Speed world Challenge just posted their time for qualifying after not being at Laguna for a full season. Last time, they were on the RA1s.

Also, a very fast, consistant driver that has been running the Hoosiers, new slicks, and now the R888s, has posted times equal to his Hoosier times after learning the tires, and making chassis adjustements. We race Laguna Seca more than any other race group in the word and Kip Olsen, along with a few others have lap times as consistant and fast as any top pro team.
The results? Kip runs 1:29.low with slicks, has run 1:29.9 with Hoosiers and just posted a qual time with speed GT at 1:30.2. (even though most of the practices were in the 1:32s) I would say, these tires are every bit as good as hoosiers, maybe a tad slower (.25 sec. as I have seen) and after talking to him, and what I have experienced racing them, they require a different driving style.

He did put the tires on and was 1-1.5seconds slower until he made some chassis and driving adjustments. Now, it looks like the little NSX wit the big power and 225s up front, is doing just find against some top pro teams.

It will be interesting to see how he does in the race.

Ill be out there tomorrow to check things out.

Mk


1 3 Boris Said
Carlsbad/CA Ford Mustang Cobra
Applied Computer Solution
1:29.580 89.939
2 97 Tony Rivera
Missouri City/TX Porsche 911 GT3
Tax Masters/Brass Monkey Rcg
1:29.611 89.908
3 4 Dino Crescentini
Manhattan Beach/CA Porsche 911 GT3
Stoptech/GMG
1:29.773 89.746
4 14 James Sofronas
Newport Beach/CA Porsche 911 GT3
Global Motorsports Group
1:29.891 89.628
5 10 Brandon Davis
Huntington Beach/CA Ford Mustang GT
Applied Comp Solution/SunMicro
1:30.081 89.439
6 1 Randy Pobst
Gainesville/GA Volvo S60
K-PAX Racing
1:30.106 89.414
7 49 Kip Olson(R)
Sacramento/CA Acura NSX
Driving Ambitions
1:30.211 89.310
8 30 Eric Curran
Easthampton/MA Chevrolet Corvette
Whelen Engineering
1:30.320 89.202
9 31 Sonny Whelen
Old Saybrook/CT Chevrolet Corvette
Whelen Engineering
1:30.460 89.064
10 99 Jeff Courtney
Slinger/WI Dodge Viper
KENDA/JTM IWM/Coins of America
1:30.490 89.035
11 8 Andy Pilgrim
Boca Raton/FL Volvo S60
K-PAX Racing
1:30.492 89.033
12 9 Gunter Schaldach
Aspen/CO Porsche 911 GT3
Lala Motorsports
1:30.521 89.004
13 13 Charles Putman
Mills/WY Dodge Viper
Woodhouse Performance
1:30.991 88.545
14 47 Rob Morgan
Costa Mesa/CA Porsche 911 GT3
TruSpeed Motorsports/NADA
1:31.201 88.341
15 34 Tony Gaples
Libertyville/IL Chevrolet Corvette
Kleinschmidt Inc/Blackdog Rcg
1:31.284 88.260
16 11 Mike Davis
Huntington Beach/CA Ford Mustang Cobra
Applied Comp Solution/SunMicro
1:32.082 87.496
17 05 William Ziegler(R)
Jacksonville/FL Porsche 911 GT3
Swisher Racing/GMG Racing
1:32.537 87.065
18 46 Charles Morgan
Dallas/TX Porsche 911 GT3
TruSpeed Motorsports/Querencia
1:32.593 87.013
19 64 Chad Raynal(R)
San Jose/CA Cadillac CTS-V
Raynal Racing RWR CAR
1:32.593 87.013
20 20 Tomy Drissi
Los Angeles/CA Dodge Viper
Avatar/ACS Express Racing
1:32.756 86.860
21 96 Paul Brown
Covina/CA Mustang GT
K&N Filters/Lucas Oil/G Stream

 

Very impressive lap times.

 

Yeah! When was the last time a 1:30.xx bought you 13th place! And again, they are now supposed to be on lesser tires!

mk

 

it's funny how every driver in TC and GT hates the r888 because they've generally got too much HP or suspension for the tires...good thing they don't do enduros on those things.

mark- what's the story on the 2005 honda civic in TC? looks hilarious

 

I do not believe for a minute that a Toyo tire can match the time of a slick.

 

Let's have a Kilbort - Ring grudge match!!

 

Not match, but within a second, with a guy with a ton of hp and able to wheel the car around the track well. Olsen has been running 1:29s on slicks and 1:30s on brand new Hoosiers. He ran 1:30.2 on toyo R888s and had to weigh a little more and was limited in boost.

 

Thats Andre H. Here he is in our SCCA race a couple of weeks ago. I was talking to him and that car was down on power, something about running on only 3 cylinders. I think since his times have improved, he must have fixed it for this weekend. This a race where the someone forced me to drive their lower powered 928 in this race to stay in the points race , after mine was taken out by a honda civic at sears a couple of weeks earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNG9DSLhuPc

I think racers always complain about tire, especially when they are used to slicks. However, the Toyos can be fast as proved by all the WC drivers this time out at laguna.

 

Any thoughts or info on (1) and (2)? Major driving style changes? What type of chassis "fixing" was needed?

Just wondering...

-td

 

perhaps the track a little faster this weekend with all the rubber laid down (more so than a typical scca weekend?). toyos within a second of slicks (all else equal) seems fairly optimistic but i would like it to be the case!

 

Mark why dont you just buy a new set of each, run them back to back on the same day, and come up with the same clear conclusion that everyone else came up with?

 

Good to get details on"until he made some chassis and driving adjustments."

I want to run R-888 but I cant get much good feedback on them, sad to say. I loved the RA-1 tires...a little slower than the 40 tires, but 20 + heat cycles on the rear of a heavy 993 car.

Please PM us the secrets??? Please!!!! I am not being cvute here, I really want to know. This is the first positive R-888 press I have read in recent memory.

 

First, IMO, he (Kip) could probably be faster on slicks. Slicks are THAT good. But they really require a significantly optimized set-up and very precise driving to extract maximum performance from them. Many folks who run them do not make these changes, and then are surprised they aren't much faster than R6's.

Second, the 888's have a much stiffer sidewall than the RA1's, so they get alot hotter than RA1's pulling the same slip angles as the RA1's could, and this has been their Achilles heel: they go away more easily....then their new compounding causes them to heat cycle to death way before they cord in many cases. This is directly opposite the RA1's behavior. So I suspect some of the set-up and driving changes the successful teams employ are camber settings that take advantage of the stiffer sidewalls, toe settings that take advantage of the stiffer sidewalls for crisp turn-in while keeping heat build-up to a minimum, and line changes that do not use quite as much slip angle. In addition, I suspect that the 888's are essentially useless after a race at this pace for 50 minutes, whereas the R6's could probably go again, with only a slight degradation of pace.






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

 

Cool video, Mark. Do you know what tires the spec 911's were using that weekend?

 

As another data point, James Sofronas says a 2008 WC GT 911 is about 4 seconds a lap slower at Willow Springs on R888's than Michellin slicks:

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/g...joy-video.html