Thanks for the advice. It will be my first time out with the car but the suspension is definetly not stock. I have the spec shocks, springs and bimmerworld sway bars. Front non adjustable and rear adjustable. Looking forward to it to say the least.
Tire Rack carries RA1's now
Elephant4
#42
[quote=“JeffCal” post=65490][quote=“philstireservice” post=65459]
Track surface has a lot to do with it. Ask anyone about Mid Ohio - it grains tires, Toyo’s Hoosiers all brands[/quote]
Interesting. I had never heard this about Mid Ohio.
I had James Clay and Jack Money look at the tires when I was at that event. Neither told me that MidOhio grains tires. They both were baffled by the quick and extremely severe wear. Oh well. Now I know better.[/quote]
Its a half truth. With the old tires you would occasionally grain the left front and usually in the first couple of heat cycles. With the 2011 tire you will grain all of your tires and the graining will be significantly worse. I’ve been running these tires for 5 years over multiple Mid Ohio events per year on the same car with no setup changes, none. The only thing I do is have my alignment checked before Nationals. My driving has not improved. I’ve run these tires since 2000. Its not the track, its the tire.
Foglght
#43
[quote=“Elephant4” post=65499][quote=“JeffCal” post=65490][quote=“philstireservice” post=65459]
Track surface has a lot to do with it. Ask anyone about Mid Ohio - it grains tires, Toyo’s Hoosiers all brands[/quote]
Interesting. I had never heard this about Mid Ohio.
I had James Clay and Jack Money look at the tires when I was at that event. Neither told me that MidOhio grains tires. They both were baffled by the quick and extremely severe wear. Oh well. Now I know better.[/quote]
Its a half truth. With the old tires you would occasionally grain the left front and usually in the first couple of heat cycles. With the 2011 tire you will grain all of your tires and the graining will be significantly worse. I’ve been running these tires for 5 years over multiple Mid Ohio events per year on the same car with no setup changes, none. The only thing I do is have my alignment checked before Nationals. My driving has not improved. I’ve run these tires since 2000. Its not the track, its the tire.[/quote]
My 2011 tires also grained all 4 during the race.
barkerdm
#44
Thanks for the insight Simon.
I can put side by side old versus new, both last ran at mid Ohio to show the difference in tires. Everyone in our region is experiencing the same change in wear & grip characteristics.
I agree, its not the track, its the tire.
JeffCal
#46
[quote=“Foglght” post=65502][quote=“Elephant4” post=65499][quote=“JeffCal” post=65490][quote=“philstireservice” post=65459]
Track surface has a lot to do with it. Ask anyone about Mid Ohio - it grains tires, Toyo’s Hoosiers all brands[/quote]
Interesting. I had never heard this about Mid Ohio.
I had James Clay and Jack Money look at the tires when I was at that event. Neither told me that MidOhio grains tires. They both were baffled by the quick and extremely severe wear. Oh well. Now I know better.[/quote]
Its a half truth. With the old tires you would occasionally grain the left front and usually in the first couple of heat cycles. With the 2011 tire you will grain all of your tires and the graining will be significantly worse. I’ve been running these tires for 5 years over multiple Mid Ohio events per year on the same car with no setup changes, none. The only thing I do is have my alignment checked before Nationals. My driving has not improved. I’ve run these tires since 2000. Its not the track, its the tire.[/quote]
My 2011 tires also grained all 4 during the race.[/quote]
Yup. Left front. First two cycles. BINGO.
Thank for the insight.
King_Tut
#47
Figured I would add some more data. I ran my 2011 RA1s at NOLA Motorsports Park this weekend. It was high 80s low 90s temp and is an almost brand new asphalt track surface. I grained my front tires and especially the front left tire quite a bit on Saturday. I then went and looked at all the Spec Miatas, Mini, CRX, and Sentra that were running RA1s or Nitto NT01s and they all had graining as well to some extent. I talked with everyone and the general consensus was that lowering air pressure was helping, so I lowered mine and I didn’t get as much graining on Sunday.
King_Tut
#49
I came off after practice at around 36 psi. I think my cold temps were around 27 psi when I went out for the heat race. I was shooting for 34 to 35 psi, but I didn’t check when I got back to the pits.
cosm3os
#50
I found this http://www.insideracingtechnology.com/tirebkexerpt3.htm looking for information on graining, FWIW.
Foglght
#51
Interesting article. One of the reasons I’m confused is due to the graining on the middle and inside of the tire on my car. I barely have any graining on the outside where the soft RA1 should be heeling over. It almost appears that I have too much camber, which cannot possibly be the case, as I’m running 2.4 degrees right now.
Not sure what to attribute that to. Very strange.
barkerdm
#52
I think most of the inside tread wear is a result of our soft suspension. I have many pictures of our cars going through a corner with the inside wheels half off the ground. I don’t know how the ackerman is on these cars, but I bet the inside edge of the inside tires are dragging across the track, causing the wear, maybe even contributing to the graining.