Kumho Victoracer Useful Life???

Hi All:

I am getting back into IT racing after a ten year layoff. I just purchased a car that was last run in late 2003. It was kept in very nice shape, and came with a boatload of used Kumho Victoracer tires, that appear to have been used very little.

Realizing these tires are three years old, are they still useable for racing? I plan on doing a driver's school in April and then a few regional events this summer. I'm sure they are harder than they were when new, I just hate to throw out a lot of tires that look like they still have life. Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Run'em right down to the cloth. We've been known to run them further than that...like....down to the wires.

Wanna know what's just below the 2nd wire belts ? AIR !!!!!!!!!

Thanks much. Walsh is that you? Mr. Ellefson here...........

The issue is not only remaining tread but age of the tires and how they were stored. I bought my car in '04 and it had a set of Hoosiers on it that had plenty of tread but the car and tires had set up for over a year. I was excited about the ex-SpeedSource RX-7 that I had paid the most I ever had for a racecar. I ran the first test day and Sat. race on the old tires and I was extremely unhappy. The car was loose and twitchy and just did not feel good at all. I ran about the slowest times here at my home track that I ever had and was laboring back in the pack w/ the SMs. My purchase was not looking so good. :( The next day I put on a set of new Hoosiers and - WOW! The car was a dream and I did the best lap I ever had here.

Moral of story - use those tires for practice and inconsequential sessions and get yourself a new set for when it counts. Welcome back, John.

Thanks Bill. That is what I kind of expected. I have to go through a Driver's School again, so I figured I would use the old tires for that and move up for racing.

JE

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Thanks much. Walsh is that you? Mr. Ellefson here...........
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How many times you gonna 'un-retire' from racing ???? What's this...#3 ?

Still in Pittsyltuckystan ? Email me, if you still have the work address (hasn't changed in the last decade or so).

We used to 'age' our Victoracer enduro tires for at least a year, so we could get a full tank of gas out of them before the air fell out (see above).

victoracers last freakin forever.

i ran a set all last year that were someone elses old takeoffs. i think they had done 2qual 1 sprint and 1 enduro before i got them.

i think i ran them something on the order of 6 or 7 qual sessions and 6 or 7 sprint races. i turned decent times with them too. they still have good rubber on them to this day, but i think they were just too old and heat cycled, as they didn't feel near as good at the end of the year.

depending on the event, your aspirations, and who you're competitors are that weekend, i'd say use em.

I have to agree on the kumho's being very long lasting, and pretty good grip too.

I got into racing with my ITB car with them. They lasted one regular school, then a double school (lots of track time on that one), then four regionals (with a couple of these being the longer CCPS races...@45 minutes).

The race before they corded (Lowes), they were plenty fast. The fourth race was CMP and I could tell the grip was going off. They corded in the race, and I had to retire early.

I've moved to toyo's, just because I wanted to try something different...and I dont think there is anymore grip with them.

Not a side by side test...and no data acquisition to substantiate, mind you.