Tire Advice and a Hello and some Video

[Coochas]

Hi Everyone,
I don't post much but lurk here often.
I'm finishing my first full year of driving a 95 FM that I absolutely love. I bought the car from Bruce Lawrence and have the car cared for by Speedsport in CT.
My wife and I both track and do mainly open track days like David Murry and Group 52 (WGI).

I have run the Goodyear 255, 430 and 470 compounds. I find that the 255 are by far the quickest but get destroyed very quickly on more abrasive tracks like Monticello. The 430 seem to wear somewhat slower but after a day I'm guessing that my times would be better if I had just beat on a set of 255. I drove the 470 compound once (at Monticello) and just couldn't get the car to turn in (understeer) although after a day the tires looked new!

As I'm not sure I'm heading in the racing direction or not, I've started thinking about other tire makes but am not finding much out there. It seems that Cooper is between 'seasons' and there's nothing in FM sizing available. From my reading here it sounds like the Hoosiers are at least as fast as the GY 255 but if I'm not mistaken require changing the rear to neg camber.

What are people running typically on these cars? When you run a race with SCCA, are they requiring a spec tire these days and if so what is it???

TIA

For anyone looking to get into a nice data/video system, I have been using a Smartycam GP coupled with an AiM dash which is fantastic. I have the bullet camera mounted on the roll hoop over my right shoulder and the control module for the camera a few inches below my left hand in the cockpit.
Here are vids from WGI and Thunderbolt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y_TISfWHPI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYxXhh1gO9s

[daericks]

255's are the quickest, as you stated. Depending on the track, they should last you as long as any other tire. Abrasive tracks will eat tires so the harder the compound the longer they last. If you are just pounding laps, run the tire you feel comfortable and safe in. The 470's seem to take some time to get used to and have a different setup than the others. If you have plans to run FM in a race, you should run 470's exclusively since they were announced as the spec tire for this upcoming year. If you are still getting to know the car and want to be safe, run the 255's. Yes, they may wear faster on your track but at least you know you will be consistent and safe. I flat spotted my first three sets of 470 due to the fact that they cannot handle the hard braking like the 255. Keep that in mind when you run them. Also, I think the 430 is discontinued. Many of us LOVED that tire and would liked to have seen it as the spec tire.

As a side note, you might call Bruce and get his opinion. We bought a few cars from him and he was vital to our team when were getting up and running. He is a great dude and I'm sure he will have opinions on tires for you East Coast guys. Good luck!

Dan

[Coochas]

255's are the quickest, as you stated. Depending on the track, they should last you as long as any other tire. Abrasive tracks will eat tires so the harder the compound the longer they last. If you are just pounding laps, run the tire you feel comfortable and safe in. The 470's seem to take some time to get used to and have a different setup than the others. If you have plans to run FM in a race, you should run 470's exclusively since they were announced as the spec tire for this upcoming year. If you are still getting to know the car and want to be safe, run the 255's. Yes, they may wear faster on your track but at least you know you will be consistent and safe. I flat spotted my first three sets of 470 due to the fact that they cannot handle the hard braking like the 255. Keep that in mind when you run them. Also, I think the 430 is discontinued. Many of us LOVED that tire and would liked to have seen it as the spec tire.

As a side note, you might call Bruce and get his opinion. We bought a few cars from him and he was vital to our team when were getting up and running. He is a great dude and I'm sure he will have opinions on tires for you East Coast guys. Good luck!

Dan

Thanks Dan.
I didn't realize the 470 was the spec tire for SCCA. My one day experience with it was somewhat negative although as I mentioned the tire looked amazing at the end of the day. At an SCCA event, is the 470 ALWAYS the required tire these days?

Bruce is a great guy and I will reach out to him as well.

Have you ever tried Cooper/Avon or Hoosier?

[daericks]

Your experience is the same as ours hence we are making a class change. We will be modifying our cars to run FS versus FM. Many people like the tire and you can't make everyone happy. I will admit that they suck equally on the first session as they do their 8th! They seem to change throughout the session as well so it is hard for a novice to really know what they are doing right at speed. Again, I will say that there are many that will flat out disagree with me or say that we had a bad batch. We ran then out here for the Formula Car Challenge for the season and virtually everyone had a problem with them.

Our point of view is pretty simple on it. If we don't feel safe on the tire and it isn't fun to run on them, we won't do it. Novice drivers all struggle on that tire compared to the 255. Everyone in FM agreed a spec tire would be a good idea but the powers that be tested (however/wherever/whenever they chose) and decided this tire was the best for the class. Perhaps we all just need more time on them, I don't know. Regardless, we won't be running them again.

I can tell you that the setups you have for your car will change with this. If you run the same setup you ran on the 255 you will get different results. At any rate, best of luck to you in FM, they are amazing cars for the money!
Dan

[Coochas]

Your experience is the same as ours hence we are making a class change. We will be modifying our cars to run FS versus FM. Many people like the tire and you can't make everyone happy. I will admit that they suck equally on the first session as they do their 8th! They seem to change throughout the session as well so it is hard for a novice to really know what they are doing right at speed. Again, I will say that there are many that will flat out disagree with me or say that we had a bad batch. We ran then out here for the Formula Car Challenge for the season and virtually everyone had a problem with them.

Our point of view is pretty simple on it. If we don't feel safe on the tire and it isn't fun to run on them, we won't do it. Novice drivers all struggle on that tire compared to the 255. Everyone in FM agreed a spec tire would be a good idea but the powers that be tested (however/wherever/whenever they chose) and decided this tire was the best for the class. Perhaps we all just need more time on them, I don't know. Regardless, we won't be running them again.

I can tell you that the setups you have for your car will change with this. If you run the same setup you ran on the 255 you will get different results. At any rate, best of luck to you in FM, they are amazing cars for the money!
Dan

Thanks again Dan. I appreciate the input.
I'm reasonably experienced with probably 3-400 track days in the past ten years or so although this was my first full year with a formula car.
I absolutely LOVE the FM and have a blast every time I get in it. It is my first car to have a dog box which has been incredibly rewarding to learn.
Hope to see some of you guys out there,....