Phil, your experience reported below supports what it was my instinct in
this area, based on my own experience with autocrossing street tires and the
posts I've seen about "my Kumhos are corded after only xx runs -- now what
do I do?".
Lacking experience with R tires, I could only make my case from what I could
deduce from the above. Your post is some level of proof that there is more
to the cost equation than the comparison of one set of the most expensive
street tires with the least expensive R tires.
My own 16x7 ZR Pirelli P6000s, which I bought USED with less than half
tread, lasted me 6 months of vigorous street use with 230 hp in a 3000 pound
car and several autocrosses (including practices) as well.
My own 2 cents.
Richard Nichols
rnichol1@san.rr.com
San Diego, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Esra <pesra@yahoo.com>
To: autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, March 18, 1999 10:32 AM
Subject: street tires (I am SO sorry!)
>
>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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