Best Tyres for the Toyota GR Yaris

After 2 hot summers the tires are dangerous on wet and cold,
That was actually very much appreciated since i drive them on a GR Yaris mostly on the weekends in the night on snowfall but normal use would be very very dangerous.

These replaced Continental SportContact 7, which in turn replaced the standard-fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, of which I had gone through two sets of (total of about 30,000 summer miles).

The additional noise was noticeable from pulling away from the tyre place, but so was the immediacy in the turn-in. Over the next few hundred miles I pushed them harder and harder and it was clear that they offered significant additional grip and confidence over the Continentals, which I considered a useful upgrade in every sense over the OEM Michelins.

Trying to find the limits of grip was difficult, on the right surface and once at full temperature they really seemed impossible to unstick unless I truly went in too hot. When grip was finally relinquished they tended to skitter very slightly, but this was always well telegraphed and controllable.

They also make commendably little noise, starting to squeal only at the very limit which is good if you prefer a stealth approach! Much quieter than the SC7 or PS4S.

I was cautious in lower temperature running and kept an eye on pressures, using this as an analogue for temperature, however even in pretty cold weather (an early Furka Pass start saw 3°C on the in-car display!) they proved grippy and reliable, although I was always wary that they would not be at their best in such conditions.

Considering this, and their position towards the more extreme end of road tyres, I would say their cold weather performance is remarkable, but as these are purely summer tyres for me this will rarely even be a concern. It's still nice to know that you can drive them in cool conditions without having to tiptoe around and worry about sliding off the road if you have to take evasive action.

I also had the opportunity to test them in a variety of wet conditions, from patchy damp through typical wet roads to absolute monsoon conditions and again they proved far more resilient than I was expecting. OK, they are new and so still have decent tread depth (even it this is noticeably less than other tyres from new), but in the conditions I drove in they still gripped well and communicated plenty.

What I haven't yet done are any track miles, nor have I driven at speed in the wet where standing water and aquaplaning might be a concern i.e. on a motorway. Others who have used Cup 2 advised me to watch the warm up and make sure they are at temperature before leaning on them so I was conscious to do that, and although I've not been on track I certainly gave them a thorough Alpine workout on all kinds of surface from smooth, new tarmac, through rough and bumpy worn roads, to sections of pavé and they always provided confidence and tremendous levels of grip.

Let's see how they wear; it seems I get about 10k miles out of a set of tyres on this car so it will be interesting to see how the Cup 2 compare. The price I paid was more than the SC7 but less than PS4S cost, so in that sense they are actually well priced, if not the total bargain that the Continentals are.

My brand new GR Yaris arrived on Potenza Race, the replacement for the previous OEM PS4s. They are extraordinary! My first weekend with the car, I took it for a 1,000km drive on twisty country back roads, to run the car in, not using full throttle or revs, but gradually increasing cornering speed as I got to know the car. Apart from roaring at high speed on coarse bitumen, the tyres are phenomenal in every way that matters to me, though it was dry, so I can’t attest to wet grip. I also accidentally ended up one quite a few dirt roads! On recently graded smooth dirt, they were perfectly acceptable, for essentially track day tyres, though the GR-Four AWD system must take some of the credit. Even on sharp gravel and nobbly bedrock, they were OK at more moderate speed. I was concerned they might puncture, but afterwards they were completely unscathed! Quite phenomenal!