It all depends on the type and quality of the CD-R you use. The main problems with CD-R readability in old drives is reflectivity and jitter (variation in pit formation), the former can be remedied by using a good CD-R with high reflectivity and Long Strategy (Cyanine, Azo) dye with a silver reflective layer (silver has higher reflectivity than gold, that's why they used it exclusively in DVD's).
To achieve a good jitter and low BLER you need a good CD-R burner, no modern drive can burn CD-R's adequately so I would suggest you use something like an old Lite-On CD-RW drive (but NOT a DVD burner!), an LG burner manufactured before 2013 (Renesas/Panasonic chipset), Samsung burner made before ~2010 (up to model SH-223B) or an older Pioneer drive (<2006). Obviously avoid any notebook burners. Burning CD-R's at very low speeds (4x and lower) will not help at all, and may actually produce inferior results. Do not go lower than 8x or higher than 16x for best jitter results unless you're using <8x media, in which case burn it at rated speed.
As for choosing media, avoid any Phthalocyanine discs (the light green/yellow ones) due to the significantly lower reflective properties of that dye. Now that TY has stopped production your only choice is new old stock cyanine or metal azo discs. The best (that can still be found on ebay) were made by Taiyo Yuden (most post-16x Made in Japan stuff is TY) or Verbatim Metal Azo made in Japan, Singapore or Taiwan (Verbatim up to 16x with "Azo" written on the packaging). 74min CD-R's may also help, but I've never personally had a problem with 80min discs even on picky drives. It's all about the disc type and burn quality.
After buying a CD-R, the easiest way to check the type is by looking at the ATIP code (use something like Nero CDspeed's Disc Info tab), for reference the 80min codes Taiyo Yuden used were 97m 24s 00f and 97m 24s 01f, Verbatim Metal Azo was 97m 34s 20f and 97m 34s 21f. These are by far the most compatible CD-R's on drives with weak lasers.