VIR Tires

[Guest posnova]

For the Miata teams at VIR, what tire did you use?

For the rest of the teams, what tires did you use, on what car?

For everyone, how did the heat you guys experienced affect those tires you ran?

Just trying to get a feel for tire selection for Spokane. I forecast a VERY hot day, and a bone-chilling night.

[Jer]

RS2s. Miata. 95% tread to start, 75% at the end of 24 hours. My teammates complained they got a little greasy, but i didn't think they were that bad.

[Jeff G 78]

RS2s. Miata. 95% tread to start, 75% at the end of 24 hours. My teammates complained they got a little greasy, but i didn't think they were that bad.

Too bad RS2s are no longer available. I love them on my street car.

[Jer]

Luckily for s we still have enough RS2s leftover to complete a couple of more races!

[Bill Strong]

Nitto NT-450s. I have 50% treadwear left. I liked them. My team mates did not. I used 225-50-15s in the rear and 195 50 15 up front.

I lost time in the corners because of the tires. and the car oversteered like nuts. But, it was very difficult to spin, unless there was a fast Fiero or RX7 behind me...

I am looking for 190 treadwear tires for Sebring. But having a difficult time finding them. I see that the SCCA is spec'ing 180s. If we could bring the specs down to 180s then that would open up a few more affordable tires to us guys running little non-yo-boy wheels.

pretty please?

[Bill Strong]

Nitto NT-450s. I have 50% treadwear left. I liked them. My team mates did not. I used 225-50-15s in the rear and 195 50 15 up front.

I lost time in the corners because of the tires. and the car oversteered like nuts. But, it was very difficult to spin, unless there was a fast Fiero or RX7 behind me...

I am looking for 190 treadwear tires for Sebring. But having a difficult time finding them. I see that the SCCA is spec'ing 180s. If we could bring the specs down to 180s then that would open up a few more affordable tires to us guys running little non-yo-boy wheels.

pretty please?

like this...
/>http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/tires/kumho/product/submitProductSize.do?pc=33859&typ=Passenger/Performance&tmn=Ecsta+XS

[Rex]

Miata #31 uses (exclusively, at EVERY track) Fuzion HRi 400 treadwear. I get a minimum of 3 races a set.

Wow giving away your top speed secret!

[davidmarden]

Miata #31 uses (exclusively, at EVERY track) Fuzion HRi 400 treadwear. I get a minimum of 3 races a set.

I thought that was a secret

[scrowner]

1986 BMW 325e

15in 205 50, Falken Azenis RT-615

brand new at the race, rotated front to opposite side back at the 5pm break

lasted whole 24 hours

we still have about 30% tread

[truk41]

Fiero....RS2's we had 8 tires 2 years ago. We have run CMP for 10 hours, CMP 15 hours, Ohio for 24 hrs, a few sessions trackday in Ohio, Rockingham 14 hours, and VIR 24 hours. At the Rock, we burned off the right rear through all the steel, and we punctured a tire with about 70% tread left. All that said, we have 6 left and they MIGHT make another 24hrs at a track that is easy on tires. Realize, only 2 of our 4 drivers are hard on tires.

If you can find used RS2's, it would be worth it. They do get a little greasy with extreme heat, but all tires I have raced on will get greasy in 95 degree heat.

Hope this helps...And I dont know what to go with after RS2's, hopefully after the next few races we get feedback from the new Falken 615K, though they are pricey.

[bam2002]

These are the Hankooks ?

I used them for 2 Lemons races the last one was a Lemons Tx race. The tires were great in the dry but SUCKed in the wet. There also was a bit of oil on the track, All the cars running Dunlop star specs did really well. So thats what we have now.

We also were hitting over 100 mph in 2 places on the track. We ended up flat spotting the RS2s.

They were good in the Dry but not better than the Dunlops. We know this because the E36 in the next pit area was running about the same lap times as us in the dry. and Killed us in the wet. They had the Star specs.

So all I have to say is watch the weather report.

[cmdboys]

The Enterprise ran 295/50r15s Hankook's Ventus H101, 400 treadwear, (all around), fronts did ok, rears chunked and puked rubber everywhere, they also kept leaving annoying skidmarks & burnout stripes everywhere. Went the whole race on fronts, had to change the rears once.

[truk41]

I have ran the RS2's in the wet and I felt they did very well, but I have nothing to compare it with except for Hoosier R6's in the rain........so you can see why I wasnt too upset with the rs2's. So if the dunlops are good in the rain as you said, I will go that direction next. Any word on how long the dunlops last. I am not looking forward to buying tires all the time, since I have only bought 8 for 90 hours so far.

[davidmarden]

The Enterprise ran 295/50r15s Hankook's Ventus H101, 400 treadwear, (all around), fronts did ok, rears chunked and puked rubber everywhere, they also kept leaving annoying skidmarks & burnout stripes everywhere. Went the whole race on fronts, had to change the rears once.

[Jer]

The Enterprise ran 295/50r15s Hankook's Ventus H101, 400 treadwear, (all around), fronts did ok, rears chunked and puked rubber everywhere, they also kept leaving annoying skidmarks & burnout stripes everywhere.

Yeah, those pit exit burnouts, I mean, what were those crazy tires doing? Damned things!

[Bill Strong]

How come all these good tires don't come in 225-50-15? It is a conspiracy. I could move up to ubber humungo ricer yo-boy 17s... but does that get me past the 2x rule? John made a comment about my 12 year old Borbet 15x7s I was using... wonder what he would say if I stuffed my 17x7.5 wheels with 205 40 17 and 235 40 17s? It looks cartoonish, but it would open up my tire choices to what the leading cars were using.

[cpmskinny]

How come all these good tires don't come in 225-50-15? It is a conspiracy. I could move up to ubber humungo ricer yo-boy 17s... but does that get me past the 2x rule? John made a comment about my 12 year old Borbet 15x7s I was using... wonder what he would say if I stuffed my 17x7.5 wheels with 205 40 17 and 235 40 17s? It looks cartoonish, but it would open up my tire choices to what the leading cars were using.

What? 195/60 R 14's I think Vincent knows what kind of tires we were using...RT615's on the rear anyway.

[Bill Strong]

What? 195/60 R 14's I think Vincent knows what kind of tires we were using...RT615's on the rear anyway.

ya, I originally ordered 3 sets of those from Discount tire. But they were sold out as of last month in any small sizes (14 and 15s). Pissed me off. That is why I just went with the Nittos that I already had. I did order 2 sets of Sumitomo HTRs in 195-60-14s. Being mid-engined the staggered setup works best for us on the track.

[Bill Strong]

LOL... don't laugh, I have big truck tires galor, though I think the kids are using them on our go-kart track.

The Borbets... one is slightly damaged now with Miata blood all over it. sadness filled my heart when I saw the gash.

actually the Chinese make some neat 17s. I purchased a set last year for my MK2 MR2 just to see if they would fit, cost was under $400 for the set shipped. Nankang or something like that. I used them for one track day and they did perform pretty good after they were heat cycled once.

$57 for a 205 40 17 and $78 for a 235 40 17. They are 340 rated.
/>http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/tires/nankang/product/productSize.do?tmn=NS-1%20Radial&typ=Passenger/Performance

I have some old 17x7.5 cadillac after-market wheels that will fit my MR2 (from my V8 MR2). Just gotta make certain they fit on the MK1 MR2... they should be mean as hell looking while making me slow as dirt!

[cpmskinny]

Aw, heck... I've run those same tires since 2007 without fail. If anyone really wanted to know, they'd have slid up close and seen for themselves. $48 each and they work well (at least, on the Miata). I happen to like an oversteering car (carryover from my Formula Ford and Formula Atlantic days) and these tires allow me to drift the car anytime I want, without chunking or grinding the tire. Great in the wet, too (Portland 2009). But... no two drivers drive alike.

Yeah, I tried them at the Rock and I didn't have too much luck with them, albeit that the Rock will destroy any tire any time, they were corderd after only 4 hours. I went with a different 400TW instead, the Bridgestone Potenza. I will say that it worked wonders for our car at VIR.

[davidmarden]

Has any one tried sumitomos HTR 200's? I can get them in my prefered tire size (185/60/13) and they are cheap, 47.00ea at tire rack

[parid]

I had a set on my wrx a while ago. Softest sidewalls I have ever had. I hated them... but I was kind of a ricer back then and they could have changed them by now.

[dweymer]

thats a huge sidewall, but hey if ya need to run it then go for it. You never know with tires, everyone seems to like different aspects of theirs.

[davidmarden]

thats a huge sidewall, but hey if ya need to run it then go for it. You never know with tires, everyone seems to like different aspects of theirs.

It works on the rabbit, been running them for years.

[bam2002]

Has any one tried sumitomos HTR 200's? I can get them in my prefered tire size (185/60/13) and they are cheap, 47.00ea at tire rack

I have used the Sumitomos 17x225 on my 318ti for running DE eventss at Sebring with PBOC. I have done 4 Sebring days with them, I just had to rotate tires front to back due to wearing the front edges. THey were under $50 each, a great price. However they dont come in the size i need in 15s for the E30.