- POLL - What tires would you choose to run this season?

[Keith Carter]

If you had a choice, which manufacturer would you run?

[size="1"][ June 17, 2003, 11:46 AM: Message edited by: Keith Carter ][/size]

[Steve Demeter]

Helllppp
it will not let me vote.

I am just not a internet/computer whiz.

as a wise man once told me "to err is human to really foul up requires a computer."

[Purple Frog]

I voted, but there may be some confusion as to what the poll will say.

Are we saying that;
1. if there was a spec tire, which one would we perfer?

Or,

2. Are we saying regardless of whether there is a spec tire or not, whose tire do we perfer?

I responded to the poll as if I were answering question 2.

[Keith Carter]

You are correct Mr. Frog. #2 is what I intended.

Steve: Do you have "apexspeed.com" as a trusted website so that all pages that go with that name are trusted? Are you using Internet Explorer 6?

[BrooksHall]

OK I voted as if the question reflected option 1. Because I believe we should be running a spec tire.

[Keith Carter]

I changed the question up a little to help out.

[Purple Frog]

Michael hall can always handle intelligent discussion with a smile.

so....viva la difference!

My view is that spec tires are for spec classes.

[BrooksHall]

Thanks Froggie! Well if you look at most succesfull junior openwheel series they are all running a control tire. As the most expensive part of the racing weekend (for most of us) this would help to curb those costs.

One thing I did notice on the poll was the overwhelming support for Hoosier. I wonder if this is a regional thing. Is it because most eastern drivers are Hoosier users while we out west seem to use Goodyears?

[Purple Frog]

In my case... catch a clue... PURPLE. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Seriously, I think the Hoosier popularity has evolved out of a couple issues. (IMHO)

1. Goodyear's "Chile Years" did not help them.
2. At many tracks in the late 90's GY's customer service was a bit off. Some of the regional distributors seemed to look down at clubbies. It seemed like they would rather be at NASCAR or some other big pro event, and were being punished to hang out with us. Hoosier on the other hand seems to live for the club guys, that seems to be a bigger part of their focus.
3. Hoosier jumped into the DOT racing tire business in a big way, thus they sell a lot of tires at regional races, and because of that have a big presence. Hoosier shows up with at least a semi at our regional races, GY a small box truck.
4. Hoosier has done well with their pricing compared to other major brands.
5. Hoosier's 45 compound may have had a better lifespan than GY's 430 in the hot climates of the SEDIV, thus picking up a lot of clubbies.
6. Then, it became obvious they are really trying to push development of FC tires with the newer Kevlar tires, and new molds in the last few years.
7. On top of that, they seem to have a good contingency program down at the regional level. Even us CFCers are getting free skins if we do well.

All this said, if we had to have a spec tyre, I might very well vote for those new Avons. I have been really impressed with their attributes while working with them on the Zetec.

[Purple Frog]

Notice that first and second at the Sprints were on GOODYEARS!!!...

hum... ponder... ponder....

[dc]

It doesn't hurt that the top two FC finishers were both GY tire testers...

[Douglas Kniffin]

I predict that you will see the top 5 guys coming out of the Northeast will be on Goodyears.

[Purple Frog]

Looking at the spy pictures, the top 3 guys at the Sprints also had ICP spring perches...

hum... ponder... ponder

[dc]

Frog, there were more ICP spring perches on the top FCs than I could count. Did they work? No one could say one way or the other, but everyone had them. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Interesting...

[Will Burton]

Wouldn't you love to know times for 5 laps with/5 without? All times taken within 1 hour.

[Rick Silver]

The Goodyear tires are great. They have moved manufacturing back to the US which has already helped with quality control. Goodyear is also doing development work and sending their design engineers to the track for customer input.

The key to the Goodyears is that when you get the setup and shock/spring package where it should be, the tires last and you can run them to the cords with only a small drop off in lap times.

[Alan R Guibord]

We ran the Pro race at Limerock and had to run Avons. EXPENSIVE and we chased the set-up all weekend. I can't wait to get back to the Goodyears!