Ok, I know this horse is dead, but let's at least get the history
straight:
><< I think it was the '89 Nationals in Salina when BFG first
introduced the
>226
> series tires.
No, the BFG autox tire at the time was the 206, and I don't
believe it was intro'ed at Salina. If memory serves, BFG brought
tires to Salina that were even softer than 206s =8<0. And the
other tire mfrs. did NOT leave the sport in droves as a result.
Before the next season, the tire rules were clarified so as to
prevent a future occurrence of this type of thing.
Once again I have to say that a softer compound is NOT uniformly
better as an autox tire. Depends on the car, the course, and the
driver. I know several highly competitive SP drivers who run on
Hoosier's road race compound, because it WORKS BETTER ON THEIR
CARS.
When the 224 BFG first came out, it was not available in an autox
compound. I had a set of 206s on my ES GTI, and I bought a set of
224s mid-season in 1993. Back-to-back comparisons on the same
course at the same event under the same conditions established
clearly that the 224 worked better on that car than the 206. Yet
its compound was harder, not softer. The ideal compound hardness
depends on many factors, and a statement to the effect that
"softer is faster" is just not true. I personally like having the
choice, but that's just me, I guess.
Jay "it ain't broke, stop trying to fix it" Mitchell
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