stlandy

Maybe it's a concrete thing.

josh7owens

I use tire roll over to tell me what pressures to run. I make a guestimate for the first run then bleed off air or leave them be but make sure they are the same on both the left and right side. I set my pressures to roll the tire over to the tip of the triangle. I'm not sure how others set pressure but this is what always done. I try to use as much of the tire as I can without rolling over to much.


How do others set pressure? with a pyro?


You could use a pyro to see if the outsides are hotter then the middle and mess with them that way but it's really time consuming and the idea pressure will very from each event depending on the surface and temp outside. The way I do it seems to get me very close in the ball park. I rather focus on driving.

RavynX

What is the general rule for rain-tires? Do you still run 255s on a 9" wheel or do you run skinnier wheel/tire combo?

ans2k

continental DW. you could go skinnier but those are some badass tires. i would still run 255 on a 9in rim in that tire. but in a different tire like rs-3 of star spec, i would go skinnier. but if i were to buy skinnier tiers for the rain, i might as well buy 255 cont DW. just my 2 cents

pinkertonpunk

I bought 235s and put them on a 9" wheel when I bought my DWs. I figured skinnier would be better in the rain but I think it all depends on how much rain you actually have really.....

PedalFaster

So, general consensus on this forum (supported by STR Nationals results and the GRM tire test) is that the Hankook R-S3 is the way to go, at least in warm to hot conditions. I was skimming last year's Nationals results, and I noticed other ST classes don't seem to have gotten the memo. Like STR, every other ST class is dominated by a single tire, but unlike STR, none of them are dominated by Hankook:

ST - 11 of the top 12 on Toyos
STS - All of the top 28 on Toyos
STX - 9 of the top 11 on Toyos
STU - All of the top 10 on Dunlops

(For what it's worth, 12 of the top 14 in STR were on Hankooks.)

I'm pretty sure the top guys in the other ST classes do as much (or in the case of ST, more) testing than the top guys in STR. I know about the rumored "magic" 195 Toyo, which can be used to explain away ST, STS, and STX, but does anyone know why STU has settled on different tires than STR has? Do they know something we don't, or do Dunlops just work better on Evos for some reason that's irrelevant to S2000s?

pinkertonpunk

From what I was told by some of the STU guys is that the Hankook doesn't seem to handle the weight of the STU cars as well. I know a couple of the fast guys that did back to back testing and were about as fast on the Hankooks as they were on the Dunlops but just preferred the Dunlops since they had been running them for years.

glagola1

I would wager that the tire choice in STU has more to do with the difference in the traction circle of the two tires. It's obvious to me that the Dunlop brakes and launches better but the Kook handles sweepers better. The demands of an STU beast are about stopping that turbo'd bastard before the turn and getting it out of the turn. In STR, we don't have as much power and the demands are a little more evenly distributed which probably explains why I'm not yet seeing the difference in times that's been claimed (disclaimer: I have barely any back to back testing yet).

I'm getting a new set of Dunlops on Friday and I won't shave them. I'm doing a TNT on Saturday and Points event on Sunday. That'll serve as my shaving for Dixie and the tires should be decent if it mists/rains. I just don't think my current Dunlops are gonna last since I'm starting to see the other material just peaking out on the inside shoulders.

The TNT in Dixie will be my first chance to back to back test the tires since the Nationals practice course.

IntegraR0064

Pretty sure you're right. The rally cars in STU have a much different driving style - pretty much point and shoot, put down your 300 hp, brake a lot take a tight turn minimizing distance, repeat. Hankooks suck longitudinally.

Plus the hankooks are a less versatile tire in terms of weather, and they feel crappy so even if they end up equal people would probably prefer the dunlops for those reasons.

I remember talking to STU people about this before and I feel like there was something else too but not sure.

daverx7

IMO (in other words, purely speculation), I totally agree with Matt here. Hankooks, both the R-S3 and their Z214, are weak at best with longitudinal grip, plus I would think that the softer sidewalls is not a good thing for heavier cars. Maybe the kooks with the STU cars would basically negate the acceleration strength and amplify the need for better stopping power of the heavier cars. My AP1 just doesn't seem to have enough power (besides launch) to go beyond where I can't put the power down, but I have on occasion wish I had better stopping abilities.

As of the Toyo's, they just didn't seem to gel well with us and the S2000. My co-driver hates them so much that he jokingly threatened to slash my Toyos so I'm not tempted to use them in the wet conditions.

After the Nashville tour, I considered getting the Lops to address how bad the Kooks are in the cold, but it just bugs me having to have 3 sets of street tires. It's bad enough that I'm considering the DW's for wet (thinking of just 225's for my 16" rims).

-Dave