Hey everyone -

I have a Miata that I use for track days and some autox. I had previously been running 15" Azenis but I just bought some used 14" Toyo RA1's. They had been used by a Spec Miata guy so they weren't perfect but had some life left. After one day/1.5 hours at the Beaver I'm a little worried that I might have fried them out. Check out the pic and let me know what you think.....

The car: '91 Miata, 2400lbs with driver, no funky alignment settings

The tires/rims: 205/55/14 Toyo RA1's on 14x6 10lb Miata rims

The aftermath:



One of the reasons I went with the Toyo's is their supposed long life so I hope this is still ok. I wish I had a "before" picture - the tread was a little uneven but way better than this. Since you can still see the grooves running around the circumference of the tire, I'm assuming they still have some life left - correct?

About Beaverun - this was my first time there and I thought it was a great track. MidOhio is my favorite in the area but this is a good second place. I think it would be especially good for beginners - easy to become familiar with, some good runoff areas, and a little bit of elevation change to keep it interesting.

Not many Hondas there - just one ITC Civic. Here's one picture I took that I liked, not my best day shooting but if you're bored and want to see some car pix feel free to check out http://www.pbase.com/markusf/beaverun_092603 .



And last but not least here's a picture of my friend with the latest in Beaverun fashion:



Thanks!!!

- Markus

 

At the Beaver you really work the left front hard. I ended up running -3.0 camber of the LF and -2.0 camber on the RF. That seemed to optimize handling and tire wear.

It also looks like you were running a full depth tread - that's not good as the rubber tends to get hot and chunk away. I might reccomend you get a shaved set next time.

 

I rotate my tires after every 2 sessions at beaverun, that really helps.

Were you there last weekend? I was there also, in the red prelude We got plenty of practice driving in the rain.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Markus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm assuming they still have some life left - correct?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No cords or belts showing yet....yep, they've got life left!

Seriously, I've got a set of Toyos that you can BARELY see the deep, circumferential grooves in....and they work great. I keep expecting them to give up the ghost one of these days, but.....

Now go dial some negative camber into that car, and rotate your tires between sessions!

Jarrod

 

A bit more negative camber will help that uneven wear. But the wear is normal for a stock-ish car used on the track. My RX-7s wore the tires similarly with -1.25* camber in front.

 

I was told by AIM tire in Sonoma that I could run my RA-1s until I as long as there is still a hint of the two center radial grooves. Any hint will do He said to get off them when the tire is truly bald. He has been right so far, my tires have only gotten faster.

That uneven wear is just lack of camber. The RA-1 spec was the tire needs to be run between 2 and 5 degrees camber or you will get uneven wear.

 

The fastest session on RA-1's is the session the cords show through. Seriously, when the center grooves are gone, they are just coming into their own.

Rick

 

Hey everyone -

Thanks for the replies/tips. I'll get the camber adjusted before my next track day. I was a little worried I screwed those things up already - glad that's not the case!

- Mark