Back to the R Compounds

[Duane Collie <drcollie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Run street tires at auto-X's and track events until you are consistently
>beating the guys who are running stickies (trust me, it will happen soon
>enough). It's hard enough to pick up a lot of car control skills when
you're a
>beginner in an M3, why aggravate that fact by getting sticky tires that will
>allow you to 'overlook' your mistakes.
>
>Matt Meakin 

Hi Matt!

I'll agree with you on the track segment on that one. The last thing
newbies need is hi-performance tires on a racetrack. What I meant to say
and was perhaps not clear on) that those should be your first upgrades WHEN
you're ready to start doing them (after that first season).  That's the
most bang for the buck (harness and R tires) for an improvement if you are
doing off-road events.

For Autocross though, I'll still stand by my opinion that doing them on
street tires is NOT the way to go.  All you do to your $ 265.00 MXX3's on
an M3 is tear them up on the shoulders right quicklike.  I think it's much
more practical to run a $ 165.00 R compound tire in these events. They
stick way better, are designed for that usage (right tool for the job and
all that) and your high buck street tires will last much longer.
Autocrossing  on R compounds is an excellent way to find the tire limits at
low speeds to boot.

<laughing> Last year I did one autocross on my street tires (S-02's) as I
came straight from work and went to the event.  I overcooked those poor
Bridgies soooooooooo bad on my runs that everyone came up and said "Having
a bad day?".  Once you get used to R compounds, running on the street tires
is like taking a shower with your socks on.

Duane Collie

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