lances@wt.net wrote:
>
> I've been quiet through most of this discussion, but something occurred to me.
> What would be one good way to keep people from spending exorbitant amounts on
> high dollar tires? Raise the minimum treadwear.
I'd have to do some research to verify that fact. Treadwear ratings are
a very fickle thing, and to be honest, I haven't even looked at a tire
with a rating of over 200 in several years. Would there be any
super-expensive 160 rated tires that would be "better" enough for the
big-money driver to try them?
> Mine this year at Nats were
> 180 front and 160 rear, I believe, for the Toyo T1 tires (BTW, Loren, mine
>were
> 225/40 front and 215/40 rear).
I think I wrote that in the margin of my tire notes, I remember you
telling me. Completely spaced it when I typed in the info!
> If you increase the treadwear, you also increase
> the life of the tire, allowing them to run longer and decrease cost. From a
> quick look at the TireRack pages, The Pilot MXXX3 are 140, Yoko A520 are 180,
> AVS-I wasn't listed, Dunlop SP Sport 8000 are 200, SP Sport 9000 are 280.
>Firehawk
> SZ50 is 220, BFG KD is 200, KDW is 300. I think this as a limiting factor
>would
> help greatly. Maybe also making sure the tire is available in more sizes than
> just 17 and 18 would make it better for all competitors.
Okay, there are some decent tires with treadwear of 160 or greater.
There still may be an expensive overdog in that mix, though. And if
there isn't now, there could be in the future. This is why I would
prefer either the spec tire concept, or use of the exclusion list. I
think a spec tire would be easier to implement. It's too easy to miss
something on an exclusion list.
> My feeling on the whole "to R or not to R" debate is that if the non-R class
> is offered at larger events (Tours, ProSolo and Nats), I would run it. I don't
> mind changing tires at events as I do now, but I also like getting a full
>season
> from a set of tires, including street use, like I did this year. I ran monthly
> events from January to August with the same fronts, and am still using the
>rears.
> My fronts got trashed (because of alignment) and wouldn't work in the wet
>anymore,
> so I bought new ones. I like the non-R idea since in the long run, it will be
> less costly.
Wow, a driver on 16" tires who thinks it's cheaper to run on street
tires. DG, are you listening?
> Speed or times compared against other classes doesn't bother me,
> it's the competition within the class and the drivers that I'm there for.
Street tire competition can get every bit as intense as any other class,
too! (flashbacks to Rocky's MirrorKhana...)
--
Loren Williams | Homepage - http://home.kscable.com/shad
'94 Saturn SC2 | Wichita Region SCCA - http://www2.southwind.net/~scca
|