Hoosiers vs. either Toyo RA1's, R888's, Nitto NT01's, etc.

[bobt993]

Hoosiers absolutely fall off over 20mins of hard driving.  In a race you have to prepare for this and back off the tires for up to a lap.  They will come back and gain grip again.  A toasted set of Hoosiers is very slow and not as fast as Toyos, MPSCs, Nittos, etc.  With a heavy car (3000 lbs), consider running the MPSCs and learn to get serious heat into them.  A really hot set of MPSCs  will run within a second or less of R6s on a hot (summer) track.   The MPSCs fall off in a much more progressive manner. 

[Brian Minkin]

George3 wrote:

Brian - Bob -
When the Hoosiers begin to lose their grip, would you equal that grip to... let's say a Toyo RA1 at that point?

The worst set of tires I ever have experienced in an R compound are full tread RA1. They get better once they are 50% worn but full tread they squirm like crazy. This was on a 2500 lb. car. MPSC are not very grippy when cold and in cold weather are hard to get heat into. Since Hoosier came out with the R-6 I have found them the best tire for Drivers Ed where you usually run 20 to 25 minute sessions. Drastically improved over the last generation Hoosier. I do not push as hard as Bob and have not overheated them. I have overheated the RA1 and they felt worse then hot street tires. I was running a set of MPSC and a set of Hoosiers at the same time (2 sets of wheels) most of this year and the Hoosiers are more consistant for me. The set of Hoosiers I was running at Jefferson and Summit where on Day 12,13 and 14 and although having less grip they still felt better then the RA1 to me.

[George3]

Right.  The first time I tried a set of Toyo RA1's was earlier this year at VIR.  They were brand new, unshaved.  And, boy did they ever squirm on the high speed straights.  Gave me the willy's at those speeds, if you know what I mean.

Right, Brian... then after several days use, they began to feel more planted than when new.  As they wore in, they felt OK. 

[magnetic1]

Have you considered the BFG R1? 

Ive gotten over 30+ heat cycles on them with only a 2-3 second drop in times.

[betegh9]

George, good questions about tires. there is a lot of discussion on other forums regarding these tires. Hoosier R6's are known to be the fastest DOT tire, assuming that we are talking ONLY about track use. A6's are even softer and faster, but are only good for 3 laps, thus used for TT and AX, but they heat cycle out sooner than they wear out. Speed costs $$$$. The tires are pricey, but that does not matter to a GT-3 owner. Most spec racing are done with Toyos since they deliver decent performance and longevity. Most racers use a set of Toyos for a full season.
I still have my RA-1's (2+ years), for DE, AX and street. (I will be switching to the R888's as soon as I chord the Toyos.) I agree that when they were new, grip was marginal, but now that I have them worn down to the circumferential grooves, they grip better than most R compound tires, and heat cycles don't seem to affect them, and I hope that the R888's have the same characteristics. I only lost to a race RSR look alike with slicks at the Reading AX.

Hope that I helped more than confused you................. happy motoring.:dude::dude:

[Darren]

My experience, like Bob's, is the Hoosier is best right out of the box, great for qualifying.   If you want to scrub them in first, they probably keep grip longer.

I race with Hoosiers, I wont DE with them.  I know "everyone" does, but I think MPSC, R1's, TOYOS, all stay more consistent for a longer period of time.  Unless you are going for the DE championship, the real question is consistent performance not overall grip.  If you are looking for max lap time then you should be doing TT or racing anyway.

IMHO, Hoosier is NOT a DE tire, pick anything else.

I think it's interesting also that tire choices also tie in with driving style.  Some guys are quicker than others on certain tires for reasons I can't figure out.  Bob T is very very fast on MPSC, almost as fast as Hoosiers.  Someone smarter than me can tell me why.

[bobt993]

Eric, your car is much better balanced front/rear and weighs some 300-400 lbs  less.  Maybe your just smarter than the rest of us Pcar guys.  I sometimes wish I had gone the M3 route.  I tried the R1s recently at the Glen race, seemed to run similar to R6s. (not 100% sure because the weather was crappy when I ran them).  BTW, still waiting to put the engine back in the car.:X

[magnetic1]

bobt993 wrote:

Eric, your car is much better balanced front/rear and weighs some 300-400 lbs less. Maybe your just smarter than the rest of us Pcar guys. I sometimes wish I had gone the M3 route. I tried the R1s recently at the Glen race, seemed to run similar to R6s. (not 100% sure because the weather was crappy when I ran them). BTW, still waiting to put the engine back in the car.:X

HA!

Just saying the R1s are def. worth a shot.

Get that engine in the car!!! You still got time for VIR in 2 weeks

[Sechsgang]

All I know is that I just love my hoosiers...that said, Im going slicks now because...why not...they are still expensive and I dont even get that much more time out of hoosiers.

[betegh9]

Darren wrote:

My experience, like Bob's, is the Hoosier is best right out of the box, great for qualifying. If you want to scrub them in first, they probably keep grip longer.

I race with Hoosiers, I wont DE with them. I know "everyone" does, but I think MPSC, R1's, TOYOS, all stay more consistent for a longer period of time. Unless you are going for the DE championship, the real question is consistent performance not overall grip. If you are looking for max lap time then you should be doing TT or racing anyway.

IMHO, Hoosier is NOT a DE tire, pick anything else.

I think it's interesting also that tire choices also tie in with driving style. Some guys are quicker than others on certain tires for reasons I can't figure out. Bob T is very very fast on MPSC, almost as fast as Hoosiers. Someone smarter than me can tell me why.

............... and I agree with you 100%.hock:hock::dude::dude: