s2000xer

Reno SCCA had a street tire class, and it became so popular that it cannabalized the other classes and loads of drivers were running in street tire. Now, we have a street tire allowance and everyone runs in their normal classes, with a "T" in front of your number if you have street tires. It has worked very well - drivers who won their classes with race rubber are still winning them on street tires, with similar times once the allowance is factored in. This seems to work better for us than the street tire class.

daverx7

That is a concern we have in our region as we start up our open ST class. Do you have any specifics on how your region uses this allowance?

Thanks,

-Dave

PR151

[QUOTE]Street Tire Class: For the year 2006 the Street Tire Class as run in the past years will be suspended. In place of the single Street Tire Class, cars running street tire (140 tread wear or higher) will compete in their normal classes handicapped by the current street tire handicap of .968. (Two seconds per 60 second course run time) The cars

daverx7

Looks simple enough. I am all about from learning from others successes and mistakes. I'll pass this on to the right folks in my region and let them consider what they feel is best for the region. Big thanks for sharing!

-D

tpc0531

Hankook Rs-2's seem to be the favorite in my area. $400 /set, very grippy, great on the street..... With the front bar adjusted properly and a good alignment, G-Analyst says 1.05G max, 1.03G sustained.

Nimbus

is this on a stock S2000? if so, what are your alignment specs?

tpc0531

Yes, stock except for the fornt bar and the alignment. I will get the alignment sheet from my office and post tomorrow.

cthree

So for the clueless why is this better? So you don't have to have another set of wheels? Is there some advantage to running street tires and it cannibalizing other classes other than it being cheaper?

SR71BB

To be competitive in the street tire class, you'll need to shave those. Which means we're back to changing tires, hauling them around. The only advantage possible would be that shaved (insert "street" tire here) would last longer than Kumhos or Hoosiers. They don't really cost less, and on other cars, I've ruined "street" tires faster than "race" tires because the K tires didn't give up the shoulder rubber so fast.

If I ever go back to autoxing my S, it will be on race rubber.

tpc0531

I can't speak for everyone, but here is my take on this.


There are people that think that stock classes should be run on real street tires (not DOT race rubber). We (DELTA Region / CENLA Region SCCA) have observed a 2 to 4 second difference in times between good street tires (S02's, RS-2's, etc) and V710's or Hoosiers - Yes - Same day, same course, SAME driver, same car.

This shows that you cannot be competitive on street tires against a proficient driver on race tires.

Then there is the added expense and effort of the race tires, extra wheels, trailer, trailer hitch, jack and tools, etc. It is fun to show up, check tire pressure, slap on some numbers and race. Don't get me wrong, for big races I hook up the trailer and go for the 710's.

With everyone on street tires, the playing field is VERY even - regardless of the other modifications that have done (even the ones that take you out of stock).

At one STS2K event, the top 3 were separated by about 1 second. The first car (02 AP1) had Motons, Sanier, and an autocross alignment. The other cars were a bone stock 06, and a stock AP1 with a mild autocross alignment.

Moving the drivers around to other cars would have changed the place the cars were in. In other words, it isolated driver input from car capability.

Lastly, most new folks that show up to events don't like getting there ass handed to them by multiple seconds. If you get dropped into a highly competitive AS class (top drivers on race rubber), the experience can be demoralizing or embarrassing. Your motivation to come again goes away. Most folks that have never autocrossed before consider themselves pretty good drivers. We have noticed that, when given the chance, most drivers gravitate toward the street tire class where the field is more even. Sometimes, the more experienced drivers still run AS on DOT race rubber but they are usually either practicing or shooting for top PAX.

As for cannibalizing other classes, it only takes from AS but bring out many more drivers than it normally would.