The New Hoosiers

[joeg]

Jake--To be honest, I preferred the old Hoosier. They were lighter and I could judge wear better.

Speed wise, the old ones felt a bit "quicker", but are probably as fast as the new ones.

I think it may have been a marketing gimic to keep up with the new Kumho entry (which Kumho failed miserably).

Oh well.

[ulfelder]

Jake, I polished off a set of Hoosiers at the most recent NHIS double, and - ta da! - they lasted exactly 7 heat cycles. And when they went away, they went away completely, all at once - now you stick, now you don't.

Steve U
Flatout Motorsports
05 ITS
New England Region

[apr67]

I belive the new hoosier had to be created to compy with the new DOT tire rules that hoosier was not able to get changed.

That's my guess.

[TimM ITB]

My experience has been same as Steve U's. The new Hoosiers feel faster than the 03's, and the times seem to indicate that they are slightly faster (at least in my run group - IT. But when these Hoosiers hit my 3rd race - 6 complete heat cycles, plus an initial heat cycle for "better life" - they went away COMPLETELY. Turn 3 at NHIS became a nightmare (I eventually did some "off roading" entering the uphill area) and I think cars behind me entering Turn 9 must have thought that I was hitting the brakes I had to lift so badly in order to not have more "off roading". So, 7 is MY limit for sure. Now I have a FWD car, and that probably makes the life expectancy much worse. My tire management "strategy" (now there's are real oxymoron!!) is to run the new tires on the front for 2 to 3 weekends, then move them to the rear. This also gets my car to turn better, or at least, it did with the old Hoosiers. With many of the other issues that I have had in developing this A3 Golf this year, it's been tough to tell if this is actually doing me any good - or if the tires are really junk after 7 heat cycles.

If anyone has had success with greater than 7 heat cycles, was it on FWD or RWD?? Are you doing something other than following the general guidlelines found in the Hoosier brochure?? (pressures vs. weight; break in period,etc?) If you have run them for as much as 12 heat cycles, have you been able to maintain good times/speeds even toward the end of their life??

Later,

Tim M

[TimM ITB]

My experience has been same as Steve U's. The new Hoosiers feel faster than the 03's, and the times seem to indicate that they are slightly faster (at least in my run group - IT. But when these Hoosiers hit my 3rd race - 6 complete heat cycles, plus an initial heat cycle for "better life" - they went away COMPLETELY. Turn 3 at NHIS became a nightmare (I eventually did some "off roading" entering the uphill area) and I think cars behind me entering Turn 9 must have thought that I was hitting the brakes I had to lift so badly in order to not have more "off roading". So, 7 is MY limit for sure. Now I have a FWD car, and that probably makes the life expectancy much worse. My tire management "strategy" (now there's are real oxymoron!!) is to run the new tires on the front for 2 to 3 weekends, then move them to the rear. This also gets my car to turn better, or at least, it did with the old Hoosiers. With many of the other issues that I have had in developing this A3 Golf this year, it's been tough to tell if this is actually doing me any good - or if the tires are really junk after 7 heat cycles.

If anyone has had success with greater than 7 heat cycles, was it on FWD or RWD?? Are you doing something other than following the general guidlelines found in the Hoosier brochure?? (pressures vs. weight; break in period,etc?) If you have run them for as much as 12 heat cycles, have you been able to maintain good times/speeds even toward the end of their life??

Later,

Tim M

[spnkzss]

04s, FWD, 205/60R13, ITC, 12 heat cylces and planning to run MARRS 9 on them.

My times have continuued to drop all year long. The grip does begin to go away, but I'm still able to go into turn 5 at Summit Point 3 wide and win.

I'm sure I could be a bit faster if I bought a new set, but when I first started racing I ran on 3 year old BFGs, so these are still quite a bit better.

I do however rotate front to rear every 4 or 5 sessions.

HTH

[mlytle]

its bmw 352is - my personal best time at summit point was on heat cycle 15 on a set of 04's. have not been able to beat that yet on a new set..