Didn't see the original post. But VARAC has pretty restrictive tire reg's
aimed primarily at keeping the visual and performance aspect of the car in
line with the period. Our Vintage grouping goes to 1961, for the most
part, and includes open wheel, sports racers and production sports
cars. The standard tire is the Dunlop L series of whatever size is
appropriate - and Dunlop makes a very wide range of L- series tires these
days. Lot's of people are pretty happy with these, but the small bore
production guys have to use the 450L -13, which is a pretty small tire for
a Spridget. Our rule allows modern radials of similar size and equal or
narrower tread width (by actual measurement, not specification), which
means that effectively the Dunlop is the only legal tire, as normally no
modern tire is manufactured in both the appropriate size and in the
required speed rating, to say nothing of it's performance potential. We
also have a Historic grouping for cars up to 1972, wherein we allow
production cars to use radials to 60 series, and with symmetrical tread
only. Historic race cars can use racing covers of whatever type is
appropriate, and only later purpose built race cars can use slicks.
Dunlop do manufacture what I consider to be an excellent vintage tire, in
many sizes. I expect that I could fit just about any car up to our cut-off
of 1972 with a racing cover that would be perfectly satisfactory in
use. But they do cost more than modern radials, they do wear faster and
they do not deliver as much stick and performance, so many people don't
like them. But they are available, at least this year :)
One point, that I pretty much agree with, is that the cost of the tires
should have nothing to do with the legality of the tires. The Dunlop
vintage tires, expensive though they may be, are far less than the
equivalent modern radial racing tire. My cousin-in-law runs a GT-1
Corvette, and his tire bill for a weekend is way more than mine for two
years! And no one ever said that racing was supposed to be cheap...
Brian
At 12:49 PM 06/12/2000 -0400, MHKitchen@aol.com wrote:
>Harold:
>
>This brings up a very "touchy" subject here in the West. I can only speak
>definitively for CSRG, where I am a member and can quote the rule book. But
>CSRG's board is reconsidering the tire issue as we speak. In fact, I just
>wrote an article for Victory Lane which should be in the next issue as a
>sidebar to a report on the March event. I've provided a copy below.
>
>But you're right....finding 60 series radials will become harder as time goes
>on. New cars are using lower profile tires and many of the popular sizes we
>use in vintage are going away.
>
>Generally, CSRG accepts 60 series (minimum aspect ratio) DOT radials with a
>treadwear rating of > 0. Acceptable tires include: Yoko 008R, Toyo, BFG T/A
>R1 (but not G-Force), Bridgestone, and Kuhmo. Hoosier bias plies are
>acceptable such as Street TDs or Vintage TDs. Tires that are NOT accepted
>include Hoosier radials, BFG G-Force radials, or the equivalent Goodyears.
>Other bias ply race tires such as Avons or Dunlops are also accepted.
>
>HMSA generally requires bias ply race tires, but in some exceptions let
>people run on Hoosiers or A008's.
>
>SCCA vintage lets you run damn near anything.
>
>VARA seems to let people run damn near anything... they certanily accept the
>Hoosier 55 series radials and other comparable tires.
>
>Other than some minor support from Hoosier, virtually all of the tire
>manufacturers ignore the vintage market. I've spoken to them directly at the
>Tire Industry trade show that takes place concurrently with SEMA, and non of
>them have any marketing focus on vintage. What is needed, in my opinion, is
>some consistent vintage tire rules so vintage racers can represent enough of
>a market to attract the attention of tire manufacturers. Otherwise, we won't
>be able to find economical, practical tire choices in the future.
>
>I, for one, don't prefer to see a move to all bias ply racing tires (which is
>the direction some groups are heading). I think leaving the choice to the
>racer and the free market is a better alternative.
>
>Regards,
>Myles H. Kitchen
>1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 #128
>
>Copy of tire article follows....
>
>The TIRE Issue
>
>by
>Myles H. Kitchen
>
>Vintage race competitors face an increasingly complex landscape when it comes
>to selecting tires. Among the vintage race sanctioning bodies, there is a
>wide disparity of requirements when it comes to tires. And, there are
>numerous arguments given for why it is this way, including:
>
>· Used as a way to limit engine and car development beyond what is period
>proper
>· Today's tires put dangerously higher loads on old suspension components
>· Tire technology today is far more advanced than when our cars were
>campaigned originally
>· To make the cars appear more visually correct
>· Used as a way to reduce race speeds for greater safety and fewer incidents
>
>Recently, CSRG's board held a tire meeting at their Sears Point event to
>solicit feedback and input from the membership regarding tire requirements.
>CSRG, like a number of other organizations, encourage use of period-correct
>tires, however in the interests of reasonable cost and practicality, also
>accept a range of DOT-approved, street-type radials in addition to certain
>vintage racing tires. At the meeting, representatives of CSRG's board
>alleged that pressure from the Vintage Motorsports Council and the insurance
>carriers suggest that a move toward "less sticky" tires would help reduce
>track speeds, and have a corresponding reduction in "incidents". While there
>is little argument that a reduction in incidents is desirable, the
>correlation to the contribution from lap times and tire adhesion was viewed
>as purely speculative. Thus far, no one, nor organization has presented any
>conclusive evidence that this is the case.
>
>Putting the speeds, incidents, and insurance aside for the moment, there are
>also the issues of cost and availability. Vintage racing cars require tires
>in a wide variety of sizes, many of which are periodically simply
>unavailable, regardless of brand or type. Further, pure racing tires,
>especially vintage racing tires, are often unacceptably expensive, and have a
>very short useful life. Thus, many organizations have accepted the use of
>DOT- style street radials in soft compounds. Tires like the Yokohama A008R,
>B.F. Goodrich Comp T/A R1, and many others are in wide use, particularly on
>production and sports cars. Others, like the Hoosier Radial and B.F.
>Goodrich G-Force radial are deemed too sticky and modern for vintage
>acceptability by some racing organizations. Still others, like SCCA, and
>VARA, allow racers to use most anything that is available in a suitable size.
> But, the writing is on the wall that these tires may soon also become hard
>to find.
>
>New street cars are using larger and lower profile tires every year. Even in
>the most common sizes, like 185/60-13, or 205/60-13, the supplies are
>starting to go away, being replaced by newer, lower profile sizes which are
>not suitable for vintage cars.
>
>What is sorely needed is a cohesive voice from the vintage racing community
>with respect to tires. This will have several advantages. First, it means
>that the tire manufacturers can look to a well-defined market if they want to
>pursue supplying vintage race tires. Today, they virtually ignore vintage as
>the requirements are so inconsistent. This will undoubtedly become more
>important as the available suppliers of DOT acceptable radials dry up. It
>will mean that many vintage racers will only have the option of buying
>dedicated vintage race tires. Secondly, it means that racers wouldn't need
>to have separate tires (and wheels, suspension set-ups, etc.) if they want to
>race with different organizations. Consistency here would be most felt in
>the vintage racer's wallet, which for many, is an issue.
>
>The real question is who will lead this charge? The Vintage Motorsports
>Council (VMC) could be a candidate, but thus far the VMC has demonstrated
>limited impact on bringing consistency to other areas of vintage racing.
>With a mix of sanctioning bodies, ranging from benevolent (?) dictators, to
>membership democracies, good luck trying to get agreement. Anyone who's
>attended a vintage race organization board meeting will know what I'm talking
>about.
>
>What this means though, is that you should choose your next tire purchase
>very carefully. Whatever you use today, may not be eligible, or available
>tomorrow. I would urge you to actively support any efforts aimed at bringing
>reasonable solutions to this growing problem.
|