Hoosier SM7 Official for 2014

I have not heard anybody in my area that races NASA say anything good about the Toyo RR.

As I understand it, the SM7 tire is the same construction as used in Continental Challenge in 2013. I am also under the impression that the C. Challenge tire consumption went down when Hoosier/Continental changed to the SM7 compound. That's good right?

I have not heard anybody in my area that races NASA say anything good about the Toyo RR.

 

Not to make this a Toyo RR thread, but in our (NASA GL / Midwest) region the RR seems to be working out just fine and exactly as billed: its a little faster than the RA1 it replaced, obviously doesn't need shaving (although several have experimented with this) and for the several tracks in our area that like old bald tires, once they have worn down some, they run at competitive pace, 20 heat cycles to the cords which is more than I've gotten out of the RA1s.

 

YMMV .......

Stiffer sidewalls should mean less camber needed.  Maybe this will negate the need for others to run "blueprinted" spindles like I see on about a third of the field.

 

Raise ur hand if you run them.

Stiffer sidewalls should mean less camber needed.  Maybe this will negate the need for others to run "blueprinted" spindles like I see on about a third of the field.

 

Raise ur hand if you run them.

 

I blue printed my left side with the blue Armco at Daytona in August.  I'm hoping to run stock on the right side.

Asymmetrical setup....nice!

I have been told it doesn't grain at Mid O if you shave it.

In my opinion it depends on the track condition, a green track after a rain, everything grains there. As you know it rains a lot..

Edit, the BFG does not grain there that I have seen and so far a better tire than eirher the SM6 or RR. Hopefully the SM7is like the BFG.

I agree with Brian, does not matter how fast a tire is I want a tire that does not grain, does not need to be shaved, gets reasonable competitive life and is consistent.

I really dislike running two tires, because the guys like Chris who have many more mile on that tire, do better with it than I have. Racing two tires, two clubs, takes a big financial commitment.

In my opinion it depends on the track condition, a green track after a rain, everything grains there. As you know it rains a lot..

Edit, the BFG does not grain there that I have seen and so far a better tire than eirher the SM6 or RR. Hopefully the SM7is like the BFG.

I agree with Brian, does not matter how fast a tire is I want a tire that does not grain, does not need to be shaved, gets reasonable competitive life and is consistent.

I really dislike running two tires, because the guys like Chris who have many more mile on that tire, do better with it than I have. Racing two tires, two clubs, takes a big financial commitment.

Phil, in your opinion what makes one tire grain over another that doesn't

The big change I see with this memo is the application of the tire rule to Regional as well as Major races.  Up until now, Regional tires have been unrestricted and may regions have permitted other tires like the Toyo RA1 / RR to facilitate crossovers.  I don't have any hard statistics but I suspect that this extension may make racing a bit more difficult (or expensive) for some regional racers who have access to multiple sanctioning organizations and drop a couple of entries from our regional races.

 

Terry

 

As a low-budget regional SM driver with no intentions of going to the Run-Offs, this is not welcome news. 

While SM will be on Hoosier and offer a regional contingency. Regional classes can run whatever tire they like in classes like SMt, SMx etc.

Phil, in your opinion what makes one tire grain over another that doesn't

Pat, the definition of why a tire grains is - not bringing the tire temp up gradually enough. Graining is actually the tread being ripped from the casing. In other words - going out on cold tires and pounding on them right away. Tire temps have to be brought up gradually. Sometimes it may take a lap or two. Now with this said, track surface may have come to play in some cases, as in Mid Ohio. Another reason is the tire may have too much grip for the surface it is being run on. This reason is not as common as the first, but is a another issue that can promote graining.

If you follow Hoosier's break in recommendations, you will minimize graining and also see far greater useful tire life. 

wheel

If you follow Hoosier's break in recommendations, you will minimize graining and also see far greater useful tire life. 

wheel

Ahh yes...but no magic lap!

All that said, I recently took 2 sets, scrubbed them in carefully, let them sit for 2.5 weeks, ran them in an enduro at WGI, which is easy on tires, on a cool day and the centers grained badly on both sets.  This tire has much too short of a useful life and requires much too much time and expense to maximize what life it has to be used in a spec series where we're all running the same tire.

All that said, I recently took 2 sets, scrubbed them in carefully, let them sit for 2.5 weeks, ran them in an enduro at WGI, which is easy on tires, on a cool day and the centers grained badly on both sets.  This tire has much too short of a useful life and requires much too much time and expense to maximize what life it has to be used in a spec series where we're all running the same tire.

I presume you are referring to SM6's here and not the new SM7's correct? I would think so, just want to make sure because we are in the SM7 thread.

Honey Badger think new Hoos be better than old?  Honey Badger have lots-o-money.  Honey Badger don't care!

 

Yea, 6's.

I agree on longer life and usable cycles, just beware of the grass is always greener syndrome. There was a lot of prep and time in the Ra1 days as well. If you didnt have the right tire for the day you were in trouble. You certainly were not going to just throw new ones on in most cases and be competitive. The one thing I disliked in RA1 datys is if you needed to buy tires and race, you were in trouble.

We really need a tire that is 1-2 seconds slower and much harder than what we have now but falls off less than .5 over 15 cycles. Hopefully we will all write letters asking for such or answering questionaires with what is important to you. I am sure Hoosier can produce whatever tire we ask for, we just need to stress the importance of it.
I am cautiously optimistic that the 7's will be better in this regard than the 6's, but only time and hundreds of us testing will really tell.

We really need a tire that is 1-2 seconds slower and much harder than what we have now but falls off less than .5 over 15 cycles. 

I think what you just described is the BFG R1....  

<snip>  We really need a tire that is 1-2 seconds slower and much harder than what we have now but falls off less than .5 over 15 cycles.

I'm on board with this all day long.  I think this would easily be the biggest possible realistic improvement to my racing experience.  I think it would have an uphill battle, though, because it's not in Hoosier's best interest.  The only incentive they might have to do it would be to prevent losing the class tire to another company.

I think what you just described is the BFG R1....  

 

I think you meant BFG Rival. 

The Stock Solo guys are leaving the R-comps for the new high performance street tires and most couldn't be happier.  The difference in performance is minor, but their useful life is orders of magnitude greater.  I would wager they would achieve Drago's requirement of "1-2 seconds slower and within .5 seconds over 15 heat cycles."