Here's an update on STR tires and top placement at the national tours. First table is top five positions at each tour and the second table is fast time of day (day 1 and 2). The general trend is away from Toyos and towards Hankooks with Dunlops holding somewhat steady.



Number of times a given tire places in the top five positions for STR

 

That's a good sign, I just bought some 255/40/17 R-S3's. I seem to remember reading in here that they like a lot of pressure, like 40 psi? How has that worked out for people? Anyone running anything higher in the front or a huge differential between front and rear? My Z1SS's seemed to do best around 34 psi, but that was also non-staggered (225/255) w/OEM everything. I'll just be on some KW V3's, so I'm thinking I might need to play with pressures a bit to balance everything out....

 

It would be interesting to see what some of the other key factors are during these tour events...

1) surface type
2) surface temp
3) ambient temp


I've been hearing that certain tires like certain conditions a there could be a couple tenth swings in time because of those conditions.

 

That's a pretty cool study tool you've got going there but I would advise against taking too much stock in the data. It's just too early with car development and the drivers add too large of a variable.

 

The coilovers are here, the fender roller's in the trunk and I've got a set of mounted 255s ready to roll.

I've got a hundred questions. Here's the important one: I ordered the Saner bar, but it's probably weeks away. There's an event Sunday.

Real tuning is almost impossible without the bar, right? I'll settle for a fun day beating the snot out of the car and chasing Fastmike's Solstice. Like other FWD refugees, I have a hard time spinning even an AP1. How evil would 255s and the stock bar be?

Should I keep the staggered 225/245 Star Specs on rather than the new Hankooks? If I run the non-staggered setup, should I disconnect the rear bar?

Thanks!

 

It depends on where you are at on spring rates. I bet the car is driveable but a bit too loose with the stock bar. You could always disconnect one link on the rear bar to try and get some balance into the car. I say slam the big meaty tires on there and see how far off you are initially from Mike.

 

^^^
Look out for this guy -- he's fast.

There's an event Sunday? There's nothing listed on the WWSCC site.

The answer depends on the spring rates you're running. A non-staggered setup with the stock springs and sway bars is a big handful, but if you set up your FWD cars with a ton of lift throttle oversteer, you might feel right at home.

On the other hand, I have a Gendron bar sitting in my garage collecting dust -- you're welcome to borrow it if you want. I'm in Bellevue.

 

With stock bars, or stock front bar and no rear bar, might be a good idea to leave the ride height pretty high so you don't chew up a fender.

 

People like the warm fuzzy feeling knowing they bought a set of tires somebody else won on. I find it absurd, but some people dig it.

On top of surface types and conditions, the car or even the setup on the same type of car changes how effective a tire will be. The course style, the driver sample, or competition within the class can skew results. Under a wide enough set of conditions, nearly all of the current crop of tires can win. What can win at a National Tour may not work at Nationals given temp and course differences. blah blah blah blah

 

[QUOTE=PedalFaster,Jul 8 2010, 07:36 AM]There's an event Sunday?