2014's Best Tire Choice

Rob Keehner · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:22 pm

Wait so I just paid 1200 dollars for Hoosiers and extra to have them shaved and I can't run them in STR? Guy at TireRack said it was Street Touring Race! I thought I was getting expert advice, guy said they were the fastest tire! Fuuuuuuuuu**! :furious:

michaelsmiller · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:34 pm

Rob Keehner wrote:

Wait so I just paid 1200 dollars for Hoosiers and extra to have them shaved and I can't run them in STR? Guy at TireRack said it was Street Touring Race! I thought I was getting expert advice, guy said they were the fastest tire! Fuuuuuuuuu**! :furious:

STR = Street Tire Roadster. :oops:

TireRack called me to say that the tire size that I have been running of 8 years doesn't fit on my car. Maybe they don't know everytihing? BTW, The tread width on the Rivals that I received today is 8.75", on a 225, and my old Dunlop Star Spec's were 9" on a 235. I'm not loosing much tire patch running the narrower Rivals, but I'm gaining top end on 2nd going from 40 to 45 series. ~ 2.5MPH

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:14 pm

Rob, I think the 2014 treadware requirement for STR is minimum of 140. In 2015 is goes to minimum of 200. Depending on the size, you might have pretty good luck selling them, maybe on roadraceautoox.com, without too great a loss. If you haven't already, you can read the Solo rules on SCCA.com.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:38 pm

Rob Keehner wrote:

Wait so I just paid 1200 dollars for Hoosiers and extra to have them shaved and I can't run them in STR? Guy at TireRack said it was Street Touring Race! I thought I was getting expert advice, guy said they were the fastest tire! Fuuuuuuuuu**! :furious:

Funny!

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:54 pm

michaelsmiller wrote:

STR = Street Tire Roadster. :oops:

Technically, it's Street Touring Roadster. - AB

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

Our set of shaved Toyo R1Rs just arrived tonight. I've never driven on a set so I'll be interested to see how they work. We liked the Dunlap ZIIs and will probably still run them locally and at some schools.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:56 am

Rob Keehner wrote:

Wait so I just paid 1200 dollars for Hoosiers and extra to have them shaved and I can't run them in STR? Guy at TireRack said it was Street Touring Race! I thought I was getting expert advice, guy said they were the fastest tire! Fuuuuuuuuu**! :furious:

ouch.... Sorry Rob. To Gwen's point you could sell them since they aren't mounted and never used and take a slight hit to get rid of them, or, you keep them and go into another class that supports the r-comps. Not sure where you'd land w/ those.

The A6's are a monster tire in regard to grip, Brice is sold on them. They should last you the season. Time to think about options....

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:22 am

RodneyWright wrote:

Rob Keehner wrote:

Wait so I just paid 1200 dollars for Hoosiers and extra to have them shaved and I can't run them in STR? Guy at TireRack said it was Street Touring Race! I thought I was getting expert advice, guy said they were the fastest tire! Fuuuuuuuuu**! :furious:

ouch.... Sorry Rob. To Gwen's point you could sell them since they aren't mounted and never used and take a slight hit to get rid of them, or, you keep them and go into another class that supports the r-comps. Not sure where you'd land w/ those.

The A6's are a monster tire in regard to grip, Brice is sold on them. They should last you the season. Time to think about options....

Yes, I was going to ask if Rob's car (sorry that we haven't met)is Street (Stock) legal. That would be an option though many are already not supporting Street *Race* since it's gone after this year anyway, so there might be an issue with competition. Not sure yet if we'll do Dixie, but if we do, and if we tow, I'd be happy to deliver them if they're sold to someone who's there. That would save some $.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:29 am

Rob Keehner wrote:

Wait so I just paid 1200 dollars for Hoosiers and extra to have them shaved and I can't run them in STR? Guy at TireRack said it was Street Touring Race! I thought I was getting expert advice, guy said they were the fastest tire! Fuuuuuuuuu**! :furious:

Does everyone not realize this is just a joke? There is no place, Tire Rack or other, that would shave A6's with their mold of 4/32". Happy early April Fools! - AB

JamesShort · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:37 am

Yeah, Rob is just being a Bozo folks

. He's driving Noah's S2000 in STR this year, not Kevin's Vette in SS(SSR)?

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:40 am

OK, my bad! I wondered who the *new* Noah must be, also with a S2K. Funny. Funnier on April 1st, but funny.
Shaving was the give away....and I overlooked that. :oops:

Les Davis · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:04 pm **Posts:** 2059

Gwen Baake wrote:

Well, you're right...there have been a lot of rule changes, and this will be a transition year for sure, but R comps won't ever fly in a ST class.

Actually, at one point in time, STR was "street touring race" and was a race tire class, way back when. I think Karl and perhaps Vincent ran it at one point. Perhaps this is the point of Rob's "joke", I'm not sure, his sense of humor and mine don't always jive.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:44 am

leg successfully pulled.... :mrgreen:

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:40 pm

Speaking of Hoosier...imagine running the show there and being presented with the new SCCA rules over the past year. How far do you think A6 sales volumes will fall in 2015 versus 2007? I'm guessing they're 20% or maybe even less of that peak sales year. Clearly A6 volume had already fell substantially with the downturn in the economy and just kept falling. I'm sure A6 volumes helped substantially with R6 fixed costs also, so they're likely making a LOT less per R6 unit now. Well, at least they didn't drop a bundle on a new R-comp design (that we know of anyway) since 2005 when the A6 was new.

Speaking of which, I have a set of 275/35-18 A6s with 2009 built date that have been stored inside and covered that have about 15 runs on them. They're free if you come and take them to be unmounted (without damaging the SSR wheels they're on).

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:16 pm

Chuck Branscomb wrote:

Speaking of Hoosier...imagine running the show there and being presented with the new SCCA rules over the past year.

I've often thought about that too Chuck. Plus, with the new BFG tires, both the Rival and their r-comp, things must be changing quite a bit. Next year should be interesting when you can't use r-comps in most of the stock classes at all.

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2014's Best Tire Choice

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