[s-cars] DE Track Tire Question

[Manuel Sanchez]

Fellow S-Heads,

For an upcoming HPDE Track event on Nov 15-16 at VIR I am looking for  
some specific feedback from anyone actually running these 2 tire  
options or any general feedback.

My objective is to find out which tire will get me around the track  
faster and/or which tire will keep me out of the ARMCO.

I am trying to decide between 3 options:

1. But new R compound Tires
2. Use my used and mounted daily driver tires
3. Use some used tires I got cheap but have never run and don't know  
much about

The event will probably feature low outside morning temperatures in  
the high 30's to low 40 ºF  and will hopefully warm up to low 60 º F.  
The car, my 4000 lb pig of an Avant, RS2 spec.

1. First general question is would a dedicated R compound tire be  
beneficial on such a cool day? I've never run R compound at the track  
before.

Tires I currently own:
2. Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 - 235/45 ZR 17 (they are no longer new)
Treadwear 280
Traction AA
Temperature A
I think these were manufactured in '04

I've run these on the street and at the track before.

3. Falken Azenis  215/45 ZR 16 (bought used, don't know how old they  
are)
treadwear 200
Traction A
Temperature A
I think these were manufactured in '03

I got these on the cheap and they are mounted on my stock Avus rims,  
but I've never run them on the street or the track.


As far as an R compound tire, I have not made any selection yet of  
what I might want. If anyone has experience with a specific type on  
our heavy cars I'd be interested on hearing your thoughts. Most of  
the R compound tires I've seen are similarly priced, around $250USD.  
If I went this route I'd likely go for something in a 17" size, as I  
have an extra set of aftermarket rims (probably around 22 lbs-not  
lightweights)


 From reading the Tire Rack site, you can't really compare Treadwear  
ratings between tire manufacturers.

The traction rating does NOT describe dry performance, but rather wet  
performance. It will likely be dry at the event (although it did rain  
last time), so this item isn't helping me determine much.

Temperature rating-well the 2 tires I have at the moment have the  
same rating, so that factor isn't helping me much.


Some of my biggest questions are:

a. If I go with the Falken Azenis (215/45 ZR16) they are about 1"  
narrower than my other tire option. Aside from having more contact  
patch likely being better, Is this a significant difference?
b. I have not weighed the 2 tire combo's, but I'm almost certain the  
stock Avus rims with the Falken Azenis 215/45 ZR16 tires will be  
lighter, which is of course supposed to be better. Big question is,  
will it be noticeably better and will this trait outweigh the  
perceived shortfall of the about 1"/20mm narrower contact patch?
c. As mentioned previously, the track temps for the mid November  
event will be on the colder side. Would a street tire be better than  
an R Compound tire? If this were an event in the middle of summer I  
perceive this as a non-issue, but since the morning temps might be  
around the freezing mark I was wondering if it would be better to run  
a street tire. Not having run an R compound I would not know how long  
it would take them to warm up (sessions run about 20-25 minutes). I'd  
imagine Ms Piggy's weight would surely help warm them up faster.
d. If I don't have to spend 1,000 bucks on tires that way only be  
marginally better in these temperatures, well then that would be a no  
brainer.


Thanks again, and as mentioned if you have run either of these tires  
(or double bonus, if you've run both of these tires before) I'd love  
to hear from you especially, but all other feedback is appreciated.

Regards,

-manny

95.5 urS6 Avant (RS2'd)