SFerg Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Hmmm, I've seen what three Regional Director's (who I believe are speaking for the majority of their regions racers) think. I wonder what the others have on their minds and Nationals' level of concern with that. :popcorn: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekim952522000 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 ok how about these bad boys! New Goodyear DOT race tires! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrie Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I'm strong proponent to spec tires. But it has to be long lasting and reasonable in cost. I don't care for fast tires, expensive and short live. This is coming from someone who can probably secure a tire sponsorship if it ever goes to open tires. I strongly believe that the series is better of with a spec tire like I described above. That being said, I might be wrong. And it won't be the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammed_93_hatch Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 The problem becomes, what other tire could we spec? Nitto's seem to be the same as the R888 in terms of longevity. Hankook has effy availability, not a lot of sizes, and no rain tire (from what i could see). Kuhmo has issues and doesn't have a rain tire or any tire really available in a wide range of sizes. That leaves hoosier, BFG, and Goodyear. BFG has limited sizes and no rain tire, and the same with good year. So that leaves Hoosier... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrie Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Like Uhlinger said, maybe Falken? I don't know exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekim952522000 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Like Uhlinger said, maybe Falken? I don't know exactly. Out of curiosity how much slower would Falken's be? the current crop of 140+ tread wear rating tires out there are pretty good. ok how about some Toyo R1R's? They make a 225/45R15 and a 235/40R17 which seem to be the most common HC sizes. Only $123 in a 225/45R15 I am half kidding but if next year the RA-1 is gone then I think we need to look at other options because the R888 is not what a spec tire should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redstone Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 i dont know why everyone is hating on the R888. It's not that bad of a tire. Has anyone even driven on it yet? I know Andrie and I have. Sure they don't last like RA1's did but its not as bad as your making out to be. It grips similar to the ra1. the sidewalls are noticably stiffer and you just need to find the right tire pressure and alignment settings. From what i've experienced, it brakes better and turns in better. It might not have the ultimate grip of a fresh 3/32" shaved RA1 but its damn close. Drive it before you knock it. I vote to keep spec tire and keep the r888. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammed_93_hatch Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 we saw the R888 lasting about half as long as the Ra1. And Andrie has had similar experience IIRC. I haven't seen any indication that people have gotten the same wear out of the tire, or anything close really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redstone Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 we havent gotten the same wear out of the tires, but i wouldnt say that they last half as long. If i got 15-21 sessions out of a set of RA1's, then im getting 12-15 out of R888. We havent driven enough to fully compare yet. Another few weekends and ill have some good info. -Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealth430 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 we havent gotten the same wear out of the tires, but i wouldnt say that they last half as long. If i got 15-21 sessions out of a set of RA1's, then im getting 12-15 out of R888. We havent driven enough to fully compare yet. Another few weekends and ill have some good info. We sacraficed last year and tested R888 for a few months to prepare for the 25hr because 1)we liked the chevron for the potential rain and 2)R888 does look better in terms of performance on paper. I agree with Graham, R888 is different, but it's not that bad. With that said, here's what we learned. It does take different alignment, tire pressure and driving style to maximize R888s, but it's not that hard to figure out if you test by tire temp. We started with 6/32 shaved at the 25hr. At this tread depth, the car is slower than 4/32 RA1s. Once we wore down to 4/32 and less, the car was as fast as 4/32 RA1s. The right front (most wear) was swapped out at 8.5 hours because we had brake issues. It could have gone another 4+ hours. We were driving 90%+ the whole race because we were playing catch up. The rear lasted the entire time, and the left front went 15 hours and it was still going strong (once again, swapped out due to other issues). I would expect wear to increase by 50% if we are doing sprint races in the summer, but that's still pretty good. NASA's timing is not the greatest for this case, and I think they should have just stuck with R888. I do hope they finalize on what is required for National because I don't want to carry and test 2 types of tires comes Sept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zook Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 How is the R888 faster at lower tread depths? To me, its obvious just by looking at an RA-1, it's going to be faster once it's shaved and you get rid of all those tread blocks. But the R888's tread is going to be the same, shaved or full tread, no? How much more rubber on the ground are you gaining by shaving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wm577 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 How long do full tread R888's last, and how much do they change as they wear down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 For 944 spec cars. 2600lbs, 135 whp and 225/50 R15 on 15x7 wheels. I used to get 24-28 heat cycles from RA-1 full tread or 4/32 before they cycled out. This is average over 5-6 sets. My first set of R888 (full tread) with zero set-up changes and hot pressures 40psi to 48psi (I was playing around) went 14 heat cycles before I junked them due to losing grip and cycling out. Places that had been easy flat now requred a lift to keep the car on the road. So I junked them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFerg Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 After having been on them for a while, what's the general consensus among 944 spec racers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 After having been on them for a while, what's the general consensus among 944 spec racers? Well our biggest issue is the life is not even close to that of the RA-1. Lap times are the same at best. I think with some tweaks we can get lap times to be equal to the RA-1 on a consistant basis over the course of a race. New 4/32 shaved RA-1 vs New full tread R888 and the R888 are faster. However broken in RA-1 (7+ heat cycles) vs fresh R888 (less than 10) and the RA-1 are very strong. In the experinece of most 944 spec guys we would set our best laps on very old worn RA-1. Typically 20+ heat cycles. I think the R888 can get to those times, but we need to change driving style and set-up as the R888 is more sensitive to that sort of thing. We still love the RA-1 as great spec tire. However we are not overjoyed as group about the RA-1 allowance. The concern is that the guys had finally used up or sold all their old RA-1 stock just when the annoucement came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmmotorsports Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Anyone care to try them at "Toyo's" recommended pressures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveWright Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Anyone care to try them at "Toyo's" recommended pressures?What are the recommended pressures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmmotorsports Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Anyone care to try them at "Toyo's" recommended pressures?What are the recommended pressures? They just made an announcement this week in the SM forum that they should run 32 HOT This contradicts everything I heard thus far about them wanting to be closer to the 40's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammed_93_hatch Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 i'd take what toyo says with a grain of salt. I know a bunch of us found that the Ra1 worked much better at a different PSI then what Toyo recommends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmmotorsports Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 i'd take what toyo says with a grain of salt. You're right, what does Toyo know about tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 i'd take what toyo says with a grain of salt. You're right, what does Toyo know about tires. Micheal... I don't feel like 32 psi hot is the right way to go. I think it will kill the sidewalls on our cars. That goes for 944 especially given some of hte side wear I have seen. Given the cost of the tires I cannot afford to test a set down to 32 psi hot and tear them up in one or two sessions. So there in lies the delima. BTW.. i have run as low as 38 hot and they were ok, but when I took some camber out I started to run over the edge of the tire bit. So bump pressures to 43 psi hot and they seemed to be better. Tough to say for sure what is right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammed_93_hatch Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 you can think whatever you want, no skin off of my back. Just sharing my experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vansprinkle Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 https://www.hoosiertire.com/NASAawdg.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmmotorsports Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 i'd take what toyo says with a grain of salt. You're right, what does Toyo know about tires. Micheal... I don't feel like 32 psi hot is the right way to go. I think it will kill the sidewalls on our cars. That goes for 944 especially given some of hte side wear I have seen. Given the cost of the tires I cannot afford to test a set down to 32 psi hot and tear them up in one or two sessions. So there in lies the delima. BTW.. i have run as low as 38 hot and they were ok, but when I took some camber out I started to run over the edge of the tire bit. So bump pressures to 43 psi hot and they seemed to be better. Tough to say for sure what is right. I am going to be trying the lower pressures @ CMP in 2 weeks. Toyo advised 32-38 HOT and I am going to give them a shot. Not to mention, my new employer, Phils Tire Service is curious about the effects of these pressures. He and I are going to be monitoring this very closely. I am confident that the R888 will be the tire moving forward and I am going to be working with it. Until NASA tells me otherwise, I am going to continue to use the tire that we will be running next year. After all, that was why NASA said what they said, '09 is the transition year......version 2.0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JW Racing Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 For 944 spec cars. 2600lbs, 135 whp and 225/50 R15 on 15x7 wheels. I used to get 24-28 heat cycles from RA-1 full tread or 4/32 before they cycled out. This is average over 5-6 sets. My first set of R888 (full tread) with zero set-up changes and hot pressures 40psi to 48psi (I was playing around) went 14 heat cycles before I junked them due to losing grip and cycling out. Places that had been easy flat now requred a lift to keep the car on the road. So I junked them. I have come to the same conclusion with my 2450lb H1 car with 235 40 17, this past weekend I was nearly sliding off the track.The tires were on their 16th cycle. I feel 12 is about done for my particular car. Depth had no effect on performance, but I will shave my next set. Why run full depth on a tire that heat cycles out waaay before it wears out. Once they slide a little and you get them overly hot,they never recover that session. I use 42psi hot, anything less wears both shoulders faster then the middle of the tire..just my .02 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.