[I think the text got lost the first time I sent this]
After running my first season on street tires, I am finally ready to drop
some cash on some race tires, but I'm not sure which compound to use. I'm
planning on getting Hoosiers since that's what everyone else in my class is
running (I know, what a lemming!)
What are the ramifications of using the road race compound vs. using the
autocross compound?
One possibility I could see is that the autocross compound is substantially
softer than the road race compound, and therefore will wear out more
quickly no matter what. In this situation I would probably go for the road
race compound.
Another possibility I could see would be that the two compounds wear
equally (or nearly so) provided I don't overheat the tires. Driving
the autocross compound for twenty minutes straight on a road course would
clearly be a bad idea. Put another way, the autocross compound is sticky
at the temperatures attained during a single run, and as long as I allow
them to cool down between runs they shouldn't have excessive wear. If this
were the case, I would probably get the autocross compound.
So above are two statements that might be true, but probably only one is
actually true. I can only justify one set of tires this season, and I will
probably attend 12 events, so I need at least 50 or so runs. 70 or 80
would make me a lot happier!
Any advice?
-Peter Dunlap
pdunlap@iphase.com
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