In a message dated 2/22/2006 10:42:31 AM Eastern Standard Time,
KWall73108@aol.com writes:
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 139 which becomes mandatory in
2007 may "reverse the trend of competition tires becoming more like their
brethren, and force them into becoming more like real street tires".
If it turns out an autox tire can be made that meets the 2007 standards and
is competitive with the current autox tires, how much more are the autoxers
willing to pay for this? What percentage of autoxers would be interested in
a
cheaper less competitive street tire like the Falken Azenas for stock
classes?
Should the SCCA start looking into this possible tire dilemma now?
Disclaimer: I haven't read the referenced article yet, so take this with
the obligatory large grain of salt....
I would venture that the DOT-R tires that were produced in the late 80's
and early 90's *would* pass a tougher DOT standard, or at least would
with some tweaks; and I doubt anyone who ran on those tires would
object to the relatively small decrease in performance that would entail.
In the case of BFG, Yokohama, Bridgestone, and General, those WERE
modified street tires. Their competitive lifespan was also longer than
almost any of the currently available R-tires. If that was the case with
a *new* tire, even if the initial purchase cost was greater the actual cost
per run might go down, not up.
GH
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