11 replies to this topic

[FTodaro]

Believe it or not, i have been lucky enough to have a decent cash of the old RA-1 tires two years old and my 3 sets are going to get me to the end of this year and may have a few baldies for next year, but In NASA anyway I will be forced to buy the New RA-1. I have not ran this tire but several people have told me that they are crap and that the compound has changed. What can I expect from this tire and is the shaving to 2 or 3 /32nd what is still recommended? Any other recommendations to make them last longer or work better.

[dmathias]

Who is forcing you to buy new RA1s?

I've heard the compound is different too, but have not personally experienced it. I bought 1 set of 3/32 RA1s earlier this summer. I have not had any graining or premature wear. Then again I may not be fast enough for these to occur.

-Denny

[FTodaro]

Who is forcing you to buy new RA1s?

I've heard the compound is different too, but have not personally experienced it. I bought 1 set of 3/32 RA1s earlier this summer. I have not had any graining or premature wear. Then again I may not be fast enough for these to occur.

-Denny

NO one is forcing me to buy new ones but the old ones are going to be done soon, so i will need replacements

Did you look at the date code to be sure the were not the good old ones?

[Danny Steyn]

I am NOT sure that its the compound - I believe its the freshness of the tires.

I think that most tires come off the presses, get shipped overseas and accumulate time in warehouses, before shipping out to customers. I have no idea what stock-turn is in the tire industry, but I beleive that the post-Tsunami RA-1's were shipped and went straight to the track, and might not have had time to cure properly

My worst experience was at the MSR-H Double National 1st weekend in August. I took two sets of 3/32" fresh RA-1s for the 3 day weekend (5 test sessions, two qualifiers and two races). By the end of the 2nd test session both my left hand tires were to the cord - TWO SESSIONS.

Admittedly it was my first time at the track and we may have been way off on the setup, and I could have been attacking the track (which is aggressive on tires), but I have been to many tracks for the first time and I have NEVER corded NEW tires in 2 sessions.

By the time Race 2 came around I was scrounging take-off tires from John Phillip's drivers, and my race pace was way off my qualifying time.

I think the situation with RA-1's might have stabilized a bit now - tires have been in the warehouses for another 2 months post Tsunami.

I am interested to hear what others have experienced.

[Tom Sager]

I am NOT sure that its the compound - I believe its the freshness of the tires.

I think that most tires come off the presses, get shipped overseas and accumulate time in warehouses, before shipping out to customers. I have no idea what stock-turn is in the tire industry, but I beleive that the post-Tsunami RA-1's were shipped and went straight to the track, and might not have had time to cure properly

My worst experience was at the MSR-H Double National 1st weekend in August. I took two sets of 3/32" fresh RA-1s for the 3 day weekend (5 test sessions, two qualifiers and two races). By the end of the 2nd test session both my left hand tires were to the cord - TWO SESSIONS.

Admittedly it was my first time at the track and we may have been way off on the setup, and I could have been attacking the track (which is aggressive on tires), but I have been to many tracks for the first time and I have NEVER corded NEW tires in 2 sessions.

By the time Race 2 came around I was scrounging take-off tires from John Phillip's drivers, and my race pace was way off my qualifying time.

I think the situation with RA-1's might have stabilized a bit now - tires have been in the warehouses for another 2 months post Tsunami.

I am interested to hear what others have experienced.

I've seen much poorer wear on recently purchased tires at 3 different tracks. I spoke to a "tire guy" who I believe is in the know and he mentioned as did you that tires need time to cure. He said the tires needed 6 months or more from date of producton to be well cured. I started using our kart durometer recently on the Toyos and based on what I see from that along with how the rubber looks after a couple cycles, I'm very suspicious of a compound change. Based on the dates of tires I have, if there was a compound change I believe it happended in late 2010.

[tony senese]

Most of the guys running RA-1's with dates after mid-summer had issues at the NASA-nationals last week. I saw at least 5 sets that grained so badly after one session they were unusable. Mid-Ohio is famous for "older tires are better" but this was ridiculous. A podium finisher lost 2 seconds on brand new 3/32 tires..... A pro driver went out on 1/32 shaved tires and had to scrap them after one 15 minute session.

My 4 year old track shaved tires lasted the whole weekend. Now I am admittedly 2 seconds slower than the fastest guys and maybe that's why.... but I did finish on those tires (no stripes showing) in the rain in P16....

With SCCA going to Hoosiers I seriously am worried about the quality of the new tires.

[Johnny D]

+1 they wear out quick.

I heard they used to do a post heat cycle so we didn't have to.
I heard they skipped that for a while to get them out the door ot us after the earthquake.

So you may want to treat them like a hoosier and see.
I put a heat cycle on a new set 3/32 Thursday afternoon test and ran them for Saturday afternoon Qual and Sunday race. They look better.

Will see.
YMMV
J~

[juliancates]

I am NOT sure that its the compound - I believe its the freshness of the tires.

I think that most tires come off the presses, get shipped overseas and accumulate time in warehouses, before shipping out to customers. I have no idea what stock-turn is in the tire industry, but I beleive that the post-Tsunami RA-1's were shipped and went straight to the track, and might not have had time to cure properly

My worst experience was at the MSR-H Double National 1st weekend in August. I took two sets of 3/32" fresh RA-1s for the 3 day weekend (5 test sessions, two qualifiers and two races). By the end of the 2nd test session both my left hand tires were to the cord - TWO SESSIONS.

Admittedly it was my first time at the track and we may have been way off on the setup, and I could have been attacking the track (which is aggressive on tires), but I have been to many tracks for the first time and I have NEVER corded NEW tires in 2 sessions.

By the time Race 2 came around I was scrounging take-off tires from John Phillip's drivers, and my race pace was way off my qualifying time.

I think the situation with RA-1's might have stabilized a bit now - tires have been in the warehouses for another 2 months post Tsunami.

I am interested to hear what others have experienced.

Interesting theory, but here are a couple of additional data points for your consideration. The tsunami was in March of 2011. There were reports of issues with the RA-1's prior to that. The first I recall hearing of it was in February in this NASA thread:

http://nasaforums.co...php?f=9&t=39911

[Bruce Wilson]

I heard from our local tire guy that the RA-1s were going to be manufactured in China. I can't imagine that the consistency would remain the same. Our first race with the "new" RA-1s were at Infineon, and while one driver in our team experienced premature cording the others just seem to wear a bit quicker. IMHO, I'm with Danny on the "freshness" theory, but can't help to think that changes in manufacturing facility with different labor has something to do with it.

-bw

[TreadZone]

Production has not moved to China!!! Toyo does have tire manufacturing plants in China but the porduce street tires. All of the RA1's are made in Japan. One of the digits in the beginning of the DOT is a code for the manufacturing plant (sorry I forget which one) and they have not changed.
We sell street tires from OTHER manufactures that produce the same tire in different places and they have different part numbers depending where they are made.
Joe
TreadZone

[KentCarter]

I got great performance out of my RA-1's at the ARRC and this weekend at the SCCA regional at Texas World Speedway. The Whoosiers on the other hand....

[philstireservice]

I am NOT sure that its the compound - I believe its the freshness of the tires.

I think that most tires come off the presses, get shipped overseas and accumulate time in warehouses, before shipping out to customers. I have no idea what stock-turn is in the tire industry, but I beleive that the post-Tsunami RA-1's were shipped and went straight to the track, and might not have had time to cure properly

My worst experience was at the MSR-H Double National 1st weekend in August. I took two sets of 3/32" fresh RA-1s for the 3 day weekend (5 test sessions, two qualifiers and two races). By the end of the 2nd test session both my left hand tires were to the cord - TWO SESSIONS.

Admittedly it was my first time at the track and we may have been way off on the setup, and I could have been attacking the track (which is aggressive on tires), but I have been to many tracks for the first time and I have NEVER corded NEW tires in 2 sessions.

By the time Race 2 came around I was scrounging take-off tires from John Phillip's drivers, and my race pace was way off my qualifying time.

I think the situation with RA-1's might have stabilized a bit now - tires have been in the warehouses for another 2 months post Tsunami.

I am interested to hear what others have experienced.

Speaking to Toyo this past week, the above statement might be very close to the truth.....