As you may or may not be aware, for the last two years (following on from Andrew Fordyces GTD40 Car Club magazine article) I have been pushing Avon to make some tyres to suit the GT40 world.
Yesterday at AutoSport International I had another meeting with Trevor Swettenham and his department head Julian Baldwin and they have said they wish to know order numbers now for a 295 50 VR 15 CR6ZZ radial tyre.
With those with me yesterday we placed an order for 12 tyres (fronts and rears).
If enough tyres can be committed to, Julian Baldwin will press the button to manufacture the moulds this coming week with tyres available in the summer. It takes 3 months to make the moulds and then some time to check the tyres are good from it.
Either contact Avon direct on ++44 (0)1225 357694 asking for Brian Davies or Trevor Swettenham. Email is to [email protected] or you could pester Julian Baldwin with the main switch board number being ++44 (0)1225 357855.
If you are going to the AutoSport show please go and see the Avon stand and find Julian Baldwin there and pester him. The more he gets told to make these tyres the more chance he will press the button very very soon.
About the tyres themselves as most guys will not know them.
These tyres are E marked so are fully road legal and are of Radial construction so have a good sidewall strength. The tread pattern is of a 1960's race tyre pattern. The compound is fairly soft so these tyres grip and are great in the dry and in the wet these tyres have been reported as being better than the Dunlop Post Historic series (orginal GT40's race on these) and are actually quite good. But who drives their 40 in rain other than when they get caught out?
The speed rating is correct for gt40's so there is no need to worry about whether you are legal in that regard. VR ratings are good for 140 mph for two solid hours I beleive. Please correct me if I am wrong on that one.
The most successful user of these tyres is Andrew Fordyce who has 215 60 VR 15 on the front and 245 60 VR 15s on the rear of his car. He has used them on road and track as well as in competition through the GTD40 Car Club. He feels his times are as good as any he had before on other non road legal rubber if not slightly better.
On the narrower rear tyre Andrew reported being able to lap Goodwood in the mid 1 min 35 sec bracket with passengers. That is a good lap time and would be even for those on 17 inch rims running the superb Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres.
These tyres will be available internationally. They look the part, perform better than previous 15 inch tyres and are much much cheaper than 17 inch tyres, about 2/3 the price in the UK, although final prices have yet to be provided to me. The 245 60 15 tyre cost Andrew back in 2003 £146 plus vat.
If you can contact Avon direct please do so NOW or please indicate that you would be an interested user of the new size of tyre below and I will get the information to Avon directly. They are also looking to make a 275 60 VR 15 for the Cobra crowd as that is their ideal size. If you are a cobra person then please also pester Avon.
Avon are fully aware of my posting this thread and want feed back. The racing guys are all for it. We need to persuade the marketing and financial guys. Numbers of tyres will help in that regard.
The paper I prepared in late 2004 has sat on Trevor Swettenham's desk all year. Please don't let that cluttering of his desk be in vain!
Yesterday at AutoSport International I had another meeting with Trevor Swettenham and his department head Julian Baldwin and they have said they wish to know order numbers now for a 295 50 VR 15 CR6ZZ radial tyre.
With those with me yesterday we placed an order for 12 tyres (fronts and rears).
If enough tyres can be committed to, Julian Baldwin will press the button to manufacture the moulds this coming week with tyres available in the summer. It takes 3 months to make the moulds and then some time to check the tyres are good from it.
Either contact Avon direct on ++44 (0)1225 357694 asking for Brian Davies or Trevor Swettenham. Email is to [email protected] or you could pester Julian Baldwin with the main switch board number being ++44 (0)1225 357855.
If you are going to the AutoSport show please go and see the Avon stand and find Julian Baldwin there and pester him. The more he gets told to make these tyres the more chance he will press the button very very soon.
About the tyres themselves as most guys will not know them.
These tyres are E marked so are fully road legal and are of Radial construction so have a good sidewall strength. The tread pattern is of a 1960's race tyre pattern. The compound is fairly soft so these tyres grip and are great in the dry and in the wet these tyres have been reported as being better than the Dunlop Post Historic series (orginal GT40's race on these) and are actually quite good. But who drives their 40 in rain other than when they get caught out?
The speed rating is correct for gt40's so there is no need to worry about whether you are legal in that regard. VR ratings are good for 140 mph for two solid hours I beleive. Please correct me if I am wrong on that one.
The most successful user of these tyres is Andrew Fordyce who has 215 60 VR 15 on the front and 245 60 VR 15s on the rear of his car. He has used them on road and track as well as in competition through the GTD40 Car Club. He feels his times are as good as any he had before on other non road legal rubber if not slightly better.
On the narrower rear tyre Andrew reported being able to lap Goodwood in the mid 1 min 35 sec bracket with passengers. That is a good lap time and would be even for those on 17 inch rims running the superb Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres.
These tyres will be available internationally. They look the part, perform better than previous 15 inch tyres and are much much cheaper than 17 inch tyres, about 2/3 the price in the UK, although final prices have yet to be provided to me. The 245 60 15 tyre cost Andrew back in 2003 £146 plus vat.
If you can contact Avon direct please do so NOW or please indicate that you would be an interested user of the new size of tyre below and I will get the information to Avon directly. They are also looking to make a 275 60 VR 15 for the Cobra crowd as that is their ideal size. If you are a cobra person then please also pester Avon.
Avon are fully aware of my posting this thread and want feed back. The racing guys are all for it. We need to persuade the marketing and financial guys. Numbers of tyres will help in that regard.
The paper I prepared in late 2004 has sat on Trevor Swettenham's desk all year. Please don't let that cluttering of his desk be in vain!
