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NASA events are great. I ran an autox at VMP a few Decembers ago with them. Laid back group, lots of runs on a course that was extremely fun & challenging.

I've run a few at VMP this year with NASA and they were always a ton of fun. One of my favorite videos came from a course they did earlier in the year when it was rather cold outside and the car was extra "loosey-goosey." Even with the massive rotations, that was still my fastest of 12(!) runs. I'll be heading up to VMP on Sunday to run with them again and from the looks of the current entry list, we'll be running about as much as we can stand.

Another bonus of running with them (despite the semi-long drive) is that you don't have to be there all day. They generally break the heats up such that you only have to be on-site for half a day. In the case of VMP, it can be a little different since they don't start running until noon but that also means that you don't have to get up uber-early either to get there on time.

Jim

And if you can't make this weekend's event, VMSC is running up there on the 25th.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Duh - I totally forgot to check thier schedule! I guess I'll see you Sunday - I'll see if I can convince my brother to come down with his V8 Volvo again.

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

I met some guy up there earlier in the year (January or February I believe) that had a V8 Volvo. Was that your brother? I think it was a 740 sedan but my memory is a little hazy on that one.

And, hey, if you want a co-driver, that might be as good a time as any. Since I hardly know anybody up there, there is much less chance of somebody I know seeing me driving a Focus.

But seriously, if you need somebody to help keep your tires warm (it will be cold up there!), I'm game. It will also let me drive the cushy Miata up there instead of the buzz-bomb CRX.

Jim

Works for me!

My brother has a green 740 wagon. When he was there I was there too, but I'm sure you would have looked right past my car

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

Cool. I'm looking forward to it.

You know I've only been giving you a hard time about your car since that day I asked about the SVT package, right? I know you were kidding about me "dissin'" it even though I was asking an innocent legitimate question about it and I've just carried the that forward 'cause, well, that's what I do.

I probably shouldn't be giving people the wrong impression considering most don't know the origin of the whole thing. Somebody recent asked me what I had against Focii (what in the heck is the plural of a Focus anyway?) and it cracked me up a bit. I've actually never even sat in one and I'm sure it will be fun to experience something new. Anyway...



That probably wasn't him since I don't recall you being there but I'm not sure I knew you at the time. The one I saw I think was a 5-speed sedan and I seem to remember the guy having some sort of R-compound tires for it as well as being somewhat of a regular with NASA. It's amazing to me that there are at least 2 floating around those parts that have showed to an event. I might bring mine out for fun sometime next year when I get the new motor installed.

Jim

I've been doing some searches on tires that are currently available. I have 2 sets of wheels I can use, one 16" and one 17". I haven’t weighed them yet, but I’m willing to be the 16” are at least a few pounds lighter. I've looked at both the 'stones and Falkens in a 225 width tire. I'm also waiting on info for the Kumho XS, but no size info yet. The 16" are only available in a 50 series while the 17" have the more preferred 45 series. I looked and did not see a listing for a 40 series 225 in the 615. There's a fair amount of difference in price, but that aside, I wanted to ask the following. Is there enough difference between the 2 sidewalls to warrant going for the 45 vs 50 or is the difference negligible?

There is not enough difference between diameter and weight to sway me one way or the other. The only issue here is sidewall give.

Opinions?

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

Do you find yourself riding the limiter a whole lot?

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Rodney,

There would be a .1 inch difference in diameter between the 225/50-16 and the 225/45-17. Pretty negligible in my book.

Here's a fun toy to figure out tire size changes.

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

I re-read my note and I failed to point that out, yes, there's basically no difference in the overall diameter and no change in gearing. My concern is the extra height in sidewall. If you take the aspect ratio and apply it to the 225 width tire, you get a ~101mm side wall for the 45 series and ~112mm for the 50 series. That's just under a 1/2" worth of difference in sidewall height. Is that enough to cause extra sidewall flex in these tires? Price starts to come into play here.

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

You are over analyzing this a bit much.

Go with the lightest/cheapest combo IMHO

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

I wouldn't worry about the sidewall difference. Those 225/50-16 RE-01R's on special at TireRack for $117 look very appealing to me. Only ~$10 more than the Azenis and you'll get much better performance out of them.

Jim

Don't stress it. I had half a second on you last event in my fat bone stock rabbit on 195/65/15 all seasons.

You can get the RT615 in 215/45/16 for about $90 from vulcantire or edgeracing. That's what I've been told is THE tire for a 2.5RS at the moment, so I'll probably be getting those. I really liked the RT215 in that size.

If your 2nd gear is pretty tall, I suggest you get these. I have a very short 2nd gear, so I'll just be in 3rd gear a little sooner.