SCCAForums.com

Had a good rain event this weekend, and the tires proved to do very well. Still very very happy with them.  It would be great to see a few more sizes next year but we'll see what happens I guess!  Any rumors of more sizes especially in the 15 and 16" rims at all?

 Also... I too like to order from Discount Tire Direct when I can. They seem to do well and even beat TR's prices a lot of the time.

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Steve Nackers

R Street index HS. #723R
'98 BMW 318i
www.nsnmotorsports.com

DTD will also price match Tire Rack :)

 

John 

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John W: 2003 WRX: STX (and sometimes 1991 MR2: ES)
Washington, DC Region

Why does everyone assume that the 195/55 is a bad size? As we have seen with several MFGs, the printed size is irrelevant. Has anyone measured it? There are reports of other sizes in the *spec coming in wider than listed. It is possible for this to have dimensions more like a 205/50, a size that people would be tackling each other just to be first in line to try. That said, I don't really care, I am not interested in the tire, but I just hate seeing bad information propagated by people repeating rumors and things that haven't been verified, let alone even tried/tested.

i hear ya

there's a fair bit of trying and testing in this thread though

the 195/55-15 has a contact patch width of 6 3/8" @ 37 lbs with an 870 lb load

Azeni 205/50-15         6 5/8"

'Kook RS2 225/45-15  6 7/8"

Hoosier 205/50-15   7 3/16"

the tire compound is good - capable of generating 1.05g @ 44 degrees on a wet asphalt surface, and 1.14g @ 120 degrees on a hot dry asphalt surface

now if I could just get more of that good compound on the pavement!

such is life with tiny little wheels...

I was the only person running the Z1 in ST* at Devens as far as I know...

so "bad size" might be a bit of an overstatement, but the Z1 isn't top dog with their offerings in the 15" diameter

 

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Charlie Thompson
'04 JCW Cooper [STX]
NER Cannon Fodder

there were 4 drivers on dunlops in STU.

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Doug #81 STS2
1990 Mazda Miata
STU 2000 Audi S4 (retired)
STU 2005 Mazda RX-8 (retired)

Ah hah!  Guess which class I didn't look hard at...

Running 17" by and large?

and including Mr. Capers for 2nd place now that I look again...

I was amused that I could not select Dunlop as a tire provider during the SCCA registration process on line...

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Charlie Thompson
'04 JCW Cooper [STX]
NER Cannon Fodder

cmt52663:

i hear ya

there's a fair bit of trying and testing in this thread though

the 195/55-15 has a contact patch width of 6 3/8" @ 37 lbs with an 870 lb load

Azeni 205/50-15         6 5/8"

'Kook RS2 225/45-15  6 7/8"

Hoosier 205/50-15   7 3/16"

the tire compound is good - capable of generating 1.05g @ 44 degrees on a wet asphalt surface, and 1.14g @ 120 degrees on a hot dry asphalt surface

now if I could just get more of that good compound on the pavement!

such is life with tiny little wheels...

I was the only person running the Z1 in ST* at Devens as far as I know...

so "bad size" might be a bit of an overstatement, but the Z1 isn't top dog with their offerings in the 15" diameter

It would be interesting to see what the similar numbers are for the Bridgestones that are considered to be the "better" choice yet are still the 195/50/15 size (aspect ratio 5% smaller thant he Direzza). 

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Steve Nackers

R Street index HS. #723R
'98 BMW 318i
www.nsnmotorsports.com

you've got the tire stack in my garage - which does not include the RE-01R

silly me...

i roll the LF corner of the Mini over some paper, and measure the width of imprint - which varies widely from the spec: Tread Width

but I don't think I'll buy one RE-01R for the pleasure of science...

anyone else have small wheels and a curious nature?  and Bridgestones?

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Charlie Thompson
'04 JCW Cooper [STX]
NER Cannon Fodder

rolling it over the paper gives a good idea but it is also interesting to see what you get when you match the pressures in the air with no load and then lower the car onto the paper and then back off.  That will show what the real contact patch is and give you a good estimation of how the sidewalls are distributing the load and so forth as well. But the roll over paper does a good job.  There are plenty running that 15" bridgestone, it should be easy to get a matched rim width from someone that can roll it for you.

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Steve Nackers

R Street index HS. #723R
'98 BMW 318i
www.nsnmotorsports.com

TurfBurn:

rolling it over the paper gives a good idea but it is also interesting to see what you get when you match the pressures in the air with no load and then lower the car onto the paper and then back off.  That will show what the real contact patch is and give you a good estimation of how the sidewalls are distributing the load and so forth as well. But the roll over paper does a good job.  There are plenty running that 15" bridgestone, it should be easy to get a matched rim width from someone that can roll it for you.

i like your way better!  thanks for teaching me...

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Charlie Thompson
'04 JCW Cooper [STX]
NER Cannon Fodder

For those of you that have run the Dunlops, how many events does it seem to take to get them ready.  I remember the old RT-215s I ran on the Civic took a couple events before they had their peak grip.  I am going to get rid of my Yokohamas on my STI soon I think, but want to make sure the Dunlops will be ready to go for the larger events I have planned soon.  I would be buying them shaved as well if that helps, that will at least get the mold release off of them.

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Colin Fiedler
07 STI
Milwaukee Region
Bridgestone

From what I can tell, they seem to be about ready to go right away.  First weekend on mine, full tread, ran a T&T on saturday and an event on Sunday, took first in PAX on the sunday event.  If you were running full tread I'd plan for one event just to get the mold release off, starting shaved, they should be ready to go from what i can tell.

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IA Region #52 STX WRX

pinkertonpunk:

For those of you that have run the Dunlops, how many events does it seem to take to get them ready.  I remember the old RT-215s I ran on the Civic took a couple events before they had their peak grip.  I am going to get rid of my Yokohamas on my STI soon I think, but want to make sure the Dunlops will be ready to go for the larger events I have planned soon.  I would be buying them shaved as well if that helps, that will at least get the mold release off of them.

 

I agree with Aaron, just give the Star Specs a good scrub-in to smooth out the high points from shaving, or to remove the mold release if full tread. Then they'll be good to go on the first run. The Bridgestones seemed to take a few events to achieve max grip.  

SS RX7 R2:

pinkertonpunk:

For those of you that have run the Dunlops, how many events does it seem to take to get them ready. I remember the old RT-215s I ran on the Civic took a couple events before they had their peak grip. I am going to get rid of my Yokohamas on my STI soon I think, but want to make sure the Dunlops will be ready to go for the larger events I have planned soon. I would be buying them shaved as well if that helps, that will at least get the mold release off of them.

 

I agree with Aaron, just give the Star Specs a good scrub-in to smooth out the high points from shaving, or to remove the mold release if full tread. Then they'll be good to go on the first run. The Bridgestones seemed to take a few events to achieve max grip.

I agree with Aaron TOO, second half of the first run.. very much like R comps.
 

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-Aaron G>

Timmons Subaru
ZZYZXmotorsports.com
www.ChaseCam.com

With that said, is shaving the way to go with these if I am looking for every last bit of speed?  Or does it not seem to make much of a difference?
 

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Colin Fiedler
07 STI
Milwaukee Region
Bridgestone

I have 2 sets, different sizes, the 1st set I had shaved to 6/32 and was very happy with them.  The second set for some reason I decided to have shaved to 8/32 and I am not happy with the wear pattern on them but it's still not terrible.  May have been the heat difference as the second set saw temps in the mid 80's whereas the first set hasen't seen over something in the low 70's yet.  Heat is one reason to shave tires.  I've heard that Dunlop recommends 3-6/32 for those that shave their tires and I can see why, it makes the tread pattern a little more solid by cutting off some of the tappered portion of the tread, in addition to the heat issue.

mleach:

Why does everyone assume that the 195/55 is a bad size? As we have seen with several MFGs, the printed size is irrelevant. Has anyone measured it? There are reports of other sizes in the *spec coming in wider than listed. It is possible for this to have dimensions more like a 205/50, a size that people would be tackling each other just to be first in line to try. That said, I don't really care, I am not interested in the tire, but I just hate seeing bad information propagated by people repeating rumors and things that haven't been verified, let alone even tried/tested.

i think (for us smaller-diameter tire users) that it's the height, not the width, that is wrong.  195/55/15 is a tall tire for a miata or a CRX...~1/2" taller than a 205/50, which is itself taller than the stock 185/60/14 most of those cars came with.  and it's not as if we have a ton of torque to offset that gearing loss.  you're right about actually measuring, but unless the aspect ratio number is WAY off, it's likely too tall.  if it was a 195/50, yes, people would likely be swarming to it.

i'm not buying and mounting one just to see if a size that's bad on paper is actually not that tall in the real world...once you go down that road, you can start buying one of each size to see what the "real" dimensions are.

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Mike - #44 STS2
'91 Miata - racer
'07 CX-7 - dog taxi
www.phillyscca.com
www.GreyhoundAngelsAdoption.com

Or you could just look on Tire Rack's web site and see the measured diameter.

185/60R14: 22.8

205/50R15 G-force KD: 23.2

205/50R15 Hoosier: 22.8

195/55R15 Dunlop: 23.5

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Dave Heinig

07 GXP Z0K (Thanks Rob!)

DaveH:

Or you could just look on Tire Rack's web site and see the measured diameter.

185/60R14: 22.8

205/50R15 G-force KD: 23.2

205/50R15 Hoosier: 22.8

195/55R15 Dunlop: 23.5

that's crazy talk. 

(actually, i just assumed they calculated it based on the size, rather than actually measuring.)

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Mike - #44 STS2
'91 Miata - racer
'07 CX-7 - dog taxi
www.phillyscca.com
www.GreyhoundAngelsAdoption.com

careful of relying on TR's tire specs as it is secondary info and doesn't always match the manufacturer's specs.  i've been bitten by this before.

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Doug #81 STS2
1990 Mazda Miata
STU 2000 Audi S4 (retired)
STU 2005 Mazda RX-8 (retired)