• Riktor
  • Riktor
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  • From: Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas
  • Registered: 2009-08-06
  • Posts: 1,138

Re: Tires

Mulry wrote:

Riktor, with your Pontiyota, are you more concerned about the Toyota motor leaping out of the Fiero body because the body's not good enough for the motor, or are you more concerned with the Fiero body rejecting the Toyota implant as inherently incompatible, like using an A+ heart in a B- body? smile Either way, I can't see how this ends well.

Are you running a 4AG motor?

The Fiero body will have no choice but to hold onto the motor. Besides the Fiero is a space frame and its handling characteristics are phenominal with a lighter engine in the back. The main problems with the Fiero were over heating, electrical and a heavy butt. All of which are solved with the drivetrain swap. Not to mention that Muncie 4-spd...

So... I can see it ending VERY well. Are you going to be competing next season? Or rather are you going to be at the October Houston Race? I'd love to look over your MR2 there... you know... size you up.

Sons of STIG
Judge Jonny, "So, what's the next formerly thought to be immune from winning that will steal the nickels?An MR2? A Fierro (ha ha ha)? A Datsun/Nissan Z? A Camaro?"
  • Registered: 2009-05-04
  • Posts: 311

Re: Tires

Tire Rack is closing out some sizes of the Ventus RS-2.  I got 8 215/45-16s (I think that's the size I got) for $49 each.

Mod Squad Racing
http://twosrus.com
  • From: Frisco, Texas
  • Registered: 2009-05-02
  • Posts: 1,430

Re: Tires

David Hawkins wrote:

Tire Rack is closing out some sizes of the Ventus RS-2.  I got 8 215/45-16s (I think that's the size I got) for $49 each.

Thanks for the tip... dang... too bad those are a bit narrow. We run these tires on our two Lemons cars at work, and they are pretty good I think. They do "go off" like a race tire before they wear out though.

"Don't mess with Lexas!" LS400. We survived another one! See website link for build details.
Maker of the "unofficial Lemons fish!" - If you ask nice, I'll likely give you one at the track.

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54 Reply by Jeff G 78 (edited by Jeff G 78 2009-08-16 08:03 PM)

  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: Tires

Dammit!  That sucks.  Discount Tire is out of the RS-2 completely and TireRack is getting close to being out.  The RS-2 was the only 14" performance tire left that we could use on our Z.  It is being replaced by the RS-3 with a 140 treadwear.  So much for Hankooks in Lemons!  I run RS-2s on my street car as well and love them.  Grrrrr  mad

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
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  • From: Federal Way, WA
  • Registered: 2009-06-11
  • Posts: 333

Re: Tires

Jeff G 78 wrote:

Dammit!  That sucks.  Discount Tire is out of the RS-2 completely and TireRack is getting close to being out.  The RS-2 was the only 14" performance tire left that we could use on our Z.  It is being replaced by the RS-3 with a 140 treadwear.  So much for Hankooks in Lemons!  I run RS-2s on my street car as well and love them.  Grrrrr  mad

You might try the Bridgestone RE-960 AS Pole Position. It has a 400 treadwear rating which scares off a lot of people but they actually grip very, very well plus they are an excellent rain tire and wear like iron. I am on my second set on my Miata and I love them.

Solracer's Website

56 Reply by Riktor (edited by Riktor 2009-08-18 06:05 PM)

  • Riktor
  • Riktor
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  • Registered: 2009-08-06
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Re: Tires

Solracer wrote:
Jeff G 78 wrote:

Dammit!  That sucks.  Discount Tire is out of the RS-2 completely and TireRack is getting close to being out.  The RS-2 was the only 14" performance tire left that we could use on our Z.  It is being replaced by the RS-3 with a 140 treadwear.  So much for Hankooks in Lemons!  I run RS-2s on my street car as well and love them.  Grrrrr  mad

You might try the Bridgestone RE-960 AS Pole Position. It has a 400 treadwear rating which scares off a lot of people but they actually grip very, very well plus they are an excellent rain tire and wear like iron. I am on my second set on my Miata and I love them.

Average price per tire?

EDIT: nvm... those tires cost too much for our size.

Sons of STIG
Judge Jonny, "So, what's the next formerly thought to be immune from winning that will steal the nickels?An MR2? A Fierro (ha ha ha)? A Datsun/Nissan Z? A Camaro?"
  • RobL
  • RobL
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  • From: Philly area
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
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Re: Tires

What, are you tucking 20s?  ~$300 per set is a steal.

--Rob Leone Schumacher Taxi Service
We won the IOE at Southern Discomfort.
We got screwed at The Real Hoopties of New Jersey  and we took cars down with us.
We got the curse at Capitol Offense but they wouldn't let us destroy the car.

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  • kalpol
  • kalpol
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  • From: Austin, TX
  • Registered: 2009-05-03
  • Posts: 276

Re: Tires

We've got 13" wheels, anyone have any suggestions besides the Sumitomo HTR-200s?

Josh Poage
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2009 Yee-haw It's Texas
Prison Break Racing - 1986 325e #27 - 2010 Gator-o-Rama
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2011 Heaps in the Heart of Texas

kalpol's Website

  • From: Tampa, Fl
  • Registered: 2009-05-29
  • Posts: 259

Re: Tires

Yokohama  makes a 13 and so does Azena?

EuroTrash E30 - Lemons South 08 (cooling probs) 24th /CMP  Spring 09 (fuel tank damage) one day on track 69th /Lemons South 09 (Hit by an Escort) 27th
MSR Tx, 10 2oth, no issues other than rain. /CHump Homestead Miami 10- 2nd place.

60 Reply by Riktor (edited by Riktor 2009-08-19 08:27 PM)

  • Riktor
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Re: Tires

RobL wrote:

What, are you tucking 20s?  ~$300 per set is a steal.

The tires we are getting are $118 a piece and provide better grip. The profile we are going with are $138 in those tires.

I can't justify the extra $240 for the sets. That's some one's gear or entry and food.

kalpol wrote:

We've got 13" wheels, anyone have any suggestions besides the Sumitomo HTR-200s?

13 by what? That can make a huge difference...

Sons of STIG
Judge Jonny, "So, what's the next formerly thought to be immune from winning that will steal the nickels?An MR2? A Fierro (ha ha ha)? A Datsun/Nissan Z? A Camaro?"
  • kalpol
  • kalpol
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  • Registered: 2009-05-03
  • Posts: 276

Re: Tires

Riktor wrote:

13 by what? That can make a huge difference...

uhhhhhhhhhhh I'm ashamed to say I don't even know.  It's a standard Fiat steel wheel.

Josh Poage
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2009 Yee-haw It's Texas
Prison Break Racing - 1986 325e #27 - 2010 Gator-o-Rama
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2011 Heaps in the Heart of Texas

kalpol's Website

  • sergio
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  • Registered: 2009-04-30
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Re: Tires

4.5 or 5" is my guess

63 Reply by KTL

  • KTL
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  • Registered: 2009-08-21
  • Posts: 49

Re: Tires

I agree a sticky tire is not a must-have (and can be a detriment if that's all you've got) to be a front runner.  I'm speaking in terms of circle track + infield layout type of track driving.  We've yet to put our car in a road course event, so this year will be different for us @ Nelson.

The poster who said less time in the pit = more WIN is dead on.  Our car was not a hot-lapper at the Toledo race last year, yet we finished a very strong 6th considering our huge amount of time in the pits near the end of the race due to broken engine mounts mounts and purging the cooling system multiple times (because of impatience to bleed air from system) due to a cut hose.

MyLaps Toledo 2008 results says our car was not even in the top 1/2 of fastest lap times.  We were ~ 4 sec/lap slower than the top timers = around 30th/52 cars in terms of fastest lap time recorded during the race.  I say "around" because a few of the top times shown on MyLaps seem wrong/erroneous?

We simply ran a good pace and stayed out of trouble.  We stayed on the track as long as possible and only pitted when absolutely necessary, avoiding green flag pits stops at ALL costs.  Also helps that our car seems to be very good on gas- 4500 rpm redline FTW.

Don't get me wrong though.  We weren't a bunch of pussies out there just putt putting along.  We set a good pace and I know when I was driving, I passed tons of cars and got passed only by the very fast and the stupidly aggressive.  I think the fact that we were in the top 3 for the entire race until hour 21 engine mount breakage occurred proves we were doing well!

So now to the point about tires.  We use the H rated 195-60/14 Falken Ziex 912 that is a 480 AA A tire.  It's a good all around tire.  Long wearing, plenty of grip, and performs well in the wet.   We only used needed one set of tires at Toledo.  Had we been more observant, we would have noticed the left front tire needed rotation more often.  We never changed it and only when we put the car on the  trailer after the race did we notice the track banking takes it's toll on the inside of the left front- totally bald inner shoulder and corded in a large area!!!!

Kevin
  • Registered: 2009-05-24
  • Posts: 17

Re: Tires

professional.dreamer wrote:

Our World of Outlaws Miata has run 4 Lemons events over 2 years (3 at AMP and 1 at T-Hill) on one set of Fuzion HRi (195/60-14 with a 400 treadwear) and they're still good for another event or two.  $45 from Tire Rack.  Solid tire, sticks well, no sidewall roll, consistent durometer rating throughout and performs equally well in the wet --- wish we had more rain racing in CA.  I just bought a new set and put them on the Lemons Fire Department Miata for Reno.

We ran Fuzion's on our E30 at the lamest day - unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about them. After the Friday Test-n-Tune, our right front tire had a noticeable bulge in the sidewall.  No biggie, we thought, we have spares, though of a different brand.  4 hours into the race, left front does the exact same thing in the carousel, except this time it became less of a tire and more of a collection of rubber bits attached to a rim.  Again, we have spares.....and this time, 14 hours in we got a bulge in the right rear sidewall tire.  We had the Kumho guy de-mount it - we only had 2 spares rims and needed it for a third tire.  The tire was trashed - the bead had seperated from the carcass, and the tire was de-laminating from the inside.  Kumho guy said he had never see anything like that ever.

The tires were by far the crappiest tires I had every run - sure, they felt good and appeared to be wearing good, but that doesn't mean jack when the tires fail.
We finished the race on two 10 year old 'Sport-tech' tires that came with the car, and one 'Douglas' tire from walmart. 

John

http://www.kumkrautracing.com/

jad3675's Website

  • Registered: 2009-07-27
  • Posts: 61

Re: Tires

We just used about 75% of one set of RS-2's at the Lamest day on our SE-R.  2.8 degrees of camber and good pressures worked great.  We can probably swap fronts to rears and do CMP on them next spring.  Of course, we were only on track for about 21 hours due to penalties and multiple axle failures. Stupid old car, crazy bumpy track.  Maybe that's why our tire wear was so good... we were in the air half the time...

  • From: Buffalo NY, help me please!
  • Registered: 2009-09-09
  • Posts: 163

Re: Tires

The star specs took us to victory lane in our 200sx.  We chewed up 2 left fronts before we got the tire pressure right, but the 3rd one (which was actually a flipped right front from earlier in the race) had no problems at all.  Had we sorted the pressure issue out ahead of time we wouldn't have needed to change tires at all, and if we did it would have been very late in the race.

  • From: Columbus, OH
  • Registered: 2009-05-26
  • Posts: 2,839

Re: Tires

What tire pressure did you end up running?  (If you don't mind sharing.)

Quad4 CRX - Wartburg 311 - Civic Wagovan - Parnelli Jones Galaxie - LS400 - Lancia MR2 - Boat - Sentra - 56 Ford Victoria
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68 Reply by Matt88 (edited by Matt88 2009-10-05 05:28 PM)

  • Matt88
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  • From: Ypsilanti, MI
  • Registered: 2009-10-05
  • Posts: 10

Re: Tires

We didn't last an entire race, but I do know from street experience than Toyo Proxes 4s tend to last longer than a lot of other performance tires while still comparing very well for grip.  Treadwear rating of 300.  That's what we ran on our Scirocco.

I've also got a set of Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s on my '98 Jetta I've taken to a track day and those are FANTASTIC.  They hold on extremely well, even in the wet (SURPRISINGLY grippy in the wet and very communicative.  No unpredictability in these tires, it seems).  Treadwear rating of 240.

Problem is TireRack doesn't sell Toyos.  And the Michelins can be hard to find in many sizes.  Checking on Michelins website is even worse.  You can find certain sizes for the above mentioned Pilot Exalto PE2s at TireRack that Michelins website will tell you don't exist!  I'm also fairly certain that dealers who get direct shipments from Michelin can also call and order different sizes not listed anywhere.

Michelins are also not cheap...

The Toyos we got are 195/50R15s in size and I work at a tire shop who sells and installs Toyos.  We managed to get them for VERY cheap.  Retail price was less than $100/tire anyway.  What I paid for them was less.. HUGE bang for the buck and they last.

I noticed a LOT of teams running Dunlop Direzzas (treadwear of 200) at NL...

  • From: Buffalo NY, help me please!
  • Registered: 2009-09-09
  • Posts: 163

Re: Tires

dculberson wrote:

What tire pressure did you end up running?  (If you don't mind sharing.)

33 cold in the front left, I think 28 cold in the right.  These were the 195 width 15" tires.

  • Registered: 2009-05-04
  • Posts: 311

Re: Tires

We started the Lamest Day on Sumitomo HTRIIs all around.  If the Chia-Neon hadn't cut down one of the rears on us, we could have finished the entire 24 hours with tire left to spare.  The fronts are going back on the car in the spring, but we need to flip the left front on the rim as NL was primarily right handers and chewed that one up.

Mod Squad Racing
http://twosrus.com
  • From: Croton, NY
  • Registered: 2009-07-14
  • Posts: 160

Re: Tires

Anyone have experience running the Yokohama Parada Spec-2?  Looks like a good candidate, 300 tread rating.  Would be running it on a light car (I'm guessing the Fiat is in the neighborhood of 2300 lbs now), about to order new rubber for NJMP.

Scuderia Regurgito  '75 Fiat 131, '93 e36
2010 Stafford: Winner, class ugly  2011 NJMP: Organizer's Choice and violently exploded gearbox
2011 Stafford: Most From the Least, 2012 NJMP: Shockingly issue free, 2012 Loudon: Rod thru block
2012 Hooptiefest: Multiple spun bearings, 2013 Monticello: Head gaskets, 2013 Loudon: More head gaskets, 2013 NJMP, 2013 Hooptiefest, 2014 NJMPx2 and Heroic Fix