Phoenix Staflex(?) Tires
01-02-2010, 04:40 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Phoenix Staflex(?) Tires
I'm dating myself as an oldie but anyone know what ever happend to Phoenix Staflex (can't remember correct spelling) tires? Late 70's to early 80's was the tire to beat in the import SOLO II classes.
01-02-2010, 07:14 PM
#2
Melting Slicks
Phoenix got absorbed by Continental and stopped making tires in about 1983...
They had an agreement with Firestone in the mid 70's and that is where the technology came from.
The 3011 Stahlflex was the hot tire for a couple of years. I had a couple of sets for my RX-7 in around 1982, I think the A001R came out in 83 and that pretty much was the end of the Phoenix as far as being competitive.
They had an agreement with Firestone in the mid 70's and that is where the technology came from.
The 3011 Stahlflex was the hot tire for a couple of years. I had a couple of sets for my RX-7 in around 1982, I think the A001R came out in 83 and that pretty much was the end of the Phoenix as far as being competitive.
Last edited by Solofast; 01-02-2010 at 07:16 PM.
01-02-2010, 09:46 PM
#4
Melting Slicks
Yes the Yokohama A001R came out in 83. It was initially developed as a 165/70/13 size. While they came out with other sizes the A001R was a better tire in that size than in any other. The reason was that there was a huge amount of development that was doine is that it was developed specifically for a spec RX7 series in Japan and it cleaned house in that series. The 165/70/13 fit the RX7's and the Fiat X-1/9 in what was then C and D stock and that tire really cleaned up for a long time on those cars in those classes.
A001R was really the first "R" compound tire that didn't get banned by the SEB. Hoosier had a "street" tire that Dave Kutney used to win the nationals and was subsequently banned. They let in the A001R primarily because it actually could be driven on the street and it didn't heat cycle all that badly in autocross use. You could run them down to the cords, drive them on the street to and from the track and if you doped them with Formual V they worked good as new until they were corded. I used a set of almost a year old ones on the first day at nationals one year and was leading at the end of that day. Typically you would use the set of tires from nationals of the year before and run them until a week or two before nationals, get a new set and break them in and take them to nationals. Seldom did you buy more than 1 set a year and the only cost about $125/tire. Those days are long goine.
A001R was really the first "R" compound tire that didn't get banned by the SEB. Hoosier had a "street" tire that Dave Kutney used to win the nationals and was subsequently banned. They let in the A001R primarily because it actually could be driven on the street and it didn't heat cycle all that badly in autocross use. You could run them down to the cords, drive them on the street to and from the track and if you doped them with Formual V they worked good as new until they were corded. I used a set of almost a year old ones on the first day at nationals one year and was leading at the end of that day. Typically you would use the set of tires from nationals of the year before and run them until a week or two before nationals, get a new set and break them in and take them to nationals. Seldom did you buy more than 1 set a year and the only cost about $125/tire. Those days are long goine.
