I also ran with the 5:50 - 15 Vintage TD's for the first time this past
weekend at TWS. I had a weird weekend. I brought the car to the track Friday
for the test and tune day just to run one session and heat cycle the tires.
I hadn't driven on a track since last October, on 008rs', and the first few
laps with the Hoosiers had me thinking about giving up racing. At 28 psi, it
was squirrelly at best. They did improve as they heated up, so I parked it
on jack stands and left until Sunday. Starting at the back (missed
qualifying) and moved up a few spots amid the Group 7 cars (CVAR switched DP
cars into the class with CP and our Caterham group. I managed to learn that
the Hoosiers do in fact have some stick. They also have some squeal in
braking. I didn't break it loose, so I know there is some more speed in
them. I'm quite a bit slower than I was with the Yokes, due in part to my
layoff, learning the tires (read fear of spinning) and partly to the
difference tire diameter. On a couple of spots on the track, my revs dropped
low enough in 3rd that it bogged down. Amazing what a 1/2" difference in
tire height does to the gearing. I may look into Carstens 3.9 gearsets after
I play around some more.
I have lots of work to do before MO. I blew a radiator hose at speed and
overheated the engine a bit. I need to relocate the sender in the pipe
instead of the thermostat cover. It measured air temp. It's running but I
may need to go to the backup engine for MO. Glad it's almost done. And my
overdrive shifts fine at 4000 rpm, but not at all at 6000. Any ideas as to a
quickie fix?
Bob Kramer
After initially thumbing my nose at Hoosiers, I came to appreciate them.
After initial break in they seem to get sticky and maintain adhesion through
out their useful life. They seem to be very predictable. See how fast Mike
Jackson and others go on them......
Joe (A)
> I'm going to be trying the Hoosiers this weekend--the 5.50 15s. I've heard
> good things about them. A driver I respect (Tony Garmey) put them on the
> TR3 Devin that's in the Hart collection and said they were worth a couple
> of seconds at PIR over the TA's that he used to run. I've got a set of
> totally thrashed TAs that I'm taking off to switch to the Hoosiers. I'll
> let you know what I think.
>
> I loved the Yokos myself. My last set was toast early last year.
>
> You could always go the rock-hard Dunlops that they require at the
> Monterey Historics. they sure teach you a lot about car handling--you
> spend all your time chasing the tires. Makes you respect those early
> racers all the more.
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