mountainbiker2

I've been driving on Kumho V710's to all my race events. 60-80 miles one way. Not a single problem in 4 years. Do you think Hoosiers can handle it? I don't own a trailer, care about my paint, etc. Only care about performance at the track. These will be used for autocross.

thanks,
Steve

Jason

I have no first hand experience, but since people are running them at track events and road races, I'd think they'd be ok.

the blur

I recently put 100 street miles on my A6's.
It was fine, until I got caught in the rain

Then the fun began, I had to get off the hiway, and make my way home via the side streets. The side streets were fine up until 30 mph, but the hiway at 40+ was slippery. The car was sliding all over..

Aggie #5

I have driven 130 miles one way on A6s to an event. One thing to keep in mind is they go away quick on the track so leave some for the trip back. The drive to the track is not the issue it is the track time.

Z06 Whisperer

This is going to be scant data for you, but the husband had A6's on his Mustang Cobra at our last road course event. We both have always driven our respective cars to the tracks-- about 100 miles each way to Road Am for example. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately tire wear-wise) we returned in the rain, so he did not get the best idea of how they would wear on the street.

I run various Hoosier slicks on my C5 Z and have not seen that much wear and tear from the "commute" to and from the track. I do have paint damage around the wheel wells that could probably in part be a result of some of the junk being thrown from the tires?

Ahhhh the snow's coming here shortly--don't you dare tell me you're headed to the track soon where you are!

JRL

I'm on my 2nd set of A6's, there are awesome!!
98 runs on the first set, 84 runs so far on the 2nd. Drive back and forth to all autox events (30-100 mile trips), no issues.
Got caught in pretty heavy rain once, no problem as long as I stayed under 60 mph. I've been driving on R tires for 7 years w/ no problems/punctures. I'd rather be lucky than good
YMMV

John L.

AU N EGL

By the time you drive too the track, a week end and drive home the A6s might be corded.

Buy a small tire trailer to tow behind your vette.

mountainbiker2

From what I'm gathering here is that it can be done. I will have to sets of rims. One with Kumho V710's for practice autoX and track days. The other set just for the AutoX race. We only get 3 laps. It looks like they will work for that. It will probably be a couple months before I do this.

Thanks for the input. I'll keep you posted when it happens.

Steve

the blur

The A6's only cord at low pressures, if you run higher pressures, they last a looong time. I got 900 track miles on my 2nd set, plus 100 street miles, and there is still plenty of life left.

My first set I corded prematurely from running T1 pressures. I'd rather be 5 seconds off, and get 800% more tire life by running higher pressures, and still having just as much fun.

c4cruiser

The Hoosiers are not designed for street use even though they are DOT approved. You are taking away heat cycles by street driving especially that distance, and the tires body is nowhere near as thick as street tires making them easier for junk on the streets to penetrate the tire body.

It doesn't take much for the A-series tire to get hot and then they will pick up all sort of rocks and pebbles. The rotation of the tires will then toss this stuff into your fenderwells and take paint away.

And if you should get stopped, John Law may tell you that the tires don't have enough tread depth to be legal.

I

Dave OH32

You said pretty much everything I was going to say...

Driving too and from an event on A6's is a really good way to shorten their life by a HUGE amount. From what I've seen with mine, the tire is going to heat cycle out and be slower before all the rubber is gone... highway trips are a good way to waste heat cycles...

that and hot A6's pick up a TON of crap.... they've thrown rocks onto the hood of my C5 often.

Sidney004

I don't agree that driving them on the highway will heat cycle the rubber; risky from getting caught in the rain, yes; damage thru punctures are always a risk and you have to consider it. Furthormore, the wear rate at highway speeds is a non-issue. I have measured the temperature of my V710's on normal highway driving with an infared pyrometer and the temperature increase above ambient is negligible; especially so with cooler outside temps. Certainly getting the tires up to 175+ deg on the track qualifies as a heat cycle, but from 70 to 80 deg driving to the track(which is about what you will see, a 10 deg rise) just does not make sense to me; by that logic you will heat cycle the tires beyond their useful life just by the variance between night and day. Again, this is just my experience having driven V710's and Hoosier GAC's to the track(in excess of 150 miles, one way) dozens of times, maybe the A6's are different.

ZR1 MK

mountainbiker
I drove my BFG R1 with a treadwear rating of 00 to the track many times years ago. I had zero issues including minimal tire pick-up. Had a flat once on track, but it got fixed and reused because it was a steel belted tire. It risky to jeopardize a prepaid non-refundable event if you get a non repairable puncture. I brought spares and maybe you plan the same.
Sidney
I see your opinion regarding a heat cycled tire. I tried to get technical specifics on what a heat cycled tire, but wasnt successful. Anyone have info from the tire suppliers regarding this issue?

Mojave

I wouldn't drive on A6's. They WILL heat cycle out very quickly. If you need a set of tires that will be OK to drive on, look at Toyo RA1, Nitto NT01, Nitto 555RII, etc. None of these have the same grip as an A6, but they all take street driving a lot better.

gkull

With my passenger seat removed I used to haul slicks and everything I needed to the track. As i got bigger slicks and a cage. I met others going to the track and we had a group pickup loaded with everything for 4-5 of us including a gas powered air compressor which really sped up tire changes. I've even borrowed open and enclosed trailers.

Heat cycles and ware on the tires just are not worth it to me

c4cruiser

The A-series tire is much different than the R-series. The "A" autocross compound is much softer and is designed to heat up quickly. Some autocross events are short in terms of distance traveled and speeds are anywhere from 25 to 70MPH and vary widely and quickly.

To me it's just not worth the overall risk. While water on the road may not be an issue in the summer, one could find a puddle of water (Murphy's Law will pretty much cover that ). If you drive to an autocross on race tires and you puncture one, you are done for the day, haul them and at least you can still keep moving and race.

Mounting a trailer hitch and using one of those $190 trailers from Harbor Freight makes things much easier. True, it's an extra 20 minutes to swap tires, but the race tires are used for racing and the street tires get you there and back.