Re: 7" vs 8" wheel update

[Kevin Wenzel <kwenzel@privatei.com>]

On Sat, 31 May 1997, Alan Stamper wrote:

> I bought these BFG's from a friend of mine.  He purchased them new 2 years
> ago and ran about 6 events on them (about 24-30 runs).  He then parked his
> car and stored the tires until I bought them.  There is very little wear on
> them and they look almost brand-new.  
>
They're probably rock hard - that's pretty old for R1s.  The R1s of Mannix's
that I so nicely corded for him were pretty old and were distinctly slower
than the brand new ones I have on my 13x8s now.
 
> Here is a list of ideas:
> 1.  This one is pretty easy, the tires have not been shaved and are at full
> tread depth.  I can have them shaved locally for $60.
> 
I've heard that it's pretty hard to get people to shave already-run-on
tires (they want to keep gravel out of their machinery or something) - but
if they've already had that many runs on them un-shaved I would imagine the
benefits of shaving are already past.  You might try some of that stuff
you can put on the tire to temporarily increase the stick - not supposed to
work for very long, though.

> At this point I'm going to try 2 things.  The first is to shave my BFG's.
> Second, I'm going to try some of my buddy's used Hoosier bias-plys on my 8"
> wheels.  These tires are 8/10" of an inch shorter in diameter than the
> BFG's.  I've calculated that it I will be reving about 4% higher at any
> given speed compared to the BFG's.  I will also have 4% less top speed in
> any gear.  As a comparison the rpm difference between a 4K tranny (in the
> car) and a 9A is 9%, with the 4k turning more RPM at speed than the 9A. 
> 
> Has anyone else tried this hoosier on their car?  I'm wondereing if the
> increased acceleration and almost 1/2" lower stance that these tires will
> give will make up for the speed I will loose in the top end?  Any
> alignement recommendations for the bias-plys?
> 
When I bought my 13x8s they had Hoosiers on them - they are a really short
tire, but the gearing difference wasn't all that noticable.  They are *much*
lighter than the R1s.  They require a bigger slip angle than the R1s, and
you need a lot more steering angle to get the same amount of turn - slow
slaloms are a real bitch with those things.  They did stick pretty well,
but they drive like nothing else I had ever been on - you pretty much have
to turn in miles before where you would normally do it.  Alignment-wise I
didn't go much over 1 deg. negative camber and 1/8th toe.  I always felt 
that they were really designed for rear-drive cars with less weight on the
fronts, but people really do go fast on them in front-drivers (CSP in
particular I guess).

FWIW, I have brand new (unshaved) 215-50/13 R1s on my 13x8s now and the
thing handles like a dream at 28-29f and 33r.  Total of 1 divisional (2
days) where I finished 3rd and beat several people who I consider to be
pretty fast (still didn't catch the Mad Mannix Rabbit) and a Trials event
where I snagged 1st (okay, okay - Mannix didn't go to that one... but I 
think it would have been close... :).  Other than the weight and higher
profile, there is just about nothing I like more about the Hoosiers than
the R1s.

Kevin Wenzel
1981 VW Scirocco S (w/1.8 JH) - DSP #81 (Blix)
Director of Network Operations, privateI, LLC        
http://www.privateI.com/


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