fatbillybob

Ok the squircage in my pee brain is turning again. We all know in a real heavy rain the Hoosier rain tire is king or close to it. Well what about light rains and damp tracks or minimal puddles like we get most of the time if it rains at all at our local SoCal tracks like wsir and brp? We all know rain tires on a drying track means you just wasted $1300 bucks. I just don't get to race in the rain but maybe once a year.

So what about hand grooving hoosier R6 dry tires like the dirt guys do? RogerKrause does this and calls them intermediate tires. You can do this yourself with the right tools. My pee brain is thinking if you groove a dry tire then on a drying track you would have most of the dry tire performance and most of the longevity but hand grooves would get you at least as good rain handling as a street tire but stickier thus faster. So why don't we see more hand grooved dry race tires for the wet? Also, if it is still wetter you can "groove and sipe" your tire for more wet grip. Or just tell me if this is a really stupid idea...

Nordschleife

moving blocks

R+C

disasterman

Actually you want to groove a set of A6's for intermediates.

ProCoach

^^this^^

M758

It has to be done right. Most guys don't do it since they have no idea how to groove tires properly let alone put the right grooves in them. Even then since an R6 is a semi-slick it will never be as good in the dry.

BTW... one reason I love the Toyo RA-1 is that when the tire has tread you can use it in the wet. I have over the years use full tread for heavy rain. 4/32 shaved for intermediate conditions and then once worn down use the same tire in the dry. One tire in 3 stages of life does it all. Worst case is may be forced to buy 2 sets (one full tread and one shaved), but if the rain does not come or even if it does you can work these tires into your normal dry useage.

I don't race in the rain much, but I ran fresh 4/32 shaved RA-1 in a very wet qualfying session and in wet into dry race. I qualfied P2 of all cars in the entire mixed field run group. Only beat by a Mini on hoosier wets. Race came I got beat by that same mini and a viper got past me as well. That was it. Track started wet and finished dry. Not bad for a 130 whp rear drive car.

ProCoach

^^this, too^^

I used to do this with Victoracers http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...ictoRacer+V700 and it worked really well.

brad@tirerack.com

I can't really weigh in on self-grooving tires as I don't have any experience doing it. I do sell lots of Victoracers however to guys looking to have a good wet tire and they seem to do a good job. Keep in mind many of today's ultra high performance summer tires (RE-11, AD08, Z1 Star Spec) will offer very good wet traction as well.

Werkstatt

I've grooved a couple of sets of Toyo R888 for Spec Boxster and they turned out great. It's not really a hard process but it is time consuming and a Pain in the xxx. Well worth doing for the few times you need them. Bought the groover from a dirt track shop online and they are out of Lyncburg VA.

Bill Lehman

If you want to try tools from the source, try here http://www.vanalstinemfg.com/default.htm

fatbillybob

Well I did buy a hand groover. I'm going to give it a wack with HooHoo A6's. Then I'll wait for rain and let you guys know how it worked out. I think if one is lazy you could significantly open up the tread pattern of a R888 or Nitto NT01 and make a decent rain tire out of it. The RA1 does not come in my sizes but always heard amazing things about them run full depth.