DOT Race Tires

[Andrew Garcia <aggarcia@domain.elided>]

    Well here goes my spill on DOT approved race tires.

The A008R/RS are out of production and any tires on hand is New Old
Stock. NOS may be good for some items, but not race tires. They harden
with age and their life is very short. The A032 is a poor replacement
for the A008R/RS. In the club racing circuit no one uses them unless
they need rain tires. The A032's will last a long time, but they are not
a sticky as the A008's.

Your friend must have BFGoodrich G-force R1's not Goodyear's. The
G-Force R1 replaced the 230 design R1. The G-Force is molded to 3.5/32,
has a tread wear rating of 00, and costs around 30% more than the old
tire. The G-Force is  much sticker tire, but they only last around 3
race weekends if you d not lock them up during braking.

Another  tire would be the Hoosier R3S03. This is the second most
expensive tire out there and really sticks to the ground. The problem is
that you if go off course or lockup the brakes once the tire is history.
The competitive life is around 1.5 -2 race weekends if you do not hurt
them.

Kumho makes the Victoracer V700 , a up and coming tire that will be the
least expensive tire out  there. Kumho's are similar to the old 230
R1's, but they do not stick as well. This is a very good tire if you can
set your car up for it.

The Toyo  Proxes Ra-1 are another choice. This is actually an excellent
tire, but Toyo pissed off most of their dealers a few years back and
they are not a easy to get as they used to be. They have excellent stick
and wear forever ( almost for a race tire). I ran a set for the first
half of the 99 before they needed to be replaced. I actually had a
friend run a set for 14 hours at Moroso earlier this year. You must
shave the Toyo's or you will never get them to work right.

The last choice would be the Good year GS-CS. These are some of the
trickiest tires out there. They are also the stickiest hands down and
cost the most. I know of people wearing out a set in one weekend . Great
tires, too sticky and cost way too much.

On my ITS GTV6, I have run the BFG G-Force, Toyos, and Kumho's in the
last six months. My favorite has been the Toyo's because they have
excellent stick, really last a long time and are reasonably priced. The
Kumho's I am currently running work ok, but they are requiring several
suspension adjustments to get them to work properly. The G-Force would
be my tire of choice if wear and price and not of concern. In reality
the G-Force were not faster than Toyo's, but felt better. Also both
Kumho and BFG have excellent contingency programs ( the reason I left
Toyo). Hope this helps.

        ANDREWG
        Houston, Tx
        #63 ITS

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