Are Avons Going Away?

[RockBit]

I spoke with a Goodyear representative at SEMA last week, and complained about the lack of 15 inch tire choices for Cobras on the market. He said that the plant that produces Avons is only working at about 10% capacity and has been recently acquired by Goodyear. He did not think the plant will be kept open much longer, and that if someone wants Avons for their car they should order them now.

He also said our market is just too small for them to produce a premium tire for.

[1985 CCX]

We can only hope that they DOT-ize the Billboards to which I love.

Why would GoodYear buy them if there was a death roll about to happen?
maybe they are stronger in the full on racing tire??

[Mongoose930]

Goodyear bought Cooper in July and Cooper owns Avon. Cooper already significantly downsized the Avon UK plant a few years ago, so sadly, I would not be surprised if Goodyear closed the plant.

[eschaider]

This is simply a business decision. There are very few (if any) non-Cobra vehicles that use our tire sizes. Given our market size a tire manufacturer would have to be daffy to spend money on engineering and tooling a tire for these cars. Soon there will be few if any 15 inch alternatives and then we will all be sporting 17 inch rubber.


Ed

[twobjshelbys]

The practice of buying a brand to put it out of business is very common. It's called consolodation. Most of the time the one being closed is already weak and will eventually fail, and the buyer is buying to get access to the failed brand's intellectual property. The seller wants to do it before bankruptcy. The practice is quite common in commodity businesses.

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by spdbrake

I called Roger Kraus Racing today and spoke with Brandon Kraus for a good 20min.
He elaborated in great detail on the Billboards (which also sells) vs the Avons.

Can you share what he said about Billboards vs. Avon's?

[1985 CCX]

Billboards are in stock.
No G6 or G7's

[saltshaker]

I have them on my Contemporary and within a mile or 2 they smooth out. The shaking is mild and you know it’s going to pass. Traction is great but they do throw stones!!
I haven’t driven on a set of Avon’s so I can’t make a comparison…,I’d buy them again
Jon

[CompClassics]

If you are comparing Goodyear billboards to Avon C6ZZ tires you are comparing apples to oranges, the only thing the same is the fact that they are round and hold air. Maybe not so much on the Goodyears. The Avon C6ZZ tires are a DOT approved radial racing tire, the Goodyear billboards are a bias ply racing tire. Radial tires offer a substantially better driving experience than the bias ply tires and they are much safer for street driving too. Yes, the Avon’s are expensive and they do wear quickly but you will not find a better tire for your Cobra, they are the only tire I recommend for Cobras.

[mrmustang]

No offense to anyone, but a simple set of Cooper Cobras seems to work quite well for anything on the street. If you are planning to go racing, then a spare set of rims, and the Goodyear or Avon tires seem to be the trick. Yet, for street driving, not the most optimum in my humble opinion. I say this as someone with more than my fair share of both types of driving, in all sorts of pop up weather conditions. Forget about "the look", and think about "the function" when purchasing such items for your Cobra replica.

Bill S.

PS: I have Avon ZV3 tires on my Caterham and love them, but even those sizes (195/45/15) are getting hard to come by these days.

[CompClassics]

The Avon C6ZZ, a DOT approved racing tire, was developed for rally racing. I can’t imagine a more “what if it….” tire. As I had previously stated the drive is incredible and the sizes available for Cobras are compatible for any version be it, 289 street, 289 race, 427 street and 427 race. The “look” of the tire is secondary but it compliments the Cobras perfectly in my opinion, no outlandish sidewall graphics, just a plain looking tire.

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

The Avon C6ZZ, a DOT approved racing tire, was developed for rally racing. I can’t imagine a more “what if it….” tire. As I had previously stated the drive is incredible and the sizes available for Cobras are compatible for any version be it, 289 street, 289 race, 427 street and 427 race. The “look” of the tire is secondary but it compliments the Cobras perfectly in my opinion, no outlandish sidewall graphics, just a plain looking tire.

Why everyone thinks the bog "GOODYEAR and EAGLE" are period correct baffles me, they are from the 80s. The tire in period was the "Blue Streak"

[Mike I]

Just to offer another data point to the conversation, I called SascoSports a week ago to inquire about CR6ZZ tires for my GT. They are currently out of stock and they’re taking orders now for the next shipment that is projected to arrive in Feb or Mar of 2022.

If you need tires for your car, I suggest you call them and get on the list asap.

Also, if you coordinate with their racing calendar, you can have them transport the tires to the nearest track event they’re supporting and save on shipping. Not a bad deal.

[SwiftDB4]

Saw this over on GT40's.com:
https://www.gt40s.com/threads/avon-s...0/#post-581995

[DealsGapCobra]

I am not shocked but this is bad news for sure.

[Alfa02]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Why everyone thinks the bog "GOODYEAR and EAGLE" are period correct baffles me, they are from the 80s. The tire in period was the "Blue Streak"

I couldn't agree more, I was around during the 60's and did my fair share of lettering for the racers (8-12yo) the Blue Streaks were the TIRE. The racers paid me well with rides after the races @Speed Cheers Tom.

[Randall Thomas]

This was mentioned a couple of months ago.

They claim while the British factory that produced Avon tires in the town of Melksham in the south of England is closing down, tire production is supposedly slated to move to the European continent. That was three months ago so things could change...

https://www.advrider.com/avon-to-clo...tion-facility/

[Malgyver]

Originally Posted by spdbrake

I called Roger Kraus Racing today and spoke with Brandon Kraus for a good 20min.

Maybe the best thing about living where I live is that Brandon will be aligning my new build Hurricane himself once it’s on the road in a few weeks! And yes, I got a lecture about the first set of tires that he mounted and balanced for me a few months ago