Sorry, this is a bit of a newbie question, but its rather important.

The GSR is close to ready for its maiden voyage at the track and I need to buy some tires for it. I have been looking at the Toyos, Hoosiers, Kuhmo's and any other tire I am missing...

My previous experiences with the car were HPDE and I was using azenis's. I also have a drasticlly different car now ( Koni 3011 shocks and 800/11100 Springs, No ABS, etc) and I am a bit hesitant to buy Hoosiers just to flat spot them or trash them while getting the setup right. I have heard the Shaved Toyos are the most resilent, and reasonably priced, but I am looking for opinions...


Let's hear them!

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1154742

Hoosier!

 

You still doing HPDE's with the car? If you're new to racing and want/need something relatively durable and flat-spot resisting, go with the Victoracer, A032H, or RA-1. Or _____ used tires, because who cares if they flat spot if they're almost free.

 

I will do a track do or two to get the setup complete, but it is certainly a full out race car.

 

here's what I did:
I got a couple of sets of used hoosiers. The cheaper the better. I also bought a set of Toyos RA-1.
When I wear through the oldest set (3 years) of hoosiers, I'll switch to the Toyos until I feel that I have gotten used to the car and i am done with my schools. I'll then start using the newest set of Hoosiers to see how fast I am - a baseline to start measuring future improvements.

I mean, if you want cheap(er) and long lasting, and more forgiving, go Toyos.
If you want top tire, go Hoosier.

Honestly, I don't think that newbies such as me (and you?) need hoosiers the first year. I know I won't be running at the top of the pack anyway, so a slightly sub-par tire to cut my teeth on seems like a very good compromise.

JMO, YMMV.

 

If you go with new, consider the Victorracers are the cheapest and work very well. The Toyos are good and will last a long time. The RA-1 is supposed to have a 225/45/15 this year which is a good fit for our cars. With Kumho you have to choose between 205/50 and 225/50. The 225 is too tall and gives you some serious gearing issues and possible clearance problems between the body seam in the top of the fender and the tire.

Hoosier has 205/50 and 225/45 that will both work but are pricier and have a shorter lifespan and as you said are easier to flatspot. Places like Phil's Tire Service can get a 205/50/15 Spec Miata version of the Hoosier that costs less and is somewhat more durable. That's what I'm running now and I am very pleased with them. On 7" wheels, they are wider and have more tread than V700's in 225/45/15. DO NOT GET THE KUMHO V700 EXSTA, THEY DO NOT DO WELL ON TRACK, many, including me, had them fall apart on track.

I have not run the Yoko's or Avons so I have no opinion.

 

Thanks for the advice Andy! I am leaning towards used hoosiers or Toyo's at the moment.

 

if you know any racers, talk to them. we go through tires faster than a frat house goes through a keg of beer, especially Spec Miata drivers. convienently for you, we use 205/50/R15 sizes, which i assume is exactly what you need. drivers are trying out new tires all the time, and will sell for dirt cheap the ones they don't like. they will also throw out tires with lots of rubber on them, but aren't optimally fast because of the number of heat cycles they went through. for example, i have 6 tires in my basement i don't race on anymore, but still have usable tread.

ask around, i bet you can find some to try out for dirt cheap.


ps - the SM compound Hoosier is the EXACT same thing as the other RS04 or whatever the hell it's called. i called hoosier about this, they told me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VTECAcuraGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I also have a drasticlly different car now ( Koni 3011 shocks and 800/11100 Springs, No ABS, etc) and I am a bit hesitant to buy Hoosiers just to flat spot them </TD></TR></TABLE>
Hmmm... regardless of what tires you run, I'd suggest softening up the rear spring rates. Maybe it's just me but 11,100 # rears might be a bit too stiff even for a track only car

Christian, who'd suggest you run Toyo's b/c they last forever


Modified by Xian at 1:30 PM 2/25/2005

 

Toyo RA-1s are probably your best bet. Don't bother shaving them. They run almost the same from full-tread all the way down to cords. And with some tread, they'll do fine in most wet conditions.

New Hoosiers are pricey, typically thought to be more sensitive to suspension setup/alignment, and easier to flatspot. Not to mention, completely useless in the wet.

The old style Kumho Victoracer is a tad faster than the Toyo, and a tad less expensive up front. But it also wears faster, so not any less expensive at the end of the season. The newer style Kumhos are even faster, not sure about pricing or wear.

Used tires are great if you have a source. But, you'll also need a cheap place to mount them, as you'll probably be swapping them every few weekends. If you can find somebody unloading last years tires on the cheap, get them plus a set of full tread Toyos for the rain. Use the old tires until their corded, then use the Toyos. That should get you through a season, at which point you can decide what to do for '06 and beyond.

 

I ran 15 RACE DAYS last year and ten autoX events on six used toyos and two new ones. and I stil have enough tread on four of them for another couple weekends.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by smokin rubber &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I ran 15 RACE DAYS last year and ten autoX events on six used toyos and two new ones. and I stil have enough tread on four of them for another couple weekends. </TD></TR></TABLE>

u didn't smoke the rubber any then i take it?

 

I would be surprised that the Toyo is actually slower on a road course than the Victoracer - we ran the Toyos on my CRX for the better part of a year and found that we were only tenths off of the track record at VIR and Walt was well below it at Kershaw (want to say 54.2 and that was the first day we ever drove on them). Now would a full tread Toyo be slower than a Shaved Toyo or Victo? No doubt, I am sure it would be. But considering how long a shaved Toyo lasts, I am not a guy that agrees w/ the value of buying full tread for anything but rain/intermediate wet use. As much as I like the Toyo for its use, would I use it at the ARRC at RA? Heck no. That's a Hoosier moment from my perspective (and my limited experience w/ the R3S04 says its a year round tire for me) but I'd take the Toyo over the Victoracer easily (but I have only one weekend on the Victo in a car I don't know so take it for what its worth - the main point is that the Toyo is not that far off of a Hoosier).

 

I would look at whatever series you might want to compete in and run whatever tire they are using. Each tire has their own characteristics and I would get used to whatever tire that you might end up running on.

 

so will a full tread toyo-ra1 work in the dry? Sure it will not do as well as a shaved but will it chunk? Will it last longer than a shaved?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 577HondaPrelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so will a full tread toyo-ra1 work in the dry? Sure it will not do as well as a shaved but will it chunk? Will it last longer than a shaved?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, it will work fine in the dry. It will not chunk. In theory, it should last longer, especially since the Toyo is generally thought to be consistent from sticker to cord (or at least more so than most other R compounds). Whether or not that theory holds true, you'll probably hear people argue both ways.

I'd get full tread to start - simply to avoid needing a second set for rain. By the time the first set is worn to the point it's not rain-friendly, you should have a better idea how you want to manage tires (for max performance, max cost efficiency, etc).