Yokohamas are go -

oh man these tyres seem sooo good at the moment. Went a little scrubbing run to Glen Coe (177 miles return journey ) today along the A82. Full tank of Optimax and I headed off to the Fort William road.

Of course it being a Bank Holiday weekend every man and his slow car was out on the road but hey ho that's life. Now I have a quick car and along Loch Lomond I could have easily passed the whole queue of traffic by the time I got to Tarbet - except the blighters were bumper to bumper for the entire queue of 20 odd cars. Yes I could overtake but I had nowhere to pull back in so I just chilled and droned along at 40mph. Yawn

Took the Fort William turn off at Tarbet and so does the Audi TT Coupe in front. Cool. Wee bit of a play along the road but its a really tight and twisty road that follows the side of the loch and is always wet with the water running off the hill down the rocks onto the road and then into the Loch itself. Even so still had a wee play with the TT until we ran into traffic that just couldn't be overtaken ( not if you value your life anyway ) First impressions WOAH the rear just grips and direction changes happen like - flick. Cool though now the fronts are pushing!!! Really impressive

So get onto the main Fort William road just after Crianlarich which is just a divine road for driving and I start to give it some stick. Oh man the whole car just clung to the road and the rear was really impressive. Soo much fun that it showed really just how crap the previous setup had been - almost 10 months like that. Flipping nora.

Anyhow I pull into Glen Coe quite breathless and very happy and get out to check the tyres. Front Goodyear F1's ok bit warm but nothing to note really. The rears Yokohama A022's - quite warm to the touch. You like - whoa they're hot man.

I strongly suspect these tyres are going to be gubbed very quickly. Ah well sh!t happens - we've still got the return leg to do. heh heh. Bloody brilliant, just what the car was designed for. I love living in Scotland just for the roads we have.

Time for a drink methinks - A

yokohama A022 first impressions -

well they are round and black and look good on the wheel rim. Haven't tried to push them hard since they are brand new however I did notice something odd when I parked up from coming home tonight. Even though it was motorway driving I did the rear tyres were WARM to the touch.

Now in my book warm tyres means grippy tyres. This is good news that and surface changes were taken without a waggle on the wheel. I think I may have to do some backroad testing this weekend. Heh heh

fuggin Clifford alarm system, oh hello shiny new Yokohamas -

yes indeed the old alarm system decided not to let me in yet again. After much swearing and shouting and shooting the darned car with both key fobs getting the bleeding the alarm manual from the flat and generally stamping my feet it finally let me in.

Took it to Drivers in glasgow and they checked it over and reset the memory of the main unit. They also added a new ariel unit so hopefully that will solve the problem. I have me doubts to be honest.

Yokohama A022 225 x 50 x 15 yes indeed I have bitten the bullet and thrown the Toyo Proxies ( poxies?? ) away for a pair of really grippy yoko's. Will they do the job, can't tell since they are just out of the mould but more to follow.

A wee drive at the weekend methinks to scrub them up and then next weekend a good blast for testing purposes. heh heh

Clifford Alarm systems and chargecooler radiators-

it takes it apon itself not to let me in! Every so often the key fob doesn't ( or at least has no effect ) let me in. So if I walk away and come back five minutes later it lets me in first blip. Darned electrics..........

Dunno why that happens and it can behave perfectly for weeks on end then for a week or two nothing but grief.

Chargecooler news

I have since found out that a Fiat Cinquecento radiator fits in at the front even with the old air con stuff up there. This is really good news as the Fiat part is about GB£30 brand new. Good news at last.

Tyre choices

- still not happy with the rear tyres and after some chat on IMOC it seems that the Toyo tyres are used mostly by people running larger diameter wheels and smaller profiles. This means they are not affected by the softer sidewall of the Proxies.

Speaking to a few garages and the good folks on IMOC the recommended tyre seems to be the Yokohama A022. Apparently just like the old Bridgestone S02 - fantastic grip and a mileage of under 10k. Still they are a cheaper tyre and grip is more important to me that mileage. That and tyres are cheaper than insurance excess and new bodywork.

However, the current rear tyres have at least half their tread left so with me having no money they are staying for a good bit longer. Major drag man :(