Tire Question

[bryanearll]

Before I toss the Dunlops, I will probably be right on the wear indictor marks by December. Is that still OK for a day of fun AX'ing? I mean if your going to thrash your tires it might as well be the ones knocking on deaths door, right? The rules state you need 1/16th of tread I believe.

Regarding points and tires:
I can get the Kumho ECSTA MX's or the Kumho ECSTA V700's at a super deal, cheaper than anything else I can buy.
Whats the AX point value of these, I'm a bit confused.
MX's 88Y 220/AA/A (whatever that means)
V700's 88W 50/AA/A
Since the car will only go 168mph, is there any real difference between a W, Y, or Z rated tire? Is the 50, in the case of the V700's, the "key number" of stickyness? So this would be a 2 point tire vs the MX's which are a "free" tire?
Bryan

[Jad]

If your wear is fairly even and you are just at the wear indicators they should be good for an AX, just check after each run group to be sure no cord is showing.

The Victoracers are WAY stickier than the MX's and will wear out in about 60 miles at the Q. That means 5 AX's at the most, whereas the MX's should last a few hundred miles. You are correct, the 50 is the key number, 2 points and can NOT be used in MSS, they automatically knock you into MS. No points for the MX as they are a real street tire.

Speed rating is meaningless.

[bryanearll]

There is a big gap between 50 and 220, I don't see anything in between at Kumho. What's the stickiest tire you can get and stay within the stock classification?

[Steve Grosekemper]

Remember we have new rules in the hopper!

I would wait until January to decide on tires. Or just run the MX's and play it safe. They are an excellent tire to learn the cars ability with.

[Jad]

The numbers 50 and 220 are somewhat randomly chosen. There is no official scale or test. In theory, a std tire gets a wear rating of 100 and a wear rating of 200 would last twice as long. Nice theory, but with no standard, the manufacturers pretty much choose a number. Less than 100 generally means a competition tire, over a 100 means a road tire. However, a road tire with a rating of 140 may last longer and grip less than one with a rating of 240. Just the reality of it. The MX and the Falken Azenis are about the stickiest street tires currently produced. The Azenis do not come in a usable size for you, so if AX performance is all you care about, go with the MX.

That being said, the best to the worst street tire, may make 1 second difference at an AX, which is significant, but looking at the results, you can see driver makes 10+ seconds difference. The whole point of the SS classes is that pretty much any car in the class can win because none of the mods make that much difference.

Same theme, it is the driver, not the tires, springs etc. Many of the stock sub 150hp cars destroy the 300+ hp cars, because until two really experienced drivers are eeking out the last few tenths of a second, the mods or various tires are not going to matter and really just make excuses for why the driver lost.

To follow up on Curts post, I drove a stock n/a 944 for 5+ years before even trying race tires, sway bars or more than 147 hp (a little known secret is that Dan A. learned on a 944 as well, but don't tell anyone ). That teaches you to drive, 300 hp and race tires teach you how to go down a straight and spend money blaming the car..... so be careful, learn to drive, not blame the tires etc (except in jest or benchracing of course )

[mnettles]

speaking of rules, when is the vote on the new proposals?

mj

[bryanearll]

I will hold off on the happy purchases until I find my place in the standings after the event on Dec. 18th.
b

[Steve Grosekemper]

The Rules will be voted on at the January 15 president meeting.

The final rules will be posted a few days later