Targa4Life

I was wondering what tires would be a wise choice for a week long rally race woulb be. During this race only 6 tires are allowed for the entire event and at any time they must be at least 1/16" depth. Tires must be DOT approved and good in wet and dry conditions. There is speeds of 200kph and I need good tires (really sticky). I used Toyo Proxes RA-1's last year but not only did they wear too fast but they were the ***** in rain. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Willard

Were the RA-1's heat cycled?

nsxtasy

I guess it depends on how long the road rally is. Was it so long that it wore out the RA-1? As Willard noted, putting the tires through an easy heat cycle (driving ~20 miles at highway speeds, then taking them off the car for 48 hours or more) will help them last longer. Also, don't shave them. I typically get around 1500 track miles (plus 400 street miles between the hotel and the track) to a set, heat cycled and unshaved.

My first choice would have been the RA-1. But, like you say, they're not great in rain (although they are better than most other R compound track tires) and they wear fast like all R compound track tires. If either or both of those factors make you want to use something else, then you should be looking at street tires rather than R comps. In which case, I would try the Goodyear F1 GS-D3, which lasts a while (280 treadwear) and is awesome in rain (and pretty darn good on dry pavement, too). Here, read this.

What did last year's winning drivers in the road rally use?

rotten

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa4Life &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was wondering what tires would be a wise choice for a week long rally race woulb be. During this race only 6 tires are allowed for the entire event and at any time they must be at least 1/16" depth. Tires must be DOT approved and good in wet and dry conditions. There is speeds of 200kph and I need good tires (really sticky). I used Toyo Proxes RA-1's last year but not only did they wear too fast but they were the ***** in rain. Does anyone have any suggestions?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wow didn't realise that Targa Newfoundland only allowed you to use 6 tires. Makes it a lot cheaper though. May have to get out there and run the event.

I think no matter what you'll want to run a heat cycled tire, and probably full tread. The RA1 one of the longer lasting DOT R compounds. The A032R may be a good choice.

If all you need to buy is 6, I would get some tarmac rally tires shipped over from the UK (Demon Tweeks). Probably won't have a DOT sticker on them but may meet DOT standards. Could get some Silverstone Tarmac tires from Four Star Motorsports, Motorsports Distributing in Canada or Tabor Rally team in the US.

nsxtasy

Do all six have to be the same kind? If not, you may want to consider 4 track tires and 2 street tires, or something like that...

nfn15037

I don't think they all have to be the same, but I would probably take 6 of the same tires (like I did in '05). If you get a puncture or have a tire destroyed, then you are kind of screwed as far as having 4 matching tires on the car.

I ran BFGoodrich GForce KDW2's and they did me just fine. If funds were unlimited, I would probably go for an AO32R or AO48R (and a trailer), but I drove from Boston to Newfoundland (via ferry ride) and back on my race rubber (I'm poor lol), something I wouldn't do on R compounds.