Tire Review - Yokohama A510

Cars tested with these tires:
- Ford Escort XR3i 1.8
- Ford Fiesta 1-25i Techno

Tests performed:
- On both cars all the 4 wheels had the same tire.
- On the fiesta I've also tested them at the rear with some BS RE720 at the front.

Dry grip:
- It's an old but good tire. It's clear from it's design that it was meant to be used in the dry. Not brilliant but soft enough to deliver good road holding while hot.

Wet grip:
- Not that good. The compound sure is meant to be used HOT and the wet tends to make that impossible.
- The difference in the compound was made very clear while driving the fiesta with both Bridgestone and these. The Bridgestones grip a lot better.

Aquaplaning resistance:
- Bad. The tire has very little flow and the grooves are not large or deep enough. Better drive slowly in the pouring rain.

Progressiveness:
- Very good. The let go in both wet or dry is progressive and gives good warning.
- I can remember a couple of controlled slides resulting in lift-off oversteer when I had the Potenzas at the front and yokohamas at the rear.

Integrity maintenance:
- Can't actually describe these feature. No real test was performed to evaluate this.

Compound:
- It's a soft rubber compound with little wear resistance and designed for hot operation.

Longevity:
- Not brilliant. If you use it in a FF car layout, and drive hard in the summer, the front tires will not endure long.

Coherence:
- The tires side-walls are good enough to hold it straight, at least with light cars like the fiesta. The tire can go through hard bends keeping the contact patch all the way through.


Balance:
-  Not a single balance problem. The tires went through it's life with very little maintenance. Not the most even tire around, but it keeps it's shape.

Load Behaviour:
- Best used in FR or MR layouts. If you push it too hard with an AWD or FF car they will easily wear out.
- The heavier the car is, the worse this will be. Not a tire for powerful saloons.