Avon Replacement

[KnifeySpoony]

Interesting. People will have to test the A8 in 13" and see what they are like I guess.  I previously shied away from trying R7s because I figured I would need the A7 on such a light car, and it was not available in appropriate sizes. Also the fact that I drive to/from the track, which is slightly sketchy on Hoosiers. However, if the R7 and now R8 is actually a good compound for our cars, then I may try it depending on how the whole Nova thing plays out. 

[Daniel Escobar]

2 hours ago, KnifeySpoony said:

Interesting. People will have to test the A8 in 13" and see what they are like I guess.  I previously shied away from trying R7s because I figured I would need the A7 on such a light car, and it was not available in appropriate sizes. Also the fact that I drive to/from the track, which is slightly sketchy on Hoosiers. However, if the R7 and now R8 is actually a good compound for our cars, then I may try it depending on how the whole Nova thing plays out. 

 

I guess we all are waiting on Nova's move to see how we move forward. If Nova moves production to 2027 we are out of real replacement for a while......

[sf4018]

Just my 5c about the Hoosier R7/A7s...I raced with R7 on a much heavier car but the air temp was 58F - I couldn't get them fired up. Spring time in Georgia they were great. Conversely the A7s melted after 2 laps in the Georgia heat. Point is the ambient and track temp is as big a factor, not just car weight. I won a SVRA race last summer on R7s in the Caterham 420R at Summit Point, they worked great, just ~0.5 slower than some F2000 grooved slicks (R35) I used for qualifying.

 

My 420R is now retired from racing and is converted back to a street car, so I have the R7 set for sale if anyone is interested 

 

 

[Daniel Escobar]

26 minutes ago, sf4018 said:

Just my 5c about the Hoosier R7/A7s...I raced with R7 on a much heavier car but the air temp was 58F - I couldn't get them fired up. Spring time in Georgia they were great. Conversely the A7s melted after 2 laps in the Georgia heat. Point is the ambient and track temp is as big a factor, not just car weight. I won a SVRA race last summer on R7s in the Caterham 420R at Summit Point, they worked great, just ~0.5 slower than some F2000 grooved slicks (R35) I used for qualifying.

 

My 420R is now retired from racing and is converted back to a street car, so I have the R7 set for sale if anyone is interested 

 

 

 

Great info! I was always curious on the R/A vs full blown slicks. What full slick has sizes that suit our cars? all I see is way to big, specially up front

[sf4018]

2 minutes ago, Daniel Escobar said:

 

Great info! I was always curious on the R/A vs full blown slicks. What full slick has sizes that suit our cars? all I see is way to big, specially up front

Hoosier F2000s were the best for me, fit perfectly.

[Daniel Escobar]

4 hours ago, sf4018 said:

Hoosier F2000s were the best for me, fit perfectly.

 

I looked at those a while back and couldnt find any retailer carrying them, mostly saw bias-ply in similar sizes... have you ever run Bias slicks? I see hoosier carries them in the softest compounds. But I have have newer run bias before and heard they have a completly different feel than radials

[pethier]

The apparent changes at Hoosier are confusing to me.

 

I stopped using Hoosiers because I could not heat them in autocrossing except at practice days.  And that was on a car heavier than a Seven.  I switched Yokohama A052 tires because they start working at ambient temperature.  It was a no-brainer to start with the Yokos when I get a Seven again.

 

Sorry my input is not a lot of help to you all in your racing sport.  You might give the Yokos a chance though.  They are DOT legal and have a treadwear rating of 200.  I run them on the street also.  

 

 

Edited December 26, 2025 by pethier
The usual typos

[CarlB]

I have use Hooser F-2000 - F-Continental FB tires in both radial and bias. Hooser is the spec tire for Formula Continental (FC), and my best friend runs one of those cars. He had a set of radials after the class switched back to bias ply tires for cost reasons. Hooser does not make the radials anymore. The set of radials I have are the hard compound, because that was the spec tire. It takes about two laps to get temperature. The bias tires are also the hard compound, and it takes about the same amount of time to get them up to temperature. I now have a set of the bias plies in 35B, but I haven't used them yet. I ran the bias plies with the same set up I used with the radials and did not see a lot of difference. I had a little more understeer, but I suspect it was the radial tire set up with more camber than I suspect the bias tire wants. The only Avon's I have used are the ZZS. The Avon radial acted more like a radial to me. The turn in is sharper on the Avon. The Hooser's aren't as sharp on turn in, but when they set, the grip is really great and it is very easy to stay in the high grip range.    

[CBuff]

Just saw this from Toyo. Proxes sport R coming in 13” sizes in Q1 2026. They seem to be street dot compliant 200 tread wear. Likely less effective on track than the r888r but maybe for the road going crowd another option. 
 

https://www.toyotires.com/product/proxes-sport-r/

 

 

[Slonie]

Oh, good to know we've got sizes now!
Testing (probably from @Croc) to come, and these could be totally arbitrary, but... Toyo's own internal performance ratings for the Proxes Sport R top the R888R in dry and wet performance (5.0 and 4.5, up from 4.5 and 4.0). They also gave it a 2.0 for tread life while the R888Rs scored a 4.5(!)*

 

 

*OTOH I just read the thing about only comparing ratings within the same category of tire, and the R888R is a "DOT competition tire" compared to the Sport R's Extreme Performance Summer. So yeah, you're either right or we won't know until we test it... 

 

[Daniel Escobar]

Oh yeah! 

 

NOVA MOTORSPORT NAMED OFFICIAL TYRE PARTNER FOR CATERHAM MOTORSPORT IN MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT

 

https://caterhamcars.com/en/news/nova-motorsport-named-official-tyre-partner-for-caterham-motorsport-in-multi-year-agreement?fbclid=IwY2xjawPTGNRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80MDk5NjI2MjMwODU2MDkAAR6_S39iGgeKIPBvxUMc9fwKU-fvbaeIMQFLOCDabMyMcnaKL86KdxLplB-DYg_aem_I9pe-EGhs1RINwcAgGMROQ

 

[KnifeySpoony]

Fabulous

[CarlB]

Croc pointed out that MRF is making a tire that looks like a possible choice for our cars. MRF is a large manufacture and has a good reputation for Rally tires. Here is a chart with what I believe is the tire in the test Croc brought to our attention and their F-3 Tire.

 

MRF Formula 3 and Formula 4 Racing Cars: Slick
Brand / Pattern	Tyre Size	Equivalent size(For Reference)	Std Rim Width*(inch)	Section Width(mm)	Tread Width(mm)	Overall Diameter(mm)	NSD(mm)	Compound	Application**
ZTD1	200/540 R13	225/45 R13	8	225 / 8.84	195 / 7.68	540 / 21.26	2.8	H/M/S/SS	Dry Racing
	240/570 R13	275/45 R13	10	280 / 11.02	245 / 9.65	575 / 22.64	2.8	H/M/S/SS	Dry Racing
MRF CIRCUIT RACING - SLICK / WET / INTERMEDIATE
Brand / Pattern	Tyre Size	Equivalent size(For Reference)	Std Rim Width*(inch)	Section Width(mm)	Tread Width(mm)	Overall Diameter(mm)	NSD(mm)	Compound	Application**
ZTI2	185/60 R13	175/550 R13	5.5	190 / 7.48	175 / 6.89	550 / 21.65	5.8	H/M/S/SS	Dry to Damp
	205/60 R13	195/580 R13	6	210 / 8.27	190 / 7.48	575 / 22.64	5.8	H/M/S/SS	Dry to Damp

[Croc]

Quote

Croc pointed out that MRF is making a tire that looks like a possible choice for our cars. MRF is a large manufacture and has a good reputation for Rally tires. Here is a chart with what I believe is the tire in the test Croc brought to our attention and their F-3 Tire.Damp

 

 

Results from UK testing of MRF tires on a Caterham S3 race car yesterday.  Much stiffer sidewalls than the Toyos.  Much slower to warm up than Toyos.  Durability expected to be better.  Grip and laptimes same as Toyos.  Grip seems to be long-lasting and consistent unlike Toyos which go off after a time.  

[Daniel Escobar]

So apparently ZZR will happen soon...

 

https://www.instagram.com/dprmotorsport/p/DVRIqW0CtYu/

 

 

[KnifeySpoony]

Will be interesting to see the pace of the ZZR compound they've settled on.

 

[Daniel Escobar]

On a Facebook post, dpr said that only 185s are available for now.. so I guess we need to wait for a full solution

[CBuff]

Clearly I am chomping at the bit for the Nova (Avon) ZZS or ZZR. I reached out to nova UK and their US rep circled back today. They are in the process of signing off on the DOT compliance for the ZZS and ZZR range. I asked the best case scenario for tires in hand. Ken said maybe 4 months - but I am guessing there is a lot of maybe/possible in that.

 

Ken Payne is the Nova contact who was very nice and told me to he was happy to connect with anyone interested. I will update if he gets back to me with any more updates. 

Edited March 20 by CBuff

[Daniel Escobar]

58 minutes ago, CBuff said:

Clearly I am chomping at the bit for the Nova (Avon) ZZS or ZZR. I reached out to nova UK and their US rep circled back today. They are in the process of signing off on the DOT compliance for the ZZS and ZZR range. I asked the best case scenario for tires in hand. Ken said maybe 4 months - but I am guessing there is a lot of maybe/possible in that.

 

Ken Payne is the Nova contact who was very nice and told me to he was happy to connect with anyone interested. I will update if he gets back to me with any more updates. 

Great! Can you ask about the 215 availability? Apparently only 185s are on plan for now

[demoray]

Any idea what UTQG they are going after for their DOT compliance?