RR and RA1

#1

I just thought about something as I was looking around for people that have used the RR. Ran across a few forums discussing the new tire.

A few guys like myself are so cheap they didn’t buy rain tires last year until the very last possible minute. I ran 3-4 races last year with slicks in the rain.

With the separation of the dry and wet tires, am I going to be forced to run the RA1 “wet” tire if it is damp/wet/etc? I generally prefer to run dry tires untless it is a monsoon. With the RR being a bit faster than the RA1, this seems like it would bea performance advantage…

#2

No.

#3

I will now do a rain dance for every event…

#4

[quote=“Foglght” post=72023]I just thought about something as I was looking around for people that have used the RR. Ran across a few forums discussing the new tire.

A few guys like myself are so cheap they didn’t buy rain tires last year until the very last possible minute. I ran 3-4 races last year with slicks in the rain.

With the separation of the dry and wet tires, am I going to be forced to run the RA1 “wet” tire if it is damp/wet/etc? I generally prefer to run dry tires untless it is a monsoon. With the RR being a bit faster than the RA1, this seems like it would bea performance advantage…[/quote]
Run which ever you want. No one’s going to interfere with your determination as to whether or not it’s going to rain.

That brings up a related issue. Folks were selling off their shaved RA1s a couple months ago, but that’s not really necessary. There’s nothing in the rules preventing you from racing on a sunny day on your shaved RA1s. They won’t be as fast as fresh RR’s, but that’s your call.

The rules simply say that we have two allowable tire models. That provides for a gentle transition between last year’s RA1s that are sitting in your garage and this year’s RR’s. You want to use up your shaved RA1s, go ahead.

#5

Does anyone have concrete back-to-back data on time differentials between shaven RA-1s and RR’s having the same heat cycles (preferably around 3 HC)?

#6

At Roebling last month I did a rain dance and ran full tread RA1s while most everyone else went dry. (Lucky me it started raining as we pulled into the pits).

Sat Race Fast Lap on 2nd weekend RR: 1.23.960
Sun Race Fast Lap on 3-4 HC Full Tread RA1: 1.25.049

#7

Closest I came Anthony was at Autobahn. The saturday race was dry but about 10-15 degrees cooler. I ran on tires from last year. Do not know the number of heat cycles. 1:42.8

Sunday I ran on a 1 heat cycle RR, with it being warmer. 1:41.9

I took a look at the tires, and they have significant blue-ing of the outside edge (RR).

The new tire was seemingly faster out of the box, but about mid race it got greasy. If I backed off, it came back but each time pushing harder the car got greasy again.

The problems with my data:

  1. Temps not the same
  2. First time racing there
  3. Not the same number of heat cycles
  4. Pressures likely not the same and were not measured, other than cold (29 front/31 rear)
  5. Saturday was overcast, Sunday was…sunny
  6. Saturday my center support bearing was not actually bolted to the car, which could have caused other issues

So, in other words, not really good data.

2 of the RA1 tires were from the beginning of last season and were fairly worn (I believe 15-17 cycles). The other two were from Nationals.

#8

Use a tire pyrometer to set tire pressures…all the time !!

#9

Phil,

As a one man show, this is mostly pointless. For me to take realistic tire temps and set pressures I need someone standing in pit lane as I come off hot, where I can accurately say what average temps the tires were running. If I wait until I get back to the paddock, the data is useless. I wouldn’t trust anyone except my own crew (me) to give me accurate data which is pivotal to making tires last.

Most of the time I am just shooting in the dark and hoping for the best.

However, if you are willing to volunteer to come out to the track for the Gingerman crossover and take tire temps, I would more than welcome the help to start a database for the RR.

I honestly wish Toyo would buck up and offer this service to drivers. The whole point of having a spec tire is to eliminate the tire game from the equation and focus on the drivers. They are making a mountain of money off the racers in the spec classes.

#10

DriveFasterNow.com offers crew services that can help with this kind of support :wink:

#11

I’m not paying you to take tire pressures Anthony…

#12

Lol. No worries. It would be someone more qualified than me :wink:

#13

Lol. No worries. It would be someone more qualified than me ;-)[/quote]

You aren’t qualified to take tire pressures? :silly: