andy-gts

I had understood that shaved tires were sometimes used for unlimited ORR by participants. would this not make them prone to blow out on irreg surface of the course?
After seeing CArl Faussett and his 300 mph tires I wonder if tire specs have been the cause of blow outs or just bad luck.

just wondering if anyone has any experience with this.

tahoe shark or jorj?

andy-gts

ORR = open road race

SteveG

Considering the timing, a touchy, but pertinent question. Note to self: If I ever do this, do research on what tires Bill, Carl, Tim, George use. I was buying tires last spring. Tire Rack provides a performance chart representing various aspects such as skid patch, stopping, road noise. Pretty subjective overall, and differences are in the tenths of a point. I happened to watch some Youtube footage of the Concorde and saw Michelin on its tires. So my tires say Michelin, but they are not the same tire, it wouldn't fit .

Anybody: Does the Silver State Classic (or other sanctioning bodies) produce any report on accidents that result in loss of property or life? I'm guessing nothing official is produced.

Tahoe Shark

Michelin PS 2's are the common recommended tire for 200+ runs. Michelin does NOT recommend shaving the tire. I personally run the tires for 4 ORR's and change them. Maybe 600-800 miles on the tires. Hardly worn but it works so far for me. I would run them for ever in the slower classes.

hacker-pschorr

What class are you shooting for and what safety equipment will you have to add?

I've always wanted to do an ORR event, just not sure which car to use.

James Bailey

I think we can assume that Andy's stroker GTS is a potential 200 mph plus ride.......should he opt to install the safety equipment required.

jorj7

I have also run the Michelin PS2 (Y) tires for the last 6 years. The (Y) means they are rated at over
186 mph. If you are not running unlimited, then you can get W (168 mph) or Y (186 mph) rated tires,
and there are more choices. I was running BF Goodrich KDW and KDW2 tires before I went to Super
Sport. Next year I was thinking about switch to the Michelin Pilot Super Sport, if they come out with
the right sizes.

andy-gts

thanks all.....I wont be running the higher speeds for a long time as I am sure I have to work up to it over the course of a couple yrs...
I will add the safety equipment as I need (ie wont put a fuel cell in until I have to)

I just remembered a corvette guy running shaved tires 3 yrs ago and had a blow out in the unlimited class.

jorj7

There are many reasons racers shave their tires, but for the Michelin PS2 both Michelin and the
ORR tech inspects recommend not to. Of course some people "know" more then others, and
insist on their own methods. There have been a few high speed blowout with and without
shaving the tires, but I will go with the manufacturer and race organization. In all my prior tire
selections, I have checked with the ORR organizations tire tech guy before making my choice.
In fact I've already talked to both (MKM and SSCC) tire tech guys about the Super Sports.

Oh, I really liked the BF Goodrich KDW2 on 17" wheels. I ran them in 145 and 155 mph
speed classes. They also are priced 1/2 that of the PS2.

jorj7

I will also add that for ORR, wider isn't always better. The wide tires create more drag and friction,
while providing more traction for acceleration, cornering, and braking. In ORR, you don't need to
accelerate, corner, and brake at the limits of the car. In fact, it's way too dangerous to do so at those
speeds (unless you are going for an Unlimited record run). So I run tire close to stock widths (235 and
265-275) and not the widest I can fit on the wheel or in the wheel well.

RKD in OKC

8 years ago I talked to the Bridgestone F1 tire guy about the then new Potenzas. He told me he did ORR racing himself and at that time recommended 16 in wheels to help reduce road hazard problems that would cause blowouts from rim damage. I don't think shaving the tread would make much difference regarding blow outs.

jorj7

Then the guy didn't go very fast, since you can't find (Y) tires in 16" and probably
not a Y tire either... Not to say his advise isn't sound, but if they don't offer the
product they suggest at the speed ratings that are required, then you have to
look somewhere else.

RKD in OKC

8 years ago is a very long time in tire size availability.

jorj7

True, but when I had to look for Y rated tires in 2005, they only had them in
17" or larger. So I had to switch wheel sizes. Now that I require (Y) tires
I have to look at 18" or larger wheels. As it is now, there are very few 16"
tires offered at all, plus I don't think they would fit on Andy's GTS, so I was
constraining my response to what would work on his car now.

atb

Not so much of a problem now, but when I purchased replacement tires many years ago for my S4, they installed the same brand and size, but put on V rated items. (It had W rated tires on it). They said that they didn't have the W rated ones in stock, and said it wouldn't be a problem cause how fast can the car go anyway? I told them I was getting the new tires put on for a track day, that on the front straight I'll be seeing 145mph, and should I send the repair bill due to a blowout to the manager or the owner? Interestingly enough, they "found" a set of W rated tires in stock. Didn't want to be an A-hole, but pretty obvious to me that they were trying to dump some old stock on me.