How many tires needed for a season ITB

[theman631]

I am new to roadracing and am getting an ITB gti. I was wondering if someone could ballpark how many days you can get out of a set of tires. Please let me know what kind of tires you are using also. Thanks in advance, Jimmy

[Conover]

A lot of it depends on your set-up and driving technique, but I think we are getting a little more than three ours out of a Hoosier.

[shwah]

I have run 5 races on my Toyos and figure I can go another 5-10 on them.

I consider them season long tires.

[Knestis]

A lot of it depends on your set-up and driving technique, but I think we are getting a little more than three ours out of a Hoosier.
[/b]

It's actually probably more than that. It depends largely on whether they are fronts or rears but I'd guess that it's more than 3 but less than 6 hours, total practical life in a Hoosier.

K

[Bill Miller]

A lot of it depends on what tires you run, how well your car is set up, how well you drive it, and how close to the pointy end of the grid you intend to run. Another important factor is how abrasive the tracks that you're going to run on are. Some tracks are a lot harder on tires than others.

As Kirk mentioned, it also depends on which end of the car you run the tires on. As a general rule, I found on my ITB Rabbit GTI, that tires would last 2-3 times as long on the back, as they would on the front. That's a purely subjective observation, as I never ran tires only on the front or only on the rear, they got rotated through, to maximize life.

Using the MARRS series at Summit Point as an example (6 races, 5 weekends, not counting the races at other tracks). 2-mile track, 16-lap races, 2 20-min. qualifying sessions. To run all of those races in an ITB VW, I would say that you could probably get by w/ 6 tires (but probably not Hoosiers). I'd have 2 extra on hand, just in case. A key thing about tire life is getting them properly scuffed in and heat cylcled. Having 8 tires (and 8 wheels) gives you the ability to do that fairly easily.

That being said, I used to carry a few extra wheels/tires to the track. I'd usually take two to two and a half sets of drys and a set of wets. Having a 24' enclosed trailer gives you a little extra room. :D

[joeg]

I try to buy 1 new tire per race weekend and religiously cycle the tires around the car.

I take at least 8 to the track and have 15 in stock total (not counting intermediates and rains).

You count heat cycles; not run time. That determines which one to dismount to mount the new one.

Intermediates and rains hang around for a long time; rains need to be changed when dry-rotted.

Cheers.

[gran racing]

I pretty much agree with what Bill said.

Before when I was running mid-pack, I used a tire based on logevity not necessarily the fastest tire on the market. These lasted much longer than the tires I'm using now that I want to run up-front.

Toyo RA-1s are a great tire for someone looking to get the most out of their tire budget. If you have a larger tire budget, Hoosiers are probably the fastest tire for your car on a 6" rim.

[JLawton]

Considering your are new to racing, I will "assume" you are on a tight budget. I was able to get a complete season on one set of Kumho's on my GTi. I would think you could almost get the same performance from the Toyo's as well. The first year you just need seat time. Buying the most expensive tire (fastest) isn't going to gain you as much as seat time will. So spend your money racing, not buying tires.

Once you become consistant you can think about Hoosiers. You can generally get 8-12 heat cycles out of a Hoosier, as said, depending on what end of the car, how fast you are, roughness of track, etc.....

But I would also bring at least two mounted to the track with you incase of flats, damage, etc.

[Chris Humphrey]

When I got started racing a few year ago, I would flat spot more tires then I would wear out. So if you are new to road racing and planning a tire budget you may want to add in a couple extra tires just incase.


Slow in Fast out Helps a bunch

[theman631]

I was also wondering if you can run a different make of tire for qualifying than you do for the race and still have contingency with the race tires. Thanks

[gran racing]

It depends upon the program. Some are very liberal, some not so much. If you were in a position to earn money from the company, I personally feel it would be a bit messed up to take it and use other tires. But that's just me.

[JamesB]

Well I just passed the 6th race on the hoosiers. They are starting to show a little bit of heat cycling out, but still have lots of stick and rubber left. They will last the season for me, as I am not running at the pointy end and I got them on closeout back in Feb for much less then R6 cost today. My toyos are a little worn from two schools and a few rain qualifiers.