We've been fussing over tires in VARAC since I joined, some 12 or 13 years
ago. At least, a number of the members have been fussing - the Board of
Directors has been of the opinion that we've had, and have, a perfectly
good tire rule all along. The net of it is that we're only allowed to use
tires that conform in dimension to the Dunlop racing tires that would have
been available in the era of the car. Since our cut-off date is mostly
1961, that means the Dunlop L series of tires. We do allow radials, but
they're supposed to be of equal or narrower section and tread width than
the appropriate Dunlops, and carry the appropriate CASC mandated speed rating.
The current concern for some members is that, for Mini's, the 500L Dunlop
is narrower than any otherwise legal radial, although we have established
that the Yoko A-008's are allowed. The Hoosiers are not, as they are
rather substantially larger than the standard tire. The other area of
concern is the 13" sports cars, as they have to use the Dunlop 450L, which
is a notoriously narrow and entertaining tire. There are no VARAC and CASC
legal 13" radial tires manufactured today. The real issue is that when our
members race with other clubs, they either are tremendously handicapped or
are buying two sets of tires and wheels, and they see this as bad.
I'm in favor of like-minded clubs banding together and creating uniform
standards so that members can be assured that they will be welcomed to an
even playing field when visiting other regions or clubs. Parity between
cars and classes is harder to manage, but I've always wondered when the
Sprites started beating the E-types, anyway... People who want to win
races have always bought the car that had the best combination to win under
the rules in hand, so I'm less concerned about striving for parity between
different types of cars.
There has been, and will continue to be, real implications to this
debate. I have friends who have changed cars and classes both because the
rules were too lax and too strict. I personally stopped running both the
Cooper-S and Midget that I used to race due in large part to frustration
over restrictive tire rules, and now race a sports racer - chosen at the
time because we felt that we could run it on tires that were at the same
time the right tires from a period correct perspective, and were acceptable
to everyone and used by everyone in the class.
This is the season to discuss such issues - my suggestion is to steer the
debate towards inclusiveness, and to creating communities of interest that
support uniform rules, rather than creating more differences between our
standards.
Brian
At 04:05 AM 12/16/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>I am somewhat disturbed and concerned by what I have heard about the new
>tire regulations. I hope that we are not returning to the "bad old days" of
>the late 80s and early 90s. During this period of time all of the cars with
>15 inch wheel were required to use either Dunlop, or Goodyear Vintage race
>tires, or possibly BFG Compt T/As while any cars with 13 inch wheels could
>if they so desired, use Avon English "Formula Ford" spec tires which for
>all intents and purposes appeared to be slicks with a tread pattern!. When
>the cars that I was classed with switched from the Goodyear Blue Streaks to
>the Avons, their lap times dropped by about 4 second a lap or so , at least
>at Sears Point. With an advantage like that , they could just "drive around
>me " in the turns while I was in an all out 4 wheel drift and could go no
>faster than I was going. What this resulted in was a season of races in
>which I got to circulate around the track by my self! The cars that I had
>used to race against, Elvas, Lotus S-7s, Ginettas, etc, just ran off and
>left me for dead, while I was able to pull away from most of the rest of the
>field. THIS WAS NO FUN! So I stopped racing for 7 years. The last 3
>seasons have been great! Being able to use Yoko A 008s has been a great
>equilizer. I have been able to race on tires that were as sticky as the
>cars I was having to compete against. I was no longer 3 or 4 seconds off
>the pace.
> My car, a 1964 Morgan +4 with a steel body weighs 1908 lbs. with 3
>gallons of gas. Using Goodyear Blue Streaks, I would completely wear out a
>set of tires in 2 weekends if we got a lot of track time, which CSRG usually
>offers, using Yokos, I have been running 10 events and the tires are still
>not worn out. The Goodyears cost $780.00 a set, the Yokos cost $500.00 a
>set shaved. For a season of 8 events thats $3120.00 vs. $2000.00 plus the
>additional cost of mounting and balancing. So cost is certaiinly a
>consideration.
> It is true that the appearance and the cornering speeds generated by the
>Yokos are definitly NOT vintage. There is also the matter of the additional
>stresses that these loads and speeds put on the car and its components to
>consider. I know, my right rear axle broke the second event last season at
>Thunderhill, and my wheel came off at about 90 mph! If we run these newer
>and faster tires it is necessary to upgrade our maintenance program on the
>cars.
> My main concern is that we have a level playing field! The rules have
>to be the same for everyone. There have been a wider variety of 13 inch
>tires available than there has been 15 inchers, and 14 inch tires may be
>even more of a problem. Either the races have to be organized on the basis
>of wheel diameter, or we have to make sure that tires of equel cornering
>power are available in ALL the wheel diameters that our cars have.
>
>
>Regards, Greg Solow
>
>Kingfisher Blue Morgan +4 #45
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