part of 2023. Those of us involved in vintage racing classes that rely on Avon tires are naturally quite concerned. In particular are vintage open wheel groups running on slicks including F1, F Atlantic, Super Vee.

 

There is a glimmer of hope that Goodyear (which owns Cooper tires which, in turn, owns Avon) will pick up production of the various sizes/types of tires currently produced by Avon.

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The Avon UK operations are expected to be replaced by existing plant in Serbia that already produced tires.  Its not been totally confirmed how that will take place.  I think it reflects that Brexit was not a success as companies shift to low bureaucracy lower cost places to produce products. 

 

That would seem to be consistent with the current UK molds being moved to the USA after UK production ends.  

 

   

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On 2/27/2023 at 3:27 AM, Croc said:

The Avon UK operations are expected to be replaced by existing plant in Serbia that already produced tires.  Its not been totally confirmed how that will take place.  I think it reflects that Brexit was not a success as companies shift to low bureaucracy lower cost places to produce products. 

 

That would seem to be consistent with the current UK molds being moved to the USA after UK production ends.  

 

   

Sadly true, the ESG movement in the UK is ruining the potential business climate. Jeremy's Farm highlights this too.

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On 12/20/2022 at 1:44 PM, Croc said:

I have a new set mounted on my UK "dry" track day wheels - first day looks like March 13 next year at Silverstone.  The other Caterham guys looked after by TFL all rave about how good they are.  They prefer them over slicks.  I will see when I get to try them for myself.  

Did you get to try them out? We had too much rain to cycle through the compounds last weekend, but did try out the A24s - they basically melted during a sprint race, it was a sunny day tho so I guess the track was quite toasty.

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4 hours ago, sf4018 said:

Did you get to try them out? We had too much rain to cycle through the compounds last weekend, but did try out the A24s - they basically melted during a sprint race, it was a sunny day tho so I guess the track was quite toasty.

 

Sadly no.  My first day was March 24 at Castle Combe and it was a wet cold day so I decided to stay with the Avon ZZS for the day.  

 

Good thing I did as there were 9 red flags from various drivers running out of talent in the conditions and nerfing the walls.  

 

Next opportunity is May 24 at Snetterton.  Hoping for good weather.  

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1 hour ago, sf4018 said:

Any luck?

 

Damn good circuit.  Reminds me a lot of the Slovakia Ring but better.  Three hours with just Caterhams on the track with me.  Sadly, I gave it away at 4pm when a few decided for a track orgy under the bridge on the back straight - much debris and unfortunate fluids sprayed everywhere.

 

I had fun on the new ZZR compound.  Felt stickier than the old ZZR compound I last tried on my CSR here in the USA.  Much much sticker than the ZZS.   The ZZR gave me a nice predictable breakaway on throttle when I needed extra rotation in the tighter corners - it took a lot for it to release.  But gripped exceptionally well on the high speed corner stuff.  

 

Comparing them to a set of fresh Hoosiers like I run on the CSR here, the Hoosiers win every time.  However, Hoosiers are not readily available in the UK.   Compared with the Avon or Michelin slicks which I have run on the 420R before (and cost a LOT more than the ZZR/ZZS in the UK), then ZZR wins as my preferred dry tire and ZZS as my cold/wet tire.  

 

Taking both the new ZZR and ZZS to Zandvoort and Zolder next week and will probably get a chance to try them both again since the weather is looking somewhat uncertain.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

@BlakeJ @sf4018  Update on my Snetterton experience.  I destroyed my set of these at Zandvoort and Zolder this week (also destroyed me but thats another story).  These will be my "dry" tire of choice for the 420R UK track day car.  They are very good plus get around where some operators have track day rules of "no slicks/road tires only".   A slick tire might have an extra second a lap in it but in a non-race environment its not worth the effort.  i think the new ZZR transmit a better feel for what the wheels are doing in a corner than the Hoosier slicks I use on my US CSR.  I find they are mostly up to temp in 1-2 laps.  Maybe a little more grip occurs by lap 3-4 with additional warming but you have enough by lap 2 to be starting to push on.  Thinking of using them on the CSR now instead of the Hoosiers.

 

They don't last long - 5 days usage on track since new - but they are very good.  

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Great summary of your experience with the newest ZZR compound, Croc, thanks.

I am giving them a go at Pineview Run next week, which is to racetracks as par-3 pitch & putt courses are to golf. Somewhere between autocross and full road course (though they're expanding it this summer to include longer straights with commensurate higher speeds).

Will report back...

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