NorCal Shelby Mini Nats - Aug 2nd and 3rd

[GregWeld]

AND THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS THE KIND OF SCIENCE THAT'S WORTH PAYING FOR. Because for me -- WHO KNEW??? Ron Sutton is who knew!!!

Originally Posted by Ron Sutton

I have quite a bit of experience running and/or testing most of the Hoosier tire line. In addition to being a great autocross tire, the A6's are a great track tire as long as you don't over heat them. And by overheat them I mean run them at 230°+ for several laps. That would shorten their life considerably.

What I saw at the track was ... by the end of the weekend ... Greg was driving the hot rod at 90-95% ... braking moderately ... being smooth with the throttle, braking & steering ... which all keeps the tires happy ... and cooler. As he pushed the car harder & ran those 2.08-2.10 lap times, the tires came back in the mid-to-high 160° range.

Another part of the reason for cooler temps is the track sessions are short ... 20 minutes ... about 9 laps. Frankly, it takes a couple laps for the R6's to really come in. So for 2 of the 9 laps you need to be more conservative.

Greg will have better braking on the car for Sonoma, so the rotor temps coming up will also increase the tire temps. I think that plus the softer compound will put us 20-30° higher temps with the A6's ... putting them in the 180-190° range ... which is right in their sweet spot. And these tires will warm up quicker & provide grip the driver can be confident in MUCH earlier in a session.

Greg's goal is to have more fun. IMHO, if you tow your hot rod all the way to the track and run 4 sessions of 9 laps ... 36 laps ... and we can make 8 of those laps more fun (with more grip) ... that achieves the goal. The A6's will wear quicker than R6's, but when you factor in all the cost to go run a track day, it's minor compared to having 22% more "fun."

That's the reason I suggested A6's for Greg's Hot Rod.