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Tire Observations from the 2019 Solo Nationals in Lincoln , Nebraska

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Bill Pemberton

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My son and I just finished running the 2019 version of the " Worlds Largest Automotive Driver Participant Event," with over 1375 other autocross crazies right here, smack dab in the middle of the Country. I had mentioned to a few folks on here that the Yokohama A052 might be the new trick tire for the track, especially since the company revamped the tire. Yet, we have seen some rapid wear on Yokes with a couple of local drivers who had just switched to them - there is an advantage of living only about 60 miles from the Championship site! Since the Nebraska Region of the SCCA is the host of the event , and this is our Region's regular site, we do have a tendency to be able to stay up on tire technology and change. Luckily my work assignment was checking cars for proper Decal presentation and clarifying whether the tires used matched the contingency sponsor's shown on each racer. The majority of the drivers were running Bridgestones, Yokohamas, and BFGs, not necessarily in that order, for the Street Tire Classes. I would have to say that for the majority of you a set of RE71Rs or BFG Rivals should be your choice, as the Yokohamas wear at a stunningly quick rate and would only be for the individual wanting two or three quick laps at a Time Trial - or one who has unlimited funds. Good example were two friends , one whose tires were shot after 30 runs on the Yokes and the other driver who only made it to 20 --- we are talking autocross runs not track sessions. Mark Daddio ran the fastest raw times of BS ( B Street) in his bone stock GT 350 , losing by .07 seconds, due to a cone penalty. He was on BFG Rival S tires and the wear looked great. No surprise, as the friends I have running the BFGs like the feel and they seem to wear longer on a road course than the Bridgestones --- they also take a bit longer to get greasy. Couple of Region members had switched to Yokes on their Miatas and they are going back to the BFGs ,as the tires got too slimy on Thursday by their third run. It was in the mid 90s on Thursday, but it only hit a high of 82 on Friday. Overall, canvassing the paddock , if you were running a bigger car in the Street Class or in CAM classes the choice seemed to be either BFG or Bridgestones, and it appeared to me the pony cars moved more towards the Rivals ( Both Rival S and Rival S 1.5 ).

Many on here have run the gamut of 200 Treadwear rubber, and my conclusion , if being at the top is your game, the BFGs or RE71Rs are the way to go. Sure there are some others that are decent , but these seem to be the two top contenders and in talking to Peter Calhoun at BFG he said that the requests for larger 18 and 19 sizes are pouring in to his company. I can tell everyone , from years of experience , the advantage often seen with BFG is quick turn around and fast improvement on sizing, due to them being built right here in the US. More often than some would expect the Japanese companies can run out of supplies and distance delays upgrades. With the wacky tariff situation , tires will likely get more expensive if shipped over and with the strong dollar US tire companies are often dramatically less -- BFGs are over 200 less than the Bridgestones in many sizes. Don't believe me , check the link to Tire Rack on our site and remember to order through said link to help out TMO.

Lastly, the other solid option are the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s. This may not be the tire for auto crossing, but it is a solid, solid tire for a road course and as Black Boss has noted in some of his threads and also what I have noticed when I was running them, is depending on the track and temperature these black air filled conveyances can run dead even with Hoosiers ---especially if it is a hot day!!! They are priced right and a squared set up works great, plus it gives you the highway/street driving ability you just don't want with Hoosiers, etc.
 
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Thanks for sharing your observations. My next set of tires will most likely be RE-71R's.
 

Bill Pemberton

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After watching the wear and stick, I would seriously suggest you check out the BFGs!!! The pricing is much better and on an Autocross course the 2 are super close ( plenty of winners on both). In hot climes the BFGs seem to tolerate longer track sessions before getting slippery -- talked to alot of guys who both Autocross and do Track Time.

Plus we know both can be shipped to you Free from Tire Rack!
 

Bill Pemberton

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Actually most say they are very similar on the street and we have a bunch of guys who were bouncing back and forth over the past years with street driven autocross cars and that is a solid testament. Driving style and suspension setup seems to dictate choices for drivers. I was trying to take this farther as many on here do more track time than autocross, and asking those at the event that do both gave some credence that the BFG might stay on the consistent side longer than the Stones? Frankly, I don't think one could go wrong on either. I do know some in larger cars switched with the availability of the BFGs and the price being lower.
 
Bill
Thanks to share it!
I was thinking to switch to yoko for time trials but after an initial euphoria (where people say they are faster than re71) thinks seems to settle back a little. The difference Btw the 2 does not appear to be important while the wearing is a problem with yoko(especially with heavier cars).
In the contest I'D LIKE to add the
3R goodyear. (I have 305/35/19)
They are fast. They are consistent(more than re71). But they don't last too long. I have 3 days (9 session total with 100f)on them and I think the 4th (or maybe the 5th?) will be the last.

I have a comparison video btw re71(285mm) and 3R( 305mm) where 3R are faster but just by a little.
Last, to share experience
Right now I'm doing time trials with re71(285mm limited by class) and HPDE with 3R (305mm)

Thanks again!
Alessandro

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646aa428b7a3121ec5c92cd06b97b79c.jpg
 
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Bill Pemberton

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Flyhalf , surprised you have not tried the Pilot Sport Cup 2s if you have done the Goodyears , as they are quite fast too ( though like the Goodyears they are not 200 TW Rated).

Voodoo Boss -- not now , but there are quite a few brands with more in the works, and Bridgestone suffers with without any really wide 20s, at present. Stang guys don't need 20s, anyway, and the Porsche guys or others that want 20s, in our neighborhood, are running Sport Cups because the price is so much better than the Pirelli Trofeos or others.

Now there were quite a few Porsche guys that ran in the Street Classes running Bridgestones, if they did not need the monster rubber. Fun part is all the Manufacturers are getting more and more competitive ,so more sizes. As noted some of the tires that are hot for Autocross may not be the best for track time. I imagine there will be some that even run Yokes for the SCCA Time Trial Nationals, as they want fast and likely are not concerned by fast wear?
 
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Bill Pemberton

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Blair, Nebraska
Good thing about the Forum is it gives folks lots ideas and options on things to choose. Flyhalf I have heard the opposite with the Sport Cup 2s being a bit quicker than the 3Rs, but obviously both are good choices if a streetable tire is needed. One thing we all can not assess easily is the difference in surfaces at various tracks, as tires that work super well at one , may be slower or heat up more at another ( as an example). My idea at the Solo Nationals was to get an idea about what seemed to work well , but not get too hot too fast , as most of us want a bit more time on track and if the tire gets greasy quick that is not desirable to many. Now serious Time Trialers may view this in a different light, but in noting what larger cars were running , the mix was mainly RE71Rs and BFG , though there were some Yokes doing well on some Imports.

The market is wonderful now, as there are so many choices and for alot of the Soc. Security set, we remember when there might be only one or two to pick from.

Now, I am not addressing the super sticky donuts, as Hoosier is the dominant tire in that market , but since alot want a street and track tire, my purpose was to check on those tires.
 
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I couldn't keep RE71 cool enough to get consistent 2-3-4-5th autocross runs once the long cold spring ended so I switched to BFG's and was much happier. So my addition to Bill's opinions is that many won't be happy with RE71 on track unless they are doing Time Trials/short runs. The BFG takes heat better, but you can cycle them out (well ditto with RE71) so be careful on track. On the older BFG's, the group think around autocross was that they were good down to the cords. In my experience, 80-100 runs is the max and then they just get gradually slower until all the sudden you suck at nationals. :)

I don't like broad statements about most race type stuff, but I would say be careful extrapolating tire performance from the top autocross in the country to track use.

DaveW
 
Bill, at the 2019 SCCA Solo Nationals in Lincoln, NE the Bridgestone engineers walked every grid and wrote down the tires and sizes that were being used. I spoke to the head engineer and asked him, "That with all the tire competition out there if they were planning on a RE-71RX?" His face did not change, but I could tell his brain was thinking. Next year will be another interesting time to select tires. So far the Bridgestones offer Mustang owners the most size options. However watch out as more sizes are offered by Yokohama and BFG. And who knows if a manufacture will tweak the chemistry!
 

Bill Pemberton

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Autoeaux ,
Kind of reminds me of the good old days where it was a constant fight with Yokohama and BFG to have the new hot tire, but now we have multiple choices. The interesting note is Peter Calhoun of BFG was doing the same thing and it was not too long ago that BFG had the most tire sizes for the Mustang, so it is an ongoing battle for supremacy -- very good for all the track rats. I think the Yokes helped heat up the battle , a lot, this year, but it sure seems apparent chatting with drivers that they were suspect to last very long on a road course?

I like you observation about whether BStones would be coming out with an even more aggressive tire, as I asked Peter about sizing and he politely responded that requests for 19s and 20s were off scale from competitors. Gotta feeling there will be more cool stuff next year?
 
Bill, at the 2019 SCCA Solo Nationals in Lincoln, NE the Bridgestone engineers walked every grid and wrote down the tires and sizes that were being used. I spoke to the head engineer and asked him, "That with all the tire competition out there if they were planning on a RE-71RX?" His face did not change, but I could tell his brain was thinking. Next year will be another interesting time to select tires. So far the Bridgestones offer Mustang owners the most size options. However watch out as more sizes are offered by Yokohama and BFG. And who knows if a manufacture will tweak the chemistry!
Nice to see Bridgestone walking the grid. Nice to meet you this past weekend and welcome to TMO!
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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Blair, Nebraska
Nice to know both Bridgestone and BFG were walking the grid, but never saw anyone there from Yokohama. David Colletti from Falken was there running and I know some of his guys were out wandering around also ( they do have a wide 18 inch tire ). Since the Falken's primary focus is the Spec Class they sponsor, I doubt they were concerned with canvassing the grid. Still cool to see representatives from Hoosier , BFG, Bridgestone, and Falken at the Solo Nationals.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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Blair, Nebraska
One solid note on tire choices, one of our new members, AuteauX, came to the event with a set of rather inexpensive Asian donuts ( Indonesian to be exact), as he did not want to finish off his RE71Rs before the end of his Autocross Season doing two days of Time Trials. He can now profoundly say , " These tires may be good for drifting , but that is all I can do on a road course because grip is not a four letter word they understand?" We do understand the four letter word he mentioned about them, though! The Accelera tires were in a 265/30/18 size so many might be able to use them on their bicycles , hehe! Playing with pressures , AuteauX actually ran some fairly decent times by late Saturday , but the true test of his skill was the fact that he garnered 2nd Place in the Autocross for the Stock Class! Kudos for that but he mentioned it would likely be the last time we see him on Indonesian Drift Rubber!

So there you go, track tested in case you want to secure a set for Time Trials , knowing they are likely not your best choice? Now if you want to go do some drifting, AuteauX says you can do that without even trying!
 
In Australia we cant get the BFG's, even Tire rack won't ship them.
The RE71R's can take months to get from suppliers.
Our go to for 200TW is Yokohama AD08R aand a few others from Asia. Michelin has a decent supply here too. You guys are so lucky up there with your choices.
 

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