Was that a twitch on the carcass? Or was it just the swarm of flies
hovering over it playing tricks on my eyes. At any rate, for some reason
I too feel that I should bestow upon you all my own humble experiences on
Street Tires. So taking my turn at bludgeoning this thread into an
unrecognizable mass:
I did an entire season on Street Tires in my Miata. This was two series,
probably about 20 events total. The tires were Yoko AVS Intermediates,
sized 185/60/14. This was on my '92 Miata, which I sold at the end of
that season to purchase my '96 R. The tires survived that abuse very well
and are still mounted on the car with plenty of tread life showing.
I think that in a light car, running Street Tires can be a great cost
savings move. It also teaches excellent car control. I was able to go
pretty fast on the AVSs, finishing the season very well in the local Stock
with racing tires class of the Western Washington Sports Car COuncil, and
winning the local SCCA indexed Street Tire class.
I had an absolute blast on Street Tires and would be running them now if I
didn't harbor dreams of National Glory. :^) We'll see, perhaps I'll
return to Street Tires after a couple of years, if I am not able to
elevate myself above the level of "Nationally Almost Able To Go Really
Fast". ;^)
I'm certain that if I drove a big heavy car (like a Mustang or
Corvette or Porsche) that my Street Tire experience would be markedly
different. (Markedly being all the burnouts I'd be leaving all over the
place).
Bret Dodson
'96 Miata R (it does fabulous brake stands!)
Seattle, WA
On Thu, 18 Mar 1999, Phil Esra wrote:
>
> Okay, pass that horse carcass over here. My turn. Obviously, street
> tire-only rules on a national level aren't going to be popular nor
> cheap. End of story. At a regional level it makes more sense. This
> debate always seems to come down to the difference between thinking
> nationally and thinking regionally and people not always grasping the
> differences in scale and level of competitiveness between the two.
> IMHO.
>
> Having said that, I thought I'd throw in my personal street tire
> experience: I'm forced to run on street tires because of the way the San
> Francisco Region is handling Street Touring. I've put 17k miles on a set
> of 195/55-14 SP8000s on an '86 Civic Si. Add approx 30 autox runs
> (admittedly all on asphalt, sometimes w/rain) plus 20 laps at Sears
> Point. At this point, I'd estimate I'll get at least another 10k out of
> them before I get down to the wear bars, including another 30-40 asphalt
> autox runs. Show me an R tire that can do that, especially for $70 in a
> 14" size. I know that the scales tip the other way as the wheel size
> gets larger. I know all the pros and cons of street and R tires. I just
> wanted to share my experience. Thanks for listening.
>
> Phil Esra
> 86 Civic Si ST
> 72 240z EM
> Do You Yahoo!?
>
>
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