New Sneakers??

[Marshall Mauney]

THank goodness they did that. No more waiting on grid workers to write with a marker that "works" on your tires.

They'll still have to mark them in qualifying to identify the set as having been used for that event, right?

[iamuwere]

This is true about marking.

Marking is easy in the pro series.

Step 1: Possess tires.
Step 2: Wait for the inspectors to come and mark tires while you sit in a chair.

Nice.

Jim

[jcorsico]

My new tires appear identical in size and feel about the same in construction. I don't know that I can tell if these are the new and improved or the same tire with a different stamp. Only visable difference as I said is the tire compound is simply labled as "FE" (no more R45B). It still has the FCCA label also.

I only had an unmounted used set to compare weight. The used set was about 4.8 pounds heavier than the new set (total weight difference). I'm not sure how much weight the tire looses due to wear. I'm not quite anal enough to weigh just my tires before and after use.

Maybe someone can comment if these would actually be the new improved tires or the existing tire with a new compound label.

scott

From my conversation with Hoosier, there is no longer a compound stamp on the new tires (i.e., they won't say "R45B"). Instead, they will just say "FE".

Thus, if you have an "FE" stamped tire - it's the new tire with the new Kevlar construction.

Jon

[KAMcDonald]

I only had an unmounted used set to compare weight. The used set was about 4.8 pounds heavier than the new set (total weight difference).
scott

ok... call 4 new tires 15-20 lbs lighter than old.

means light folks are gonna call for min weight drop to 1230 so they do not have to add 20lbs more ballast to make weight...

middle folks (like me) are gonna be happy because now they make weight with a little to spare

heavy folks are gonna say what the hell, i am so far over min weight that it is not worth going on a diet and missing all that good food....

before the stick figures prod and goad scca ent into dropping min, we should start a campaign to keep it where it is

[SStadel]

Keith, the 4.8 pounds is the total weight savings for 4 tires, not each. There will be no weight lowering if I can help it! I've lost 8 pounds myself, but I've still got 30 to go (or maybe 25 with the new tires!! )

[KAMcDonald]

oh....
guess i need to read AND understand content...

congrats on losing... i think i put on 15 lbs over the winter. gotta stop eating all those cupcakes and ho-ho's

[iamuwere]

God I wish it was 15lbs total. That would be fab. No such luck. We will be luck if it is that much total when unused tires are weighed.

I am lighter than I was as a swimmer in highschool now. No small feat and I still have no hope of making minimum weight even with minimal ancillaries on the car.

JL

[Mick Robinson]

Easy now guys! Putting in smaller radiators is not in the rules for this spec class. Be careful.

In order to loose weight, quit the donuts, cup cakes and all that kinds of stuff. I too am way over the minimum, but when I complained to Mike Davies (Enterprises tech guy), he just told me to keep my throttle foot on the gas a little longer.

I wish I had known it was that easy way back when!!!

Now all I have to do is to get the brain to over ride my basic survival fears and get the right foot to stay planted! I'll try that at West Bend at VIR in April.

[Marshall Mauney]

Easy now guys! Putting in smaller radiators is not in the rules for this spec class. Be careful.

Mick - FYI, "captaineddie" was talking about the F500 he purchased from me a few years ago, not a FE. Interestingly, that F500 has larger radiators than our FEs do.....

[Mick Robinson]

OK Marshall. Thanks! Just trying to keep everyone on an even playing field as I will have enough trouble getting the brain / foot thing to work and not have to worry about getting new smaller rads.

[Mick Robinson]

The report from Roebling test day with the new 4th gear and tires, 1.8 seconds a lap gain with more to come!!

Paul Schneider is there, how did you do Paul?

[iamuwere]

Wow.

[Keith Carter]

Mick, What other updates are being used?

[Mick Robinson]

The only updates are the 4th gear set and the new Hoosier tires.

The track was greasy today but the FE cars turned the same lap times as yesterday with Paul at a 1:08.65, Chris Eveland .15 seconds behind.

I'm not at the track, just sending in this as I get info.

[Jeff Read]

What is the track record @ Roebling?

[Keith Carter]

According to the efcn track record page that Al put together:

Formula Enterprise: 1:07.662 - Mark Eaton (Van Diemen FSCCA) - 2008

[Brian.Novak]

Last I heard that is the official and Mark says he has been down in the sixes before, just not in the race.

[smcqueen]

Raced at Texas World Speedway this past weekend. I really like the new tires!

scott

[Paul Schneider]

Well, for me, it's too early to give a full overall opinion on the new tires. But, I'll tell my experience from the weekend. I didn't run the test day. So, my first time out was the Saturday Practice. I turned a 1:08.8. That's about a second off of my fastest time there and .3 seconds off of my fastest lap a year ago. However, Roebling Road is a very fickle track when it comes to track/air temp. Laps times can fluctuate within a 3 second window without changing setup or driving style. Obviously, when it's colder out, you'll go faster. So, for Saturday morning, the temp was in the 60s with a little bit of cloud cover. For Qualifying in the afternoon, it was around 70 and partly cloudy. We went out on stickers again and turned a 1:08.9. That's a far cry from the 1:06s that were turned in testing. I was a bit surprised! I expected to turn 1:07s with ease and work to get into the 1:06s. I struggled to feel the car take a set in the mid corners. I was half a second slower in Turns 1 and 2 from a year ago and .2 sec slower in T5. I've got to say though, I wasn't fighting the wheel (sawing down trees) like I did in the past at Roebling. The car was more stable. But, the tire feedback just seemed vague. I couldn't feel any substantial lateral grip. I think we need to work on our setup. But, making big changes before the race was a big risk, so we elected to keep the car as it was.

It poured rain about 2 hours before our race and rained for 30 minutes max. The sun came out when the rain stopped and helped dry the track, along with the two groups ahead of us. So, for the race, my plan was to work on getting mid corner speeds up. I got a good start and pulled away from Chris and the other FMs that he was around. When I completed lap 2 (first hot lap), I looked down at my dash and saw a 1:10.1. WTF?!?! I thought to myself "you've got to be kidding, why I am so slow??" So, I kept digging and got into the high 1:09s. Then, on lap 6, some clown in an FA spun in the carousel and splashed a big puddle of water onto the track...right at the apex of the exit to the carousel. I tried to avoid, but I clipped enough of the water to send me spinning into the sand trap. So, I spent the majority of the race watching...and cussing ...from the tired wall.

So, I'm not really too sure what to think of these new tires. I really thought with putting them on, it was going to be like magic and I was going to go faster. Once we adjust the setup a little bit, I think we'll be faster. As for the wear rate, I really can't comment on that since I ran two sets: one set with 1 heat cycle and the other with 2 heat cycles and an incomplete session.

[SStadel]

Scott, how were your times compared to last year? Are you running the new 4th gear?

[smcqueen]

We don't have 4th gear yet. I'm not sure it would have been an advantage on this track. TWS has always been very demanding on tires. Most of the turns are fast, plus a very slow tight carosel.

Friday practice I was on last months tires and struggled badly with my setup. I had corner weighting issues and struggled with a left front tire issue. I never got out of the 1:43's.

Saturday it rained and was wet for qualifying and race.

I put new tires on for Sunday morning, conditions were dry and cool (mid 40's to low 50's) we were first group on track.

The car was outstanding. The second lap I was in the 1:39's, slowed for some traffic, then put down a 1:38.0 then backed up with a 1:38.3.

Track record is a 1:39.1 by Rusty Mitchel and I was not sure anyone would ever come close. My best time on this track previously had been a 1:39.9.

The handling was very precise and predictable. I think the big difference is that I did not scrub speed in the turns.

After the session, the tires did show some wear on inside corners.

Afternoon race conditions were not quite as good. Fast time of 1:39.8. I had a few clean laps early in the race with a full load of fuel, but the rest of the race I was caught behind a CSR which would make a 100 yards on me down the straight, but would catch and follow in the back section.

I am pretty confident I could have bested the record with some clear track.

Tires were not quite as good as qualifying which may have been due to temps pressures or track conditions.

I also need to fine tune setup.

scott

[Marshall Mauney]

I ran both the old and new tires this past weekend at Hallett; old tires on Friday and Saturday, new ones on Sunday. Temperature was roughly the same day-to-day, but Sunday had very heavy winds (25+ mph). Putting on the new tires resulted in a 1.5 sec lap time improvement even with the windy conditions, with no chassis setup or pressure changes. The handling balance was impacted (a bit less understeer), but there was more overall grip. Very nice.

I also ran the new 4th gear. Since I didn't do a back-to-back comparison it's tough to give any hard data points, but the 3-4 shift seemed very smooth and stronger. Hallett doesn't use 5th gear, so that's about all the feedback I can provide. I probably won't go back to the old 4th, though, as I don't see why there would be any reason to.

[Keith Carter]

Good to hear, Marshall. When you say "old tires", do you mean old construction or old as in tires that were on the car when the engine blew a year ago?

[Marshall Mauney]

Good to hear, Marshall. When you say "old tires", do you mean old construction or old as in tires that were on the car when the engine blew a year ago?

Thanks for reminding me about that.

The "old" tires only had one heat cycle....from the 2009 Runoffs qualifying. In all seriousness, though, the difference was a good bit more than I would have expected just going to newer tires - particularly given the weather conditions.

[Keith Carter]

Sounds good. I guess I'll find out how they are soon enough. It's a little concerning though that the first Blackhawk nat is a little over a month away and I have yet to see registration open for it.

[Marshall Mauney]

Sounds good. I guess I'll find out how they are soon enough.

I'm pretty sure you'll like them - I know I do. It seemed to be easier to get the car to rotate with the new compound split.

It's a little concerning though that the first Blackhawk nat is a little over a month away and I have yet to see registration open for it.

Are they using DLB or MotorsportReg for this one? I think the driver's school at the end of March is already up and open for entries.....

[Keith Carter]

I'm pretty sure MotorsportsReg is the "official" one that the SCCA will be using. I thought I remember seeing that somewhere.

[Marshall Mauney]

It's a little concerning though that the first Blackhawk nat is a little over a month away and I have yet to see registration open for it.

Registration is open now - I just entered.