Product Spotlight
YokohamaADVAN Neova AD08
Every once in a while we'll get a tuner car sent to us for testing that the builder thought needed a bit of an edge. They want to impress us with the car's handling, its ability to put down power, its face altering brakes. For some reason they think we won't notice the car is on race tires. We always look at tires. If we didn't, we'd likely wad the car up driving in the wet.
Yokohama is about to do those less-than-scrupulous tuners a favor by offering dang-near DOT race tire levels of grip in a street tire package. The company's last great tire from was the ADVAN Neova AD07. It was dubbed "the fastest street tire around." Near as we can tell, it was the guys at Yokohama that gave it that nickname, but after driving several cars on the 07, we found the phrase almost believable.
The new offering from Yokohama is the predictably named ADVAN Neova AD08. Whether or not this one will be called "the fastester street tire around," we came away impressed after a full track day and a couple of weeks driving on the streets.
We were introduced to the AD08 on the infield track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Yokohama had a wide variety of cars all fitted with the tire, ranging from lightweight rear-drive Mazda RX8s, all-wheel-drive Mitsubishi EVO Xs, a track-ready Stasis-tuned Audi A4, a rear-engine rear-drive Carrera S, a torque monster C63 AMG, and even a big luxurious Audi S8. We couldn't have asked for better variety. The infield track in Vegas is a medium speed course that uses mostly third and fourth gears. The front straight had some of the cars in triple digits, while the tighter stuff slowed some of the bigger, heavier machines. Overall a good variety of turns to burn up Yokohama's newest high tech micro-silica tread compound.
For the non tire geeks out there, silica is a compounding agent mixed in with the rubber and carbon black that allows the tire to stay soft on a micro level, getting into the grooves in the road surface to maximize grip, while staying resilient on a macro level to keep the rubber from peeling away and wearing too quickly. The micro-silica is a new development that allows better mixing of the silica in the compound. Silica and rubber don't naturally bond, so the smaller you can get the silica particles, the better distribution you get, creating a better result.
From what you can't see to what you can, the outward design of the 08 has changed from the 07 as well. The pattern of the shoulder blocks has been redesigned to create a continuous tread. This means better, more predictable grip during cornering. The two continuous center ribs are still there to create a solid on-center feel and stabilize the car during braking and acceleration. The new tread pattern functions better in wet and dry conditions and it's even quieter than the previous model.
As stated, the AD08 offers near race-tire levels of grip on track. Some of that grip is forgone for the sake of predictability, but not much. The tires give you plenty of warning before letting go and catching a car is pretty easy on these tires. When pushing hard you never feel like you're driving the tire more than the car. No matter which vehicle we were in, the tires always felt as if they were designed for that car.
The AD08 will be standard equipment on some of the world's best performance cars. More exciting than that is the number of fitments Yokohama plans on providing to the aftermarket. Unlike the AD07, which gave very limited choices, the AD08 will be available in 39 different sizes ranging from 15 to 19 inches. That's right, 15 inches; older Golfs, E30s, and aircooled 911s will again have the same choice in high performance rubber as everyone else.Michael Febbo
Yokohama Tire
800.722.988
www.yokohamatire.com
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