austincrx

I'm sorry to hear all of the issues you had this past season, but it sounds like all things considered it was successful. Indy must have been really great, and I wish I could have made it there. I've got VIR on the brain now that SCCA has dropped that golden egg in our Southeastern Division laps! I've already done cost estimates for 2019, and have been planning a large modification to the car starting in July of this year (too hot to race, so why not wrench?!). I'm glad the car is running better now! 1 faulty wire is all it takes to cause chaos, and it's the worst thing to try and fix!

I do want to ask you a random tire-related question: Are you running R7's or BFG's, and how many weekends can you get on a set before they are junk? I am figuring 2 majors weekends before the tires are too slow to be competitive. I have only ever run kumhos and Hankook on mine. I figure that if I'm not doing Majors races, then why waste $800 on really fast tires when it's really just for $hits and giggles anyway.

s200059

I run the Hoosier R7's, they seem to work the best for my style of driving in STU.

"and how many weekends can you get on a set before they are junk?" probably 10 w/e's before they are junk, I sell my old tire while they have life (3 heat cycles) or use my old tire for HPDE.
I also buy cheap stuff like Kumho , Hankook and others when they are on sale and run them for HPDE or for Regional races.

"I am figuring 2 majors weekends before the tires are too slow to be competitive." In the Major competition that would be ONE w/e and you are not as competitive.

But if you are just out to have fun and run some laps with the big boys then any new tires will do, buy two sets, one for qualifying and one for racing. In 2014 I use ONE set of race tires for an entire season of Regional races (14 races). This year I bought a new set every w/e for all 7 races of the NE Conference and then two sets for the Runoffs. It didn't help, I still went slow and did horrible in the final race. So I wouldn't spend a lot on tires if I was you.

austincrx

Quote:

Originally Posted by s200059

In the Major competition that would be ONE w/e and you are not as competitive.

^^You got that right! It's hard to keep up when the top 1-2 guys are literally winning new tires each weekend, and you're spending a fortune on them just to try and keep up. I know the R7's are about 1.5 seconds/lap faster comparing sticker tires to ones with 2 weekends on them, and those are about 1 second faster than sticker kumhoes or Hankooks. But I was still 6 seconds slower than the winning car at the STU majors races I was attending in 2015, so there was no point. I'll see how the first 2019 weekend goes at Road Atlanta with sticker R7's and decide what to do. If I'm still well off the pace, I'll stretch those tires out for a while longer and hope to qualify on points in more race weekends. Then I'll get 1-2 new sets of tires for Runoffs if I qualify. I've got to deal with a certain Florida-based Scioin FR-S that is particularly fast 'round here, so qualifying may be more difficult than it was in 2015 (despite being so far off the pace I still placed 2nd in conference, 12th nationally, and qualified, but didn't want to drive 32 hours to Daytona just to finish as an 'also ran'). Maybe I'll get lucky and he won't show up at Road Atlanta, VIR, and whatever other race is in my area (Charlotte again I hope, as I love that track!), but we'll see. There is so much more racing around here than when I was in Colorado, 2 race weekends within 6 hours every month is awesome!!!!!


I'm amazed that you stretched out a set of tires for 7 weekends, that's gutsy! I must be a little hard on the tires, so I better work on that!
Thanks for the input and maybe I'll see you at a race this season (VIR has their 'Goblins Go' in October that I am planning to attend, and it would be a good warm-up for the Runoffs in 2019, not to mention the Majors Super Tour at VIR in 2019 in April will be CRAZY in terms of the amount of cars showing up, I'm really looking forward to that one!).

s200059

If you haven't raced in STU since 2015 you may be in for a shock, things have changed quite a bit since then and I would count on MORE rule changes over the next 2 years. There are also a bunch of PRO drivers that seem to show up at the Runoffs and they come in with BIG budgets.

Before the 2019 Runoffs there will be new cars and new rules so I would caution you on making a major investment this summer that you think will be a front runner in 2019.

Sounds like you were worried about one guy out west.....but here on the East Coast things are much different. All the favorites and front runners have found that they never know who will show up with a winning setup, and believe me, none of them are on a tire BUDGET. You should run the Majors race at VIR in April to get a sense of the competition and it may help with your decisions going forward. M

austincrx

That's basically my plan. I've thought a few times about switching to SM or T4, but we'll see. It doesn't matter what class you're in, there are always people who will spend gobs more money. I'm going to have to check the calendar for the VIR race in April though. If nothing else I will just have to compare lap times with what I run in October (assuming I go, because I always plan 4-5 w/e per year, but sometimes I am only able to get to one of them because of scheduling).


Thanks again for your input!

s200059

Today the big kids get to play at Daytona, I am trying hard to get excited but I just can't.

But I still have some very fond memories from my week at Daytona with Paul and Anne during the Runoffs.
And we didn't need no stinking helmets and fire suits in the pit lane. Here is a picture of Paul over the wall working on the #59.
And again in the pits during Impound moments after the feature race. What a week, couldn't have done it with their help.



So without anyone to root for in this race...I decided to build a fantasy team and place a bet on it !!

s200059

Tomorrow will be my first outing, no race car, just instructing at Palmer.

I should have the car ready to race in May sometime, its all TECH'd and signed off in LOG book.

My licence and annual waiver have been processed and renewed. Now I just need to get myself ready to do battle.

A 2

s200059

We also get an annual waiver on our card, so we have an express line and we also I don't need to sign the waiver every time I get to signup.

s200059

My first track day is in the books, I spent the day at Palmer with SCDA.
I woke up to snow here at home and it snowed all the way over to Palmer.
When I go to the track, I had my doubts that they would hold the event.
The entire track surface was covered with snow and it was COLD.
Elivan told the instructors to be ready at 10 am for recon laps.
I went out with Kevin Belden from Patroon BMW in his new Porsche.
It was so slippery and scary that we only did 4 laps.
Then we did 5 laps with our student and the track was beginning to improve.
My first run with the student was at 12 pm and the track was DRY, I was amazed.
My student had an E36 M3 and it was track prepped, he ran on all season tires (Like Jeff does).
We had a great day and he improved each and every run. It was only his second day on track.
Over all a pretty good day after a cold snowy start.