19 replies to this topic

[john mueller]

Due to the devastation in Japan and subsequent manufacturing difficulties for Toyo, NASA has announced 'open r-compound tires' for a few spec classes. As of now it does not effect SM, but that could change. I'll be in regular contact with NASA and will post as soon as I hear anything.

http://www.nasaprora...nse-to-toy.html

[dmathias]

I hear the radioactive Toyos are 1/2 second faster.

[Weekend Warrior]

Might be good for enduros at night.....

[dstevens]

It's cool that Hoosier stepped up and is offering contingencies to the impacted classes. We've got a couple of productions in Tokyo now and it's starting to get back to normal. Up north though it's still pretty bad. I could see Toyo running out of tires in the short term and not being able to get back up to speed until next season. As bad as it is up there it's remarkable that they're able to resume production and ship anything.

[juliancates]

Having already purchased a supply of RA-1's for the year, I don't relish the thought of racing against a like-prepared car on Hoosiers.

Unless maybe you can run Hoosiers if you add weight? :stirpot:

[dstevens]

Fukushima was just upgraded to a Level 7, or the same level as Chernobyl. I doubt we'll be seeing much out of that area of Japan for a year or so. If they can't get tires, they can't get tires. Guys like Julian could sell the RA-1s and get some Hoosiers or just run them or hold on to them. The guys that might run another tire probably don't have the data on those tires to replicate the setups on new tires and many of us are just slugs happy to get any laps we can.

I'd reckon the sanctions have people inside Toyo high enough up the food chain to determine how many tires are available and how many they can expect to produce and use entry data from last year to gauge demand with help from guys like Phil and Joe and other local track suppliers. We shouldn't get too bent out of shape about it. Those folks over there have been through alot and they have more going on than trying to get product out so some well heeled guys in the US can run their hobby cars.

Dave

[juliancates]

We shouldn't get too bent out of shape about it. Those folks over there have been through alot and they have more going on than trying to get product out so some well heeled guys in the US can run their hobby cars.

+1

I certainly wouldn't say I'm bent out of shape over this by any means. I'll run what I have and be delighted to be racing in the mid-pack.

With the benefit of a little perspective, any issues we have here over tires (or SCCA vs. NASA, NA vs. NB, etc...) absolutely pale in comparison to what the folks there are going through, no doubt.

[dstevens]

I didn't mean to imply that you were upset about it. My apologies. It was more in a general sort of way. I do respect that you were prepared, bought your tires before the season. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

Dave

[FTodaro]

has anyone tried to buy an RA-1 yet and told they are out of stock? None that i know of.

[john mueller]

I've been told current stock levels for RA-1 205-50-15 is okay, thus we were left off the list. This was just a heads-up.

[Astro]

Problem is that I don't want to order more RA-1s if NASA is going to change SM to open tire...but I need more tires.

When is NASA going to make the call?

[Caveman-kwebb99]

Problem is that I don't want to order more RA-1s if NASA is going to change SM to open tire...but I need more tires.

When is NASA going to make the call?

If you dont want to spend the money I have all mine and Jet's last year tires we just took off, there are still a bunch that are pretty good, If you need a few to get by till we know something just let me know!

[dstevens]

According to a couple of class directors on the NASA site Toyo and NASA determined what was called an "exact inventory" of all tire sizes and made the determination based on previous car counts and available inventory. They didn't say if SCCA were involved in the same way. The sizes that were in low supply or could run out prior to the end of the season were the first classes with modified tire rules. The two big things over there with respect to Toyo are a decimated supply chain and a shortage of electricity. Based on various business reports it's likely to take the better part of the year get past 50% capacity for most manufacturing and that doesn't count making up for lost production.

[TreadZone]

Here is the latest report from Toyo!

Toyo’s Sendai plant up to 70% output

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Crain News Service report

SENDAI, Japan (April 18, 2011) — Output at Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.’s car tire plant in Sendai is up to 70 percent of capacity and should reach 100 percent in May, the company said.

Output stopped after the earthquake March 11 and has been recovering slowly. Initial production re-started on April 8. As of April 10, output was 40 percent, but that rose to 70 percent on April 12.

“The plan for the future is to step up the rate of operations in stages while responding flexibly to supply and logistical issues, so that by May, operations may resume at full capacity,” Toyo said.

[john mueller]

Here is the latest report from Toyo!

Crain News Service report

SENDAI, Japan (April 18, 2011) — Output at Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.’s car tire plant in Sendai is up to 70 percent of capacity and should reach 100 percent in May, the company said.

Output stopped after the earthquake March 11 and has been recovering slowly. Initial production re-started on April 8. As of April 10, output was 40 percent, but that rose to 70 percent on April 12.

“The plan for the future is to step up the rate of operations in stages while responding flexibly to supply and logistical issues, so that by May, operations may resume at full capacity,” Toyo said.

GREAT NEWS !!! Hopefully this means things are getting a little easier for those there.

Now the question is what tires are being produced and what is the plan to get them out of the country and over here... For our situation this bit of news still tells us nothing.

[TreadZone]

I'm working on it.

GREAT NEWS !!! Hopefully this means things are getting a little easier for those there.

Now the question is what tires are being produced and what is the plan to get them out of the country and over here... For our situation this bit of news still tells us nothing.

[Steve D]

Please don't shoot the messenger. Here is the latest from NASA HQ:

Folks,

I wanted to relay information we received from Toyo today. There are over 700 units which just arrived late last week which are being sent to dealers this week and there is a constant stream of tires arriving each week for the next month. If you hear that the 205/50/15 doesn't exist just tell someone to call another dealer. There should be no reason to expect a tire shortage at this point in time.

Thanks,

Ryan Flaherty
National Chairman

[dmathias]

It took a few calls, but I managed to buy a new set last week. After being told by vendors that there were no RA1s, TreadZone found a set for me, and said that more were on the way mid-June.

[philstireservice]

Please don't shoot the messenger. Here is the latest from NASA HQ:

Folks,

I wanted to relay information we received from Toyo today. There are over 700 units which just arrived late last week which are being sent to dealers this week and there is a constant stream of tires arriving each week for the next month. If you hear that the 205/50/15 doesn't exist just tell someone to call another dealer. There should be no reason to expect a tire shortage at this point in time.

Thanks,

Ryan Flaherty
National Chairman

This would be true - we know a dealer that just received some...

[TreadZone]

We have some coming in early next week. They are all commited to people that put them on backorder. We are taking backorders for the next shipment when they come in. I am not invoicing phone orders until I ship them to the customer. Web orders do need to be processed or they will "time out."
Joe
TreadZone