Eric Peterson wrote:
We put a brand new set of Hoosier R6s for Karl & Chris to take the class last August. We counted about 150 runs for both drivers on Karl's S2000, which included instructor runs. The fronts were showing a tad of cord at the end, the rears still had life in them. We put R6s on the car, instead of A6s, to deal with the August heat, 2 drivers, and the large number of back-to-back runs. In the Extreme School all student runs are 2 laps around the course. This coupled with many runs in a session equates to a lot of heat.
The R6s never overheated and they got an amazing number of runs out of them. A6s with a single driver might be OK. Streets tires will definitely be the cheapest and most convenient way to go since each driver will get about 70 runs over the 2 days (that includes the instructor runs).
We thought about running some Kumhos or Toyos, but since the school was so close to Nationals it was worth the extra money for them to dial into the Hoosiers. It obviously worked for Chris since she did well at Lincoln.
I'd like to take the class myself, we'll see how things are going at the time.
^ What he said. BTW, that's 150 runs total for Chris and I, not individually for a total of 300.
I'd do it again, finances permitting. Although my performance at Nationals didn't reflect it, it helped me a LOT. I took away not only reinforcement of some things I knew I was doing wrong and need to correct, but new information on other things to correct. Jinx noticed me doing a lot of aggressive throttle modulation in slaloms, for example, and I didn't even know I was doing it. I think he said, "you probably look like a hero when you get that right, but the other 99 times probably don't work."
There's no way A6s would have survived in that heat between the two of us. R6s were perfect. It took maybe the first "lap" of a run to get them up to temp, if that. From that point on, they were at temperature for the rest of the session, easily.
Here's a piece of advice for those of you who care about your front bumpers and rocker panels (and I know not all of you do). Tape them up with painter's tape. With the amount of runs you're doing, while learning new tricks, you are going to hit a LOT of cones. I suggest the bright green version, available at auto parts stores in the body repair area. It's thicker and sticks better than the blue household stuff.
Anyway, as to the school, I'll have to see what finances look like once we get closer. If it were next week, I couldn't do it.