Round3Racing Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 (edited) Another noob question from a noob to ChampCar: We've been racing with SCCA and others for many years, but we're moving full-time to ChampCar in 2019. We're used to buying our tires from Hoosier or Pirelli who bring the tires to the track and provide all of the services. Realizing that is not the case at ChampCar races, I'm curious to know if there are typically other vendors at the events who provide tire mounting services. Or does everyone just show up with everything mounted and ready to go? Edited December 13, 2018 by Round3Racing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Chris Huggins Posted December 13, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 You will not need that many tires in a weekend. Most teams get by with one set, two at most. I get mine mounted at the local mom-n-pop shop, and make sure to tape over the wheel weights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDChristianson Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 There has not been any tire sercitst the track at any race we’ve been to. We always have everything mounted and ready to go. We have made a trip or two to a Walmart or something to have some rebalanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 Yep, we run with two sets of wheels (one on the car, one as a spare) all with tires ready to go. Typically the spare set lives all day in their proper place acting as something heavy to tie the easy up down with! A few beers and/or a bit of cash will likely help motivate one of the on-site shops/garages (depending on which track) to help out if really needed too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 Maxxis has shown up @ Daytona offering free mounting but do not count on it unless it's in the supps I frequent auctions and have a small repair shop so it made sense to buy my own used tire machine and balancer (and exhaust pipe bender) The $$ saved not paying to do tires has already paid for the machines, but not so much the bender. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoparBoyy Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 5 minutes ago, Team Infiniti said: Maxxis has shown up @ Daytona offering free mounting but do not count on it unless it's in the supps I frequent auctions and have a small repair shop so it made sense to buy my own used tire machine and balancer (and exhaust pipe bender) The $$ saved not paying to do tires has already paid for the machines, but not so much the bender. Same here. dropped about $4k on the 2 machines, dont think its paid for itself yet though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorman Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 29 minutes ago, Team Infiniti said: The $$ saved not paying to do tires has already paid for the machines, but not so much the bender. I would imagine not only the $$ saved, but the time saved is just as valuable. S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round3Racing Posted December 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 Thanks for the quick responses. Do you guys run the same tire in dry and wet conditions? Do you bring different tires, depending on the weather forecast? I can't imagine running a normal tire in the conditions that they had at Barber. I've been researching tires and I did find some that seem to be really good for soaking wet or freezing cold conditions. But I would not run them on a hot, dry track. Just curious if you guys bring a set of "extreme weather" tires, just in case. We're running the Road Atlanta event in February, as well as the late season Road America and Barber events in 2019. Those all carry a risk of challenging weather. So, that is where my interest in a tire mounting service stems. If we show up with dry tires mounted and a storm rolls through and it is soaking wet or snow, we might want to mount the backup tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 (edited) I have my dad's old tire changer, works like this one: Edited December 14, 2018 by mender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoparBoyy Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 2 minutes ago, Round3Racing said: Thanks for the quick responses. Do you guys run the same tire in dry and wet conditions? Do you bring different tires, depending on the weather forecast? I can't imagine running a normal tire in the conditions that they had at Barber. We run same tires in all conditions.. 90+ degrees at Sebring or below freezing at Road Atlanta. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round3Racing Posted December 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 Just now, MoparBoyy said: We run same tires in all conditions.. 90+ degrees at Sebring or below freezing at Road Atlanta. Which ones? I've been researching all the different tires and I have a massive headache. We're probably going to run the Dunlop Z3 at Road Atlanta and see how they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoparBoyy Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Round3Racing said: Which ones? I've been researching all the different tires and I have a massive headache. We're probably going to run the Dunlop Z3 at Road Atlanta and see how they do. We currently run Hancook RS4's on both our cars Edited December 13, 2018 by MoparBoyy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 5 minutes ago, Round3Racing said: If we show up with dry tires mounted and a storm rolls through and it is soaking wet or snow, we might want to mount the backup tires. Our answer is to have rims for all the tires, saying that, dunlops are no good in the cold but honestly there is nothing cold on the car after 10 laps +1 for one set for all weather. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDChristianson Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 2 minutes ago, Round3Racing said: Which ones? I've been researching all the different tires and I have a massive headache. We're probably going to run the Dunlop Z3 at Road Atlanta and see how they do. The Hankook rs4 is very popular. Works over a wide temp range Some teams make them work pretty well in the rain too 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 Just now, MoparBoyy said: We currently run Hancook RS4's on both our cars Hows the hancook 4 vs dunlop 3? I was not fond of the hancooks feel vs dunlop even though they both did well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoparBoyy Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 Just now, Team Infiniti said: Hows the hancook 4 vs dunlop 3? I was not fond of the hancooks feel vs dunlop even though they both did well. we are very happy with the RS4 on the mazda, even after the VIR 24 they still looked new. great wear onthe cobra too we could use a little more grip, but with that 351w not much can grip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyk Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Round3Racing said: Another noob question from a noob to ChampCar: We've been racing with SCCA and others for many years, but we're moving full-time to ChampCar in 2019. We're used to buying our tires from Hoosier or Pirelli who bring the tires to the track and provide all of the services. Realizing that is not the case at ChampCar races, I'm curious to know if there are typically other vendors at the events who provide tire mounting services. Or does everyone just show up with everything mounted and ready to go? You can always search specific threads/topics in the above search space on right hand side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee mcoppola Posted December 13, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Round3Racing said: Thanks for the quick responses. Do you guys run the same tire in dry and wet conditions? Do you bring different tires, depending on the weather forecast? I can't imagine running a normal tire in the conditions that they had at Barber. I've been researching tires and I did find some that seem to be really good for soaking wet or freezing cold conditions. But I would not run them on a hot, dry track. Just curious if you guys bring a set of "extreme weather" tires, just in case. We're running the Road Atlanta event in February, as well as the late season Road America and Barber events in 2019. Those all carry a risk of challenging weather. So, that is where my interest in a tire mounting service stems. If we show up with dry tires mounted and a storm rolls through and it is soaking wet or snow, we might want to mount the backup tires. It's been stated here before that the softest tires work well in wet conditions. That would be the Bridgestone Potenza RE71. A lot of folks report that they won't last a whole weekend - or even 8 hours - in hot, dry conditions. I've also heard of guys running Continental DW's with good success in the rain and cold. IF we ever get out racing again (missed 2018), we plan to bring 2 sets of dry tires and 1 set of rains, all pre-mounted, just as we have done at the few races we ran in 2017. But realistically, for most teams, 4-6 tires are all that are needed for a dry weekend, unless you are running the RE71's or some Toyo's in the dry. Edited December 13, 2018 by mcoppola 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wittenauer Racing Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 We have a set of cheapie Kuhmo PS91's on some cheap heavier wheels mounted up for monsoons/sleet and RS4's mounted up for the dry. We have 2 sets of good wheels and 1 set of junk wheels, so we have 2 full dry sets mounted. Seeing what we see now on tire wear and such, probably wouldn't bother to buy more than 2 spare dry tires if we were to do it again. If you're debating something more "wet/cold" oriented as a backup set, I wouldn't worry so much about putting them on some heavier/cheaper wheels and calling it a day... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shutupracing Posted December 16, 2018 Report Share Posted December 16, 2018 We bring two sets of drys and one set of wets. Certain tracks (Watkins Glen) have facilities on site that can do tire changes for you. But like most people have eluded to, it's easiest just to show up with what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbaker480 Posted December 18, 2018 Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 On 12/16/2018 at 10:48 AM, shutupracing said: We bring two sets of drys and one set of wets. Certain tracks (Watkins Glen) have facilities on site that can do tire changes for you. But like most people have eluded to, it's easiest just to show up with what you need. You can get tires mounted at WGI, but I think it was $32 a tire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shutupracing Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 On 12/18/2018 at 8:00 AM, bbaker480 said: You can get tires mounted at WGI, but I think it was $32 a tire. Yes, like most services, it costs money.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Chris Huggins Posted December 20, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 10 hours ago, shutupracing said: Yes, like most services, it costs money.... Dont know about NY, but around these here parts, the going rate is $10/tire. The fancy pants at DTD want $15. So its like stadium beer or race track gas 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shutupracing Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 44 minutes ago, Huggy said: Dont know about NY, but around these here parts, the going rate is $10/tire. The fancy pants at DTD want $15. So its like stadium beer or race track gas Price dictated by convenience. Also usually how it works. Never said it was cheap or worth it. Just that it was available, as was the question. FWIW I've not been charged $32 a pop, but also know the owner and don't really utilize those services. The wal-mart in WGI is actually really good with/about tire changes but for those who need it done at the track or in a pinch, it's a nice service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Chris Huggins Posted December 20, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 35 minutes ago, shutupracing said: but also know the owner ah, so now we know why you are defending the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.