ITB Mustang Tire Selection

Whats up fellas. I'm a newcomer to the SCCA scene. We are building a car to compete in FL, mainly Moroso Motorsports Park. I've spent a while debating which ride to choose with the ITB mustang a seemingly great choice. Not to mention a stepping stone to AS.
My question pertains to Tire selection on the Mustang. I'm trying to get some knowledge from those who've played that game for a while. What DOT race tires are "best" for the ITB Mustang? what is tire wear like in the vehicle? 2 races, 3 races a set? How much should I expect to spend on a set of 4 race tires? Any input/ advise would be greatly apreciated.

Well, I hate to tell anything to the competition, but here goes...

I like the Kumho, great bang for the buck, good wear, and if you care for them, 3 full weekends per set is not a problem. Others like other tires, but these best fit my budget / competitive needs in one shot currently. Others I know run the Hoosiers with the Mustang, but I haven't been beaten by any of them yet, so I don't worry about them. Toyo's would probably work close to equal to the Kumhos, but I have no experience with them. At Moroso, watch out for front left tire wear. Rotate frequently, and swap them side to side by breaking them down and re-mounting inside-out, otherwise you'll go through left front's twice as fast as any other corner. HTH

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-Marcello Canitano
www.SilverHorseRacing.com

Mustangs being as heavy as they are, may benifit to a greater degree than others to decreased rotating masses, especially at the wheel. I'd love to do a comparison of wheel/tire combinations on a chassis dyno to see the effects.

I understand the Hoosiers require a different style of driving (?) than the Kuhmo. We may try them later in the season, after settling a few other issues...

We have been using the Kuhmo tires up to this time.

Good racing. Bill

What tire pressures f/r would you recommend as satarting point?

I've used the following on my 2300lb Capri. All 205-60/13
tire hot pressure
BFG -R1 low 20s psi
Kumho Victoracer low 30s psi
Toyo RA1s mid to high 30s
Hoosier low to mid 30s.

In regards to temp, I found that the Kumhos came on early but lost traction later in the race as they heated up. If the Kumhos get over 35psi, forget it, the competition will pull away. Toyos and Hoosiers needed more initial temp but stuck well well into the end of a 30 minute race. BFGs seem to be in the middle.

My point is that the heavier Mustang might heat up the Kumhos more than my lighter Capri. However, their superior suspension might keep the car from sliding around as much as my lighter Capri, keeping tire temps lower.

Joe, are you referring to the new or old Kumho's? I run 37-39 hot onthe Ecsta's, and have had no problems whatsoever with the tires going away. As a matter of fact, I have two new sets here for the new car right now, and I would not switch unless something really better for the price were to come along.

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-Marcello Canitano
www.SilverHorseRacing.com

Marcello, my experience is with the older Victoracer. However, when I started complaining about the "going away" problem, one ITS racer on the newer Ecsta told me to lower my pressures. He was having problems with tire wear in the centers of his tires, they were cording really fast so he was lowering his pressures too.

Funny thing is that it worked, tires stuck as good as Toyos and I was able to hookup.

In the meantime, I've heard that Kumho has introduced the new compound in the ECSTA

In the SF region, the BOD have created a spec tire in ITS of either Kumho or Toyo. There is about a 50/50 split among the competitors and neither tire has proven to dominate yet.

Toyos cost a bit more, but they last at approx 50% longer so they may be a better value.

I've run full tread Kumhos and Toyos in Enduro races. Kumho Victoracers lasted about 3.5 hours while Toyos would go the distance which at the time was 12 hours.

I'm racing in the 25 hour enduro race this year, and I'll be on Toyos.

#37 ITB Capri

Do the Toyo's have a significantly harder compound than the Kumho Escta's? How is it that they can last so much longer? 3 times longer?
We may opt to build a ITC Honda CRX or maybe even buy a used AS Mustang if the price is right. I'd really like to find a ride that has an easy route to a national class. Like limited prep GP in the CRX's case.
I discovered the price of the Hoosier and Goodyear DOT's in American Sedan sizes and after regaining consciousness realized that nothing forbids kumho's/ toyo's in the class. Do you guys have any insight into running in kumho or toyo skins in AS? Do you know of anyone who does this? Any significant downsides? What are your thoughts?
Thanks, Jay

Kumho's come with 6/32s tread depth, while Toyos come with 8/32s tread depth. That would account for some of the life expectancy difference but then, you'd shave them anyways for shorter races. Toyos are an amazing tire, durable, long lasting with a very consistent compound life expectancy. They seem to stick fairly consistently until one wears into the interface between the tread and the carcass. I always used mine until they began to show cord.

My enduro car used to be a 1980 ITB Nissan 200sx, it was solid and locked rear axle, 2 liter, and heavy at around 2500lbs. We drove it hard, and it liked to slide a bit through the turns, probably due to the locked rear. Kumhos didn't seem to like to slide, and would wear fast.

I only tried Kumhos once during a 4 hour enduro race. Luckily, the race was shortened to 3.5 hours. When we finished the race, steel cords were starting to show through the tread. 10 more minutes and those tires would have gone "pop"

#37 ITB Capri

hey guys im new and im working on what car to start with in order to get my license ,i always had mustangs but they were drag cars and i did not think they would handle nice but i see you guys at silverhorse race them,i was wondering if you guys have drums or disc and if you have disc brakes how much is it to swap to disc,also do you think i should start with a mustang as far as road racing,i was thinking a miata or rx7 but if stangs are good handling cars i rather race them cause i have experience working on them,unlike a rotary motor,also what class do you run in it and what cars do you go against,thanks