FV Control Tire Proposal

[problemchild]

Considering the control tire effort being explored for FF, perhaps FV should have a similiar control tire proposal. Perhaps something like this ...


FV Control Tire Proposal
1) Adopt a protocol for the evaluation and selection of a single tire for both regional and national Formula Vee based on the criteria most important to competitors (ie cost of tires, duarability, etc).

2) Put out a solicitation for bids from suppliers who wish to compete for a contract to have exclusive rights to provide the control tire for FV for a pre-determined number of years.

3) After the bids are received, implement a tire testing program in 2010 for the selection of the tire that best meets the criteria desired by competitors.

4) The supplier chosen will be awarded exclusive rights to supply both regional and national SCCA FV races for "X" number of years at specified prices.

5) The control tire is mandatory for 2011 and beyond. Used non-control tires will be grandfathered for 2011 regional events.

6) Assuming that the selected tire is a "slick", the supplier must also supply a control wet tire. The wet control tire will be mandatory for National events in 2012 and beyond. The wet control tire will be mandatory for Regional events in 2014 and beyond.

Criteria for FV Control Tire Selection
a) Rear tires will have a minimum circumferance of "C" (circumferance of current 22.5 X 5.5 X 15").There will be no prohibition against using the rear control tire on all 4 corners of the car and it is suggested that the testing program explore this option. If separate front and rear control tires are selected, the front control tire will be for front use only.

b) The control tire for the class shall offer no competitive advantage during its first heat cycle.

c) The control tire shall be capable of maintaining consistent performance and lap times over the course of "Y" number of heat cycles. "Y" to be determined but it is anticipated that a tire capable of a minimum of 15-20 heat cycles is feasible based on past experience.

d) Any alternate wheel/tire options will maintain a minimum rear tire circumferance of "C". Alternate wheel/tire options that offer dry/wet service will be considered.

e) It is requested that suppliers consider the option of larger circumference tires such as the previous 23.0 sizes.

[Stan Clayton]

Greg, the rules change window for 2010 is closed, so the soonest any non-emergency changes will take effect is for the 2011 season. Also, see others' remarks about first session advantage...it is virtually impossible to build a tire that doesn't have some small advantage when fresh. Stan

[problemchild]

Thanks Stan, I was aware of the years, just plugged in the wrong numbers. That has been corrected.

The Canadian F1200 tire has no fall-off after 1 session. The Canadian F1600 Dunlop may actually have reverse fall-off. If there was fall-off in the FST 60A tire, it was not noticeable to me. I think that negligible tire degradation over the first 4 heat-cycles (and none from 5-15) is desirable, realistic, and obtainable with tires that are similiar to what is currently being used. It is a reasonable objective, IMO.

[Matt King]

I raced on spec Toyo RA-1 radials for many years. The tires got faster as the tread got thinner and they had a few heat cycles on them. In fact, they were usually at their absolute fastest right before they corded. Fresh shaved sticker tires were NEVER the fastest setup.

[problemchild]

I think the testing should also try to identify and minimize the potential for those tires that get faster as that is not ideal either. I think that that situation is more likely with shaved performance street radials and less likely with slick race tires.

I think a tire that falls off a tenth in 4 cycles and another tenth to 20 cycles would be very effective for a FV control tire. Ninety-five percent of FV racers will not spend $700 for a tenth. That percentage changes significantly when it is a second after 5 sessions. If you don't, or can't ..... you might as well stay home.

[Stan Clayton]

Good point, Matt...I should have specified "racing slick" when I wrote "tire".

[budawe]

If you don't spec a slick, we'll all shave new tires and be right back at the start.