Tire Size Question

I'm new to IT racing and set ups. Is conventional thinking in IT that you run the widest size, lowest aspect tires your wheels can handle? Any trade-offs between scrub and drag in staights with wider tires and cornering ability. I ran the Neon Challenge in an SSB car a few years back and we ran a narrower/higher aspect spec tire from Goodyear than SSB rules allowed and I believe the cars were actually a bit faster. The car in question is a 88 Honda CRX/ITA.
Any input would help as it will probably dictate the brand tire I use.

Dave Piasecki

If you want to go fast you wil get Hoosiers... no matter what size you run they will be faster.

Raymond

PS: everyone told us that if went with bigger tires on our Audi's we would go slower. We put on the bigger tires and it was faster. Our cars have a lot of weight on the front and they tend to push a lot. I think the bigger tires give them that additional grip needed. Also we run different size tires front to back. We can't fit the larger tires on the rear without rubbing the fenders.

Raymond, I went faster this weekend with 205 Goodyears than I ever have on 205 Hoosiers. The Goodyears are much narrower and fit much better on 6" wide rims we are required to run in ITB. The 205 Hoosiers are too wide for 6" rims. Even Hoosiers website lists the 205 with a recommended rim of 7" minimum.

Btw, I also race a FWD VW GTI. At last year's season finale, I ran 195/60-14 Goodyears on the fronts and 205/55-14 Toyos with 55psi hot tire pressure in the rear. Car was very competitive and while it was a handful until rear tires got to temp, the Goodyears hooked up while Toyos drifted very nicely, allowing the car to turn in with controllable oversteer.

37 ITB Capri
ITB VW GTI



[This message has been edited by Joe Craven (edited April 05, 2004).]

We really upset the tire guys with our 225 Hoosiers on the 6" rims... http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif

Joe,

Your results are consistant with ours. I fail to see anyone mention the Goodyears when th etire debate comes up. The GS-CS seems to be a very popular tire in AS, T1, T2 and ITS up here in the Northeast.

Our test results show vs. the 2003 Hoosiers:

Same ultimate grip
Slower to heat up
Much less fall off when up to temp
More consistant over a 3 hour enduro
Much less suseptable to flat spotting

At $170 per tire in 225/50/15, there is no real 'value' arguement - I am talking about pure speed. Take note of Joe's word's!

AB

------------------
Andy Bettencourt
06 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region
www.flatout-motorsports.com

I tested the Hoosier RS303 206/60-13s on 7" wide rims (4 heat cycles) and they seemed much better than the same tires on 6" rims (less heat cycles). I passed a BMW 2002 (on Goodyears) in practice this weekend and slowly pulled away. During the race this weekend, he eventually got by me with us both on Goodyears although we were about the same in laptimes.

Raymond, I'm curious what your tire temps were with the smaller and larger tires. Since your car is pushing a lot, the increased mass and cooling area of the larger tires may be keeping your overall tire temps down which is making you faster. The smaller tires may be overheating. ???

Joe Craven
37 ITB Capri
37 ITB VW GTI
TBD ITA 72 Capri V6

Joe-

If memory serves me right I think that it would be safe to assume (make ass out of u and me) that the tire temps did drop 10 to 20 degrees (200 range to 180 range). We have made a lot of adjustments to the cars though through the last 2 years and it would probably be worth re-looking at the two sizes for some temp, pressure and lap time comparisons. This wouldn't be to hard for us as we run the 205's on the rear so it would just be a matter of running the spares for the rear on the front for a session. I can say that their was a dramatic decrease in tire wear (IE: the 225's last a lot longer than 205's) The 205 will wear till cord is showing and have life (the same grip) till that point where as the 225's never seem to reach cord but simply stop performing after a couple weekends of use depending on the track.

As far as the Goodyear’s, I don't think they have the right size for us (humm)? I know that when we started it was suggested that we run 195 Goodyear’s. My father in the AS Mustang doesn't like the Hoosiers, he runs the Goodyear’s.

I am not sure of the reason or the specific characteristics of the tires but it seems that "most" people with rear wheel drive run Goodyear’s while the front drivers seem to all vote for the Hoosiers.

Raymond

*This is based on my observations of a "best tire" vote not "best tire for the money" vote. Several people seem to love the Kumo and the Hancook tires.

What did ever happened to Hancook? They don't seem to be in the spotlight anymore...

andy
i agree with you! i run goodyears and i am completely satisfied.i tried the kumhos in my first school and a few track days and switched to goodyears immediately. the goodyears were heads and tails above the kumhos. after watching nick on goodyears last year i am staying with the goodyears. see you at lime rock in may!!
john costello

9 of the top 10 in the NERRC/NARRC in ITS were on Goodyears - and that includes the top 3.

AB

------------------
Andy Bettencourt
06 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region
www.flatout-motorsports.com

Quote:

---

<font face=\"Verdana, Arial\" size=\"2\">We really upset the tire guys with our 225 Hoosiers on the 6\" rims...</font>

---

Yeah, I know: I was the victim of a hailstorm of expletives as the Hoosier guy was mounting your tires at the ARRC....