Yokohama ADVAN APEX: Ultra-high Performance Done Right
Sporting lots of grip and plenty of treadwear, these Yokohama summer tires simply make life easier (and more fun) on the road.
Yokohama Tire is generally known for reliability and consumer safety, and its all-season tires reflect that. So when the Tokyo-based company launched ADVAN APEX last August, we here at LS1Tech knew they were going to be something special. The APEX line is its latest-and-greatest ultra-high performance summer tire, and on the 2016-2020 Camaro SS, you’re in for lots of smiles.
Let me complete this nut graph by spoiling my findings—I got a 4.7-second 0-60 run with a stock powertrain, suspension and wheels. That may not sound all that impressive (compared to the official track result, which is 4.0) but with a torque monster like the sixth-gen on the street, that’s actually good.
The ADVAN APEX UHP tire by Yokohama is a performance titan. Besides getting a pretty decent 0-60 MPH sprint for a convertible, I also averaged 1.09 g with brutal turns, with the highest being 1.2.
This type of cornering is something I didn’t even think was possible with a vert at all. Accelerating through turns was a blast. And while I had a tiny bit of slippage, it was certainly no drift party like with other tires.
‘The ADVAN APEX is a natural fit for the Camaro SS, even with stock wheels. We already know that the convertible is about 0.2 seconds slower than the coupe in that regard. Despite being heavier, these tires blur the lines between the two and make the vert’s weight almost negligible.’
This summer tire is a solid effort by Yokohama in marrying road-hugging grip with high performance and reliability in multiple scenarios. But before we dive in, let’s look at some specs.
ADVAN APEX V601 UHP Specs
The tire setup Yokohama sent me is roughly the same dimensions as my old pair of shoes, save for the considerably better treadwear, slightly-lower weight and slightly-higher load index.
255/35R20
- Load Index: 97Y
- Part#: 110160135
- UTQG Rating: 280/AA/A
- Weight: 28.1
- Width: 9.0 in.
- Approx. Rim Width Accommodation: 8.5 – 10.0 in.
- Tread Width: 8.9 in.
- Max Load at Max PSI: 1609 @ 50
285/35R20
- Load Index: 104Y
- Part#: 110160141
- UTQG Rating: 280/AA/A
- Weight: 31.2
- Width: 10.0 in.
- Approx. Rim Width Accommodation: 9.5 – 11.0 in.
- Tread Width: 9.9
- Max Load at Max PSI: 1984 @ 50
Yokohama from a Dig
These aren’t the most competitive sizes but they are plenty for the street. And it’s only until you accidentally get a little squirrely on the throttle not long after a cold start that you realize that still it holds its composure. Even with cooler temps.
The sixth-gen Camaro is a known torque warrior. Turn TCS off instead of going into Competitive Mode and you feel all 455 lbs-ft pretty quickly (with a pretty high-profile trip to Spin City as a bonus, too). I normally drive around to warm my tires up before spirited runs, and this time around, I had a lapse in judgement and took off from a stop.
I lost some traction, yes, but it wasn’t until I scrolled through the performance menu on the dash to see my oil temp that I discovered my tires still said “cool” onscreen.
You can obviously imagine the pie on my face, but then, I smiled. I realized soon after just how reliable these Y-rated tires really are. You see, I regularly drive with TCS off (or with Competitive Mode on), but only after I’ve sufficiently warmed the tires.
It’s (typically) an automatic thing for me, and since it has been so hot this summer, it really doesn’t take long for tires to wake up on the road these days. Seeing that I didn’t completely end up sideways as a result is actually impressive.
‘Yokohama ADVAN APEX V601: Ultra-high Performance Done Right’ continued…
