On Fri, 24 Feb 2006, pethier@isd.net wrote:
> There is an exclusion list in the rules. I don't believe
> there are any tires on it just now. SEB can slap a tire
> on this list at any time. Somebody tries to slip by a
> super-sticky tire and the SEB doesn't like it, it goes on
> the list.
>
> Right now, the Falken Azenis is a good tire for ST classes.
> These tires are pretty cheap (I just bought a set for 300
> bucks or so). The SEB is unlikely to pull the plug on
> these. Somebody comes up with tire as sticky as a Kumho
> 710, for twice the price of a Falken, claims a tire wear of
> 140, and the SEB ought to pop it directly unto the exclusion
> list.
Yeah, that'll probably work, if, say, Kumho were to jump directly to a
V710-like street tire.
What if, say, Toyo were to make a new tire that's otherwise identical
to an RA-1, with a 140 rating? Now, that's not going to cause a big
problem by itself, because I'm not sure the RA-1 is faster than an Azenis,
and it for damn sure lasts longer, at least on my car. But then if
another company makes a tire just a little faster and softer than that,
also with a 140 rating. And again, and again. Before you know it, we'll
have 20-run "street tires"... just like we have 20-run DOT tires.
Give it a few years maybe, but don't expect an exclusion list to save
the day. As you note, the SEB has been tremendously reluctant to use that
tool. They could've kept R-comps a lot more reasonable than they are, but
they didn't, for whatever reasons.
As long as the gap between the current and new tire stays small, the
likelihood of the new tire being excluded remains very low.
--
David Hillman
#26 B1
|