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Rule Proposal: Tire Size restrictions


sips56

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Well said Luke Pardi.

I could be missing something but every long term successful racing series that I am aware of has some sort of tire rule.

Anyone that has been around racing for a long time has seen many divisions/classes rise and fall for a variety of reasons. Rules can be an issue either way; too many or too few.

Running in GTS attracted me, and maybe others, because of the car count and close competition. Hope that continues.


Bruce Betts

Rocky Mtn

GTS2

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Against.


As we saw at COTA in GTS2, the range of tire widths at the sharp end of the field was from 245 to 295, maybe even wider than that. There wasn't a huge advantage to cars on wider tires. period.


There is the initial fixed cost to flare your car, if you decide to go that route, can be done cheap on most cars, maybe the cost of one or two sets of tires.


I run in GTS4 (maybe 3 next year), so it doesn't really affect me, but I feel it is against the spirit of the rules and a red herring. The person that can afford to bring fresh tires to every weekend is going to be at a big advantage, regardless of width.

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Against.


As we saw at COTA in GTS2, the range of tire widths at the sharp end of the field was from 245 to 295, maybe even wider than that. There wasn't a huge advantage to cars on wider tires. period.

 

 


I'm curious, who of the top 3 were running 245's at the front of GTS2 at COTA?

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Against.


As we saw at COTA in GTS2, the range of tire widths at the sharp end of the field was from 245 to 295, maybe even wider than that. There wasn't a huge advantage to cars on wider tires. period.

 

 


I'm curious, who of the top 3 were running 245's at the front of GTS2 at COTA?

 


Foss had his e36 on 245's with no rear wing. It was a pretty intense battle between P1-P3 before they all went out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

+1 for no tire size restriction. This is exactly why I don't race in ST. And even though going to wider tires hasn't seemed to make me any faster in GTS2, I like having the freedom to experiment.


Mike Dovorany

NASA SoCal

GTS2

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm on 245s in GTS2 and oppose the tire size restriction. We've got a pretty sizable (consistent) field in Mid-Atlantic and have had people podium on 245s as much as on 285s. The guys who went all-out with flares, big wheels and fat tires are the first ones to tell you "eh, I'm not sure if it's that helpful" when you ask. So, why not keep allowing the experimentation? The appeal of GTS is generally simplistic rules.

Seeing others with a 245/otherwise similar setup to myself go faster than me doesn't make me wish for wider tires, it makes me realize I need some seat time and/or coaching. But let's keep allowing for unique builds.

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  • 11 months later...

I do not support this rule. Start micromanaging this stuff and you ruin GTS. I just competed in GTS races this weekend with 17 GTS2 cars and i ran 255s/275s. Others ran 305 square. lap time was almost identical. We had, i would guess, the largest GTS2 field in the nation this year, including NATS, so the existing formula works and the class is growing. Given that, Rocky Mtn Region has a renegade GTS1 field that is a de facto spec boxster field. We run 2.5L boxsters in it add Hoosiers and rear spacers and have a blast. We've had over 15 of them at several races this year. One of the reasons the class is so attractive is that we are allowed to run only 1 set of hoosiers for the weekend. We just saved $1200! I've run 1 set of Hoosiers for an entire weekend in GTS2 and there is plenty of tire left by Sunday evening. If we're all equal on tire wear why not limit GTS 1, 2 and 3 to one set per weekend and save us all a ton of money? 

re track rocket's post, i agree. If guys want to hatchet their cars and put 315s under it go for it- this is not a budget class. it's no guarantee to make the car faster anyway. Zach's car is dominant because he has maximized tire size, downforce, torque and HP/WT. which is exactly as it should be. He has also maximized everything else on that car so good on him. He's going to get fat now that he's married anyway so we'll see how he manages that weight increase. 

 

Steve Dunn

Rocky Mtn. Region

GTS1 and GTS2 

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55 minutes ago, Cnsprcy said:

I do not support this rule. Start micromanaging this stuff and you ruin GTS. I just competed in GTS races this weekend with 17 GTS2 cars and i ran 255s/275s. Others ran 305 square. lap time was almost identical. We had, i would guess, the largest GTS2 field in the nation this year, including NATS, so the existing formula works and the class is growing. Given that, Rocky Mtn Region has a renegade GTS1 field that is a de facto spec boxster field. We run 2.5L boxsters in it add Hoosiers and rear spacers and have a blast. We've had over 15 of them at several races this year. One of the reasons the class is so attractive is that we are allowed to run only 1 set of hoosiers for the weekend. We just saved $1200! I've run 1 set of Hoosiers for an entire weekend in GTS2 and there is plenty of tire left by Sunday evening. If we're all equal on tire wear why not limit GTS 1, 2 and 3 to one set per weekend and save us all a ton of money? 

re track rocket's post, i agree. If guys want to hatchet their cars and put 315s under it go for it- this is not a budget class. it's no guarantee to make the car faster anyway. Zach's car is dominant because he has maximized tire size, downforce, torque and HP/WT. which is exactly as it should be. He has also maximized everything else on that car so good on him. He's going to get fat now that he's married anyway so we'll see how he manages that weight increase. 

 

Steve Dunn

Rocky Mtn. Region

GTS1 and GTS2 

This was a 2018 proposal you replied to. Should respond to the 2019’s instead. 

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I support a tire rule like Luke's original post from last year.  I am Frank Millán and race gts2 with an e46 m3 on a 275.  I think there is a growing Gap in a few classes here in the north east due to tire size.  They have their clear advantages in longevity. And of set up correctly for outright speed as well.  I think setting a standard tire size per class, then docking or boosting via points for bigger or smaller than said tire size is a pretty reasonable way think about it.  Something like this 

Standard tire size per class. 

Gts1- 225
Gts2 - 245 
Gts3 - 275 
Gts4 - unlimited 
Gts 5 unlimited

Gts u obviously unlimited. 

Anything bigger gets .2 deduction 
Anything smaller gets a .2 boost

 

Specifically targeting gts1-3 on purpose as that's where we see the biggest disparity in times and fields being split.  I could possiblyake this post a seperate thread if it gains enough steam.  

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All - Please refer to this posting for the 2020 rules proposal on tire sizing / compound.

 

Link: 

 

 

Locking this thread to keep the 2020 rules discussion organized.

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