Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Wheel and Tire decisions

As most of you know, I put 15" wheels on the car because I needed to clear the brakes. Then I found out that the radial slicks I planned on running were actually no good for autocross because the radials don't like rapid turning (such as a slalom) like the bias ply slicks. The only tire company which has 15" bias ply slicks in the right widths is Avon, and they are more expensive than Hoosiers or Goodyears and have no contingency.

   The price difference between 13's and 15's will pay for a set of new rims so, I broke down and ordered a set of 13" rims from Diamond Racing wheels. I took a chance that I would be able to modify the brakes to fit. The wheels arrived and with some minor tweeking, I got them to fit over the brakes. Then it came time to order tires, and problems arose. The Goodyear or Hoosier tires that are supposed to be the hot ticket in D/EMod are actually designed for Formula Atlantic cars. This means the front tires are 9.5 inches wide and the rear are 13 inches wide. This is not a problem for cars like a certain green Bugeye which has only 41% of it's 1850 lbs on the front tires, but I have 49% of 2250 lbs on my front tires.

   Now, I can make the car work on these skinny front tires, provided that I don't overload tires designed for a car 650 lbs lighter than my own, but they would be a compromise. I started to look again at the Avons, which to be fair to Avon, cost about the same as Goodyears or Hoosiers as long as you stick to 13 inch wheels. However, the Avon rep advised me that the 13 inch tires are designed for cars up to 1600 lbs and the 15 inch tires would work better for me. So, I decided to go with the Avon 10.7/21.5-15 in front and 11/23.5-15 in back. At some point I may want some rain tires and I can put those on the 13 inch wheels.

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