Grip and longevity differences between Hoosier A6 and R6?

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:52 pm

Ok I am pretty sure that the Miata is being sold after today. I have been back and forth and I am just not enjoying the world of open diffs and street tires. I will have to run Hoosiers if I run the Crossfire which is looking more and more like it will happen as I have access to almost new Koni adjustables and a larger front sway bar off my friend's SLK320. The parts are exactly the same. My question is will the R6 last much longer and if so how much less grip should I expect compared to the A6? TIA

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:14 pm

Depends on the temperature and grip level of the pavement. I've seen it so hot at places like Mineral Wells where folks ran R6's on purpose because the A6's would overheat before your first ProSolo run was over (and you have to make four runs relatively quickly). That was on a Mini, though, which is notoriously hard on tires. That said, I wish I would have had R6's for the Miata that day...in my case I got one good run before the tires overheated on the second one. I probably would have had to throw away the first of the four getting the R6's hot, but that's normal for Pros anyway. The other three runs would have been good.

But normally speaking, I think an A6 is gonna be worth anywhere from a half second to a second on a sixty second course. So yeah, the grip level change is significant. But it could be worse on a cool day where you can't get any heat in the R6, and it could be less on a hotter day (to the point of inverting, but that's not likely if you stay in NC or don't go anywhere like Hell or Texas, which is pretty much the same thing sometimes).

As for wear, the R6 will certainly last longer on most cars, but it will be a bit harder to tell that they are dropping off when they do heat cycle out (and they'll likely heat cycle out on most cars before they cord).

--Donnie

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:25 pm

Donnie Barnes wrote:

As for wear, the R6 will certainly last longer on most cars, but it will be a bit harder to tell that they are dropping off when they do heat cycle out (and they'll likely heat cycle out on most cars before they cord).

This is true for the R6 I believe but I would imagine the A6 would cord before cycling out. I remember Eric saying that he had over 70 runs on a set of A6s he ran last season on the Miata. I know the Crossfire will get more camber than Eric's Miata has in front so I would imagine somewhere in the neighborhood of that many runs from the A6's should be expected if I run mainly on asphalt lots? Sorry for the questions but I have only run Kuhmo race tires and my set from last year just got corded by the guy I sold them to. Those tires had 190 runs when they corded but had absolutely no grip left at that point.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:35 pm

Keith Vail wrote:

Donnie Barnes wrote:

As for wear, the R6 will certainly last longer on most cars, but it will be a bit harder to tell that they are dropping off when they do heat cycle out (and they'll likely heat cycle out on most cars before they cord).

This is true for the R6 I believe but I would imagine the A6 would cord before cycling out.

Err, yeah. I was only talking about the R6.

Quote:

I remember Eric saying that he had over 70 runs on a set of A6s he ran last season on the Miata. I know the Crossfire will get more camber than Eric's Miata has in front so I would imagine somewhere in the neighborhood of that many runs from the A6's should be expected if I run mainly on asphalt lots? Sorry for the questions but I have only run Kuhmo race tires and my set from last year just got corded by the guy I sold them to. Those tires had 190 runs when they corded but had absolutely no grip left at that point.

You shouldn't expect more than 70 runs out of A6's, certainly.

--Donnie

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:43 pm

Donnie Barnes wrote:

Err, yeah. I was only talking about the R6.

You shouldn't expect more than 70 runs out of A6's, certainly.

Yeah sorry for making it sound odd. I knew what you meant about only talking about the R6. Thanks for the information. I will say my Kuhmos started falling off significantly around 75 runs so I guess that works out similar.

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

I got a little over 80 runs on a set of A6s last year and never corded them. The set I ran the NCAC on and paxed 2nd or 3rd on had 70 runs on them, so they were still working really well. They also gripped well at the 24 when I put them over 80 runs. I still have that set in my crawlspace and am holding onto them in case I happen to need a tire or two to get through an event this year.

I've been very happy with Hoosier's redesign of the A6.

ep

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:01 pm

Yeah, thinking back I kept heat cycling tires out a little fast, but I ran several events last year that Eric didn't where it was REALLY hot. I think the really extreme cycles hurt the A6 more than "normal" heat cycles may.

They don't last as long as 710's, apparently, but they do seem a lot better than 04's or 05's.

--Donnie

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:18 pm

Donnie Barnes wrote:

They don't last as long as 710's, apparently, but they do seem a lot better than 04's or 05's.

That is what I was looking for thanks to both you and Eric for your experiences with the A6. The 710 was worthless to me after 100 runs as they didn't really have any grip left anyway.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:20 pm

Keith Vail wrote:

Ok I am pretty sure that the Miata is being sold after today.

Quitters never win, winners never quit!! :lol:

Don't give up on the Miata yet, you are giving my another target right now that I have to shoot for. If you leave I'll only have to keep Adam and Charlie in my sights.

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