NZ Performance Car: Hey Jeremy, tell us a bit about yourself, how you got into the tyre and alignment game, and how Frankton Tyres came about.
Jeremy: Honestly, I got into tyres right after I left school. I was a bit of a ratbag and absolutely loved doing skids. Naturally, I needed a way to fund my tyre-destroying addiction! That led me to discovering wheel aligning, which quickly turned into a massive passion of mine. These days, I still love the burnout scene, but my focus has shifted to helping get people off the streets and onto the dedicated burnout pads. We’ve got a really strong, safe burnout community here, and it’s great to support that.
What sets Frankton Tyre & Alignment apart from a regular tyre shop?
For us, it’s all about excellent service and a total commitment to working toward the customer’s specific goals.
How much does alignment actually affect the way a car drives — and why do people underestimate it?
It provides driver confidence, better stability over bumps and compressions, and massively improved performance and safety.
What’s the most common alignment mistake you see on modified or lowered cars?
Most people just lower a car and don’t install the recommended aftermarket camber/castor arms to extend tyre life and get better tyre wear.
Camber is a big topic in the car community — can you explain how you decide how much is right for a specific car and its use?
It comes down to physically fitting the tyre on the car and optimising for pitch, roll, and the contact patch for the right application.
What’s the difference between a good tyre and a cheap tyre, beyond just price — what are you actually getting?
Tread depth is a big one; cheaper tyres generally have less tread to start with. Then there’s the compound technology — different compounds such as silica and carbon black make a huge difference.
Walk us through tyre pressures. How much do they actually affect fuel economy, tyre wear, and the way a car handles — on the road and on track?
Tyre pressures are very important for fuel economy. Running low pressures increases rolling resistance, causing premature wear and using more fuel. On the track, fuel economy is obviously not so important; running lower pressures allows the tyres to heat up, which in turn helps with grip.
Walk us through the work you did on Rhys’s Levin. How did your approach differ from a typical street car, and what were you trying to achieve with the setup?
It’s completely race-focused, so it’s not your typical setting. It was based entirely on past experience and the testing done by Rhys.
For a road-legal race car that has to do double duty, what are the compromises you have to make versus a full-on track-only setup?
Higher spring rates and more aggressive alignment settings impact on-road manners, so a balance is required for a car that is less competition-oriented.
Rhys went with the Nankang CR-S all round — can you talk us through that tyre and why it suits a car being used for both road and track?
It’s a semi-slick with circumferential grooves for water clearance in the wet, meaning it can be used across both road and track applications.
How much of a difference can alignment and tyre choice actually make to lap times?
A massive difference, and it’s achievable through constant refinement of your alignment and pressures.
Any other points you want to highlight around a build like Rhys’s Levin, and what to consider when approaching the tyre side of the build process?
Finding the best tyres to fit on a car this low takes a lot of effort. It’s not a ‘set and forget’ process; it requires iteration and refinement. You need to mock up the tyre size, remove the springs, and stroke the suspension through its travel to ensure there is no contact or binding.
Got a street or track build that needs dialling in? Get in touch with the team at Frankton Tyre & Alignment to get your setup sorted properly and make sure your car is performing the way it should: https://franktontyres.nz/
