The A008 is Yokohama’s performance tire developed for the drivers of classic Austin 7, Mini 850 and Mini Cooper cars. The A008 uses Yokohama’s latest technology to provide enhanced performance in dry conditions.
The A008 features a high performance tread compound molded into an asymmetric design that includes a continuous shoulder rib to enhance responsiveness and dry road traction. Circumferential grooves and independent tread blocks on the inner portion of the tire focus on hydroplaning resistance and wet traction. Internally, A008 tires feature a polyester cord body and twin steel belts reinforce by a layer of nylon to help deliver exceptional dry traction and predictable handling.
Founder at Tiresout. Used to be working as an engineer at Bridgestone Tires Akron Technical Center. The responsibilities included but were not limited to technical computing, indoor & outdoor testing of new tires.
My car is an 81 Porsche 911SC. Suspension is stock except Bilstein Sport shocks, and turbo tie rods. These yoko’s are unbelievable. On back roads at 8/10 running, the tires respond instantly to steering inputs, and stick like glue. We don’t have much rain in the low desert of Arizona, so I can’t comment on wet grip. The tires are very quiet, but they’d have to be pretty loud to hear over headers.Would definitely buy again!
Razor sharp steering response. Stick like glue. Despite the 911’s tendency to overseers, I have been unable to break them loose. The car will hold beyond my extended comfort zone. I can’t hear the engine over the headers, so noise is not an issue. The ride is actually almost as good as my Lexus SC 430 on Bridgestone Pole Positions.I don’t drive in the rain, so I can’t comment there. The tread pattern is very aggressive, and imparts n all business look to the car. I will definitely buy them again!
Great little tire with lots of good gooey stickiness. Basic grip is very good. The soft compound makes for good “ease into” drifting on long sweeping curves, with 100% predictibility. The soft compound along with the 70 series aspect ratio, make for a little less crisp turn in/steering response . . . which is often the compromise for ultimate stickiness. With a car like this, you should be planning your moves a few curves in advance anyway. Easy to leave a line of rubber on the pavement, so I don’t expect treadwear to be very long. Even after approx 600 mi, these tires had lots of thread, but definitely didn’t look new – I even find myself measuring tread depth to make sure all 4’s are wearing evenly. No wet/snow data, as I only used these on nice days. Next time, there will me be other set(s) of these tires in my future. The only reason not to pick these would be to pick the all-out autocross A032’s.Excuse the car description, they wouldn’t let me select 1965 Mini.
Very good tires. Performs very well on this little car.
I can’t comment on wet performance because I live in the desert, and don’t take it out on any significantly rainy days(which are very few).I posted an opinion when my Yoko A008’s were new. 4,000 miles later and they grip and ride like a new tire. I cannot see any wear on them, but I don’t expect more than 8.000 miles on the rears of a Porsche with a sticky tire like this. My car has a lightly modified suspension, and with these tires it stops and goes amazingly well. I can’t even spin these, unlike the Goodyear’s that I had on it last. Since I have a loud exhaust system, I can’t hear any tire noise. I highly recommend these to any 911 owner.
An excellent tire that can be used at the track and on the road. Tremendous dry weather grip which inspires confidence through difficult corners. A substantial upgrade over the OEM Dunlop SP 01.
Although these tires are very vehicle specific – the drop list of brands doesn’t let me pick the correct vehicle. These have been run on a 1978 Austin Mini with modest performance modifications (‘Cooper’ head, lcb manifold, rejetted, uprated cam, uprated ignition).These tires are brilliant. The car was transformed, and handles significantly better on the tires these replaced, or my recollection of any mini tires I had run in the past. Sorry, I don’t recall the specific tires that I have had previously.The performance is so good I arrived here as I was checking to see if other rim sizes were available, as I am looking for new rubber on a much higher performance TVR – unfortunately just 10″.I hate when people say a car handles like a go kart, and previous to these tires the mini didn’t, but with these it has that character. You don’t feel you will run out of grip, they don’t get significant wheel spin under pretty much any conditions other than abrupt direction changes in damp that are deliberate attempts to destabilize the car – if you drive agressive but smooth they just grip.Stopping also was vastly improved; better brakes are needed to test the true limits.Overall I don’t believe there is a better choice for a classic mini (unless snows are required)
No, I don’t have these mounted on a 02′ MCS. TireRack doesn’t have a car classification for Classic Mini which these are on (hint TR, 10 inch tire). Anyway, these are the best 10 inch tire for a Classic Mini. I know there are others out there, but I got 14 years out of my last set of A008’s, so why change?