As I recall it was an assumption and Uncle Jack started it. I always figure
that once anything with any degree of subtlety is discussed people will
start noticing the phenomenon whether it's real or not. Canals on Mars. The
only way to really know would be to take measurements, and no one is going
to take the time to do that. There are lots of other factors that could be
causing tire wear, including the happiest one--people are going faster. The
experience level of the group is growing steadily.
I constantly remind myself that bike racing is different, but it provides a
simple model (and most of my experience base). I know for sure that in a
bike race, one lap of pushing extra hard can finish off your tires. It's a
common phenomenon to see a racer pull out an early lead, and then fade to
mid-pack because he used up his tires getting to the front. It's also common
to see a racer who conserves his tires finish a race near the front with
tires that look just fine and check out with a durometer as still usable at
the same time that a guy who finished at the back of the pack completely
toasted his tires and finished on threads.
I figure with cars it's even more of a downward spiral--small alignment
changes, pushing harder in the middle of a corner, becoming more comfortable
in a drift, a bit more horsepower--all increase the tire temperature. As it
increases, the car slides a little more, the driver pushes a little harder
to not lose position, and temperature increases more. A couple of laps of
that and your tires are done.
The answer: Slow down. Okay, wrong answer. But a conspiracy by Hoosier to
sell more tires, or just use cheaper compound, is not the only logical
answer why a significant number of people are using tires up quickly. That
doesn't mean Hoosier didn't, and I'll be watching closely for Aye-Rabs in
Indiana.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of Henry Frye
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 10:45 PM
To: fot@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: tires
The recent talk here about Hoosier changing the compound this year of our
Vintage TDs had to start somewhere...
Does anyone remember where?
Sent from my PDA - Sorry about brevity and typos
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