Re: [auto-x] I Luv my new Kumho's

[Iain Mannix <mannix@secretignition.com>]

At 11:08 AM -0500 08/04/1998, Mark Mages wrote:
>MHO - the designers / engineers of the tire probably spent a few minutes
>figuring out the best way to get traction / life out of your tire, and it it
>says "Mount this side out" there just might be a reason....
>mark

I agree, there probably is a reason.  However, I spoke with Kumho at one
point about whether they would make a wide 13" tire, and in that
discussion, we talked about tire wear/BFG/etc, and he stated something to
the effect of "because we don't use an asymmetrical sidewall, you can flip
the tire on the rim when the insides get low."  Hoosiers are the same -
many people recommend flipping them to get more life out of them on a car
that wears one edge more than the other.  Yokohamas are the same, the A008
is a very asymmetrical tread, yet some of the Spec Racer people mount them
inside out for rain use.  There is a reason, but I believe it has more to
do with the tread pattern - Hoosier's grooves are on the inside of the
tread, that's where they're supposed to be, but mounting them backwards is
detrimental to nothing but performance.  I've even heard of people mounting
the R1 backwards, which really should'nt work well at all(apparently, it
does not), but the tire did not disintegrate.


Regarding pressures/alignment, I'd guess that it would want tons of camber,
a good bit of pressure.  Many have stated that they are using higher than
BFG pressures - this does not surprise me, and being a conventional tire,
I'd probably look for as much camber as possible for starters.

I wear my inside edges most - I think most VWs do.  I am using 3.1 negative
with the Hoosiers, which was a shade too much with the R1.  My R1s liked
2.6-2.8 best, and the inside edge did wear.  I belive the wear came from
not only the camber and TOE(toe kills tires more than camber), but the fact
that the inside wheel spins on corner exit, right on the inside edge, and
under braking into a corner, the tire will drag along the inside edge.  My
street tires do wear on the inside edge, but by the time the inside cords,
the outside and middle are pretty well dead.

Check alignments a lot - mine changes constantly, sometimes a little,
sometimes a lot.  These are not terribly precise cars - all the bushings
and links are sloppy, eh, I'd bet you could put a VW on the rack, align it,
drive around the block, back on the rack - I'd not be surprised to see a
change.

When I told Tunnell what camber I was using, he said "that does not seem
like too much to me."  Apparently, he used 3+ degrees on his Jetta(thanks
VW, for the crash bolts!).  To make the VW go fast, I believe you need
almost as much camber as you can get - at the expense of tire wear, to a
degree.  I tried the 1.5 thing once(actually, 1.8, I believe), and it did
not work for me.  It pushed.  I  like more camber as a driver.  Some people
like 2ish degrees, eh, not for me:).

Shawn - if your car is killing inside edges with 1.5/1/8", I'd guess one of
two things - your toe has changed over time, and is really 1/4+" or you're
spinning the wheel on exit too much.  I've used 2.4+ degrees for a long
time on my street tires, with some toe out(from 1/16" total to 3/16"), and
inside edge wear is not unacceptable - the inside wears more than the
outside, but not horribly so.

Just my .02!!!


I.Mannix


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