SCCA Solo D Street discussion

[justinco]

Originally Posted by jwisjw

If everyone is on BFG's, how is the cat out of the bag?

How can you compare the two tires without your own testing?

I think you just answered your own question...the (autox national) results usually do the talking, it has been that way for years. As more and more people start winning on a different tire, you will see the others start gravitating to it.

Some people do the testing themselves, a lot just watch the results and let other people do the testing (usually because buying a bunch of tires to test is expensive).

[oinojo]

Good ole' lemming effect. Got it!

[justinco]

Originally Posted by Twinz

I'm going to do some testing this weekend on our local test & tune course and try to nail down what's what. (For the 225/45 size tire, on my 17X7 RPF1 wheels, on our concrete)

I threw them on at the last minute for the Pro, then just did 3 runs with each tire on the Dixie test and tune course I just met....got same the same 29.5 with both tires and went with the Stones because we were running first heat (cold) and I subjectively just like the way the Stones "feel". My tire pressures for the BFG's were set by old-school roll-over eyeballing at both venues, but I will use a proper pyrometer/probe for this weekend.

I will hopefully have some useful data after that.

Just curious, did you change anything with suspension/setup between the tires? Or, did the car behave the same other than the feel.

I just stopped at the Tirerack warehouse on the way back from the TX Tour to pickup a set of BFG's. Curious how my car will drive with this new 1.5 tire. I haven't driven Rival's since the original when I was running CS.

[justinco]

Originally Posted by oinojo

Good ole' lemming effect. Got it!

No, more like the not everyone has $3k to throw around every year to test the new batch of street tires effect...

[Twinz]

Originally Posted by justinco

Just curious, did you change anything with suspension/setup between the tires? Or, did the car behave the same other than the feel.

I changed only pressures. The oversteer/understeer balance was similar with both tires.

The 1.5's have less tire "squirm" then the last version, but are still not as sharp as the RE71R's. (At least not for the tire size and wheel combo I'm running)

I have trouble hitting my marks with single steering inputs on the BFG's that I don't have on the Stones. (Not that I get it right every time on the Stones...It's just that I almost always need steering micro-corrections when driving the BFG's at the limit)

[jwisjw]

Originally Posted by justinco

No, more like the not everyone has $3k to throw around every year to test the new batch of street tires effect...

I totally get what you are saying but the tire testing budget in the grand scheme of things is very little in relation of trying to be top 5 at nationals, right? Or do we spend all this money to really be driving around cones for the "driving experience"?

[justinco]

Originally Posted by Twinz

I changed only pressures. The oversteer/understeer balance was similar with both tires.

The 1.5's have less tire "squirm" then the last version, but are still not as sharp as the RE71R's. (At least not for the tire size and wheel combo I'm running)

I have trouble hitting my marks with single steering inputs on the BFG's that I don't have on the Stones. (Not that I get it right every time on the Stones...It's just that I almost always need steering micro-corrections when driving the BFG's at the limit)

Cool. Good to know.

[jwisjw]

Originally Posted by oinojo

Good ole' lemming effect. Got it!

Reminds me of the Redshift STS Bible before 2010...

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by jwisjw

If everyone is on BFG's, how is the cat out of the bag?

How can you compare the two tires without your own testing?

I've already done a direct test of the Bridgestones vs the 1.0 BFGs. I am one of those weird freaks that liked the 1.0 and I was faster on them (my counterpart for the test was faster on Bridgestones, YMMV).

I have not directly tested the 1.5 against the Bridgestone, but I have no desire to given where I already stand with the Bridgestone. It's too edgy and not forgiving enough for a hack like me. If I were in Street still I'd look at testing the 1.0 vs the 1.5 because that's the data that actually interests me.

For you guys who can't afford to test multiple tires: seriously, make an agreement with a friend, you buy one brand, he buys the other, you meet at a Champ Tour or other event with a test and tune course and you both share runs on both sets of tires using one car. Easy. Even if you both are running OEM wheels, buy four jackstands for $60 and put one of your cars up on them for the test. It is a lot less effort than it sounds. If one of you doesn't like their tires afterwards, put them up for sale and someone will buy them. You'll get most of your money back.

[renfield90]

My executive summary of how all three tires drive:

The 1.5 is the girl that gently removes your hand if it strays too far, but keeps kissing you.
The Bridgestone is the girl that stops kissing you and throws her drink in your face.
The 1.0 won't stop you. Ever. You will begin to wonder if you're going to jail, or going to get dumped for not being fast enough.

IMO there isn't a wrong answer right now, but it pays to test and understand which one is faster for your situation.

[Twinz]

Originally Posted by renfield90

I am one of those weird freaks that liked the 1.0 and I was faster on them (my counterpart for the test was faster on Bridgestones, YMMV).

On my STU 350Z, I preferred the 1.0's over the Stones as well. But, I was running 275 rubber on a 10.5"-wide wheel with -3.5 camber up front in STU.

Skinny wheels and a lack of camber (in CS) moved the Stones ahead of the 1.0's for me. (I tried a set of the 1.0's when I first prepped the car.)

Both the 1.5's and the Stones worked well-enough for me when I ran them, and the only A/B test I did was the Dixie test and tune that effectively resulted in a tie between the two.

I hope to have better data after this weekend.

[chucky12012]

We ran the 1.5 back to back with the Stones in a very brief test on my car with three different drivers. All three agreed on the 1.5. I don't have any conclusive data and we were hustling to beat some rain on a practice course that was in a varied condition as we ran, but it was on the concrete at College Station. The setup is slightly different between the two, as the 1.5 seems to be somewhere between the RE71 and the 1.0 in feel and response. I never liked the 1.0, always ran the RE71 before this. I think the 1.5 and RE71 could both win with the right driver though, as the time difference is likely pretty small.

[C4RBON]

Is it allowed by the rules to remove the passenger seat headrest? I take mine out for visibility. Are the detents and spring/catch mechanism in the seat considered a fastener?

[imnotsureaboutbrz]

Originally Posted by C4RBON

Is it allowed by the rules to remove the passenger seat headrest? I take mine out for visibility. Are the detents and spring/catch mechanism in the seat considered a fastener?

Why not recline the seat?