IcemanG17

So I got to try a set of Hoosier R6's...previously I had BFG R1's...I was a bit worried since I ran 245/45-16 all around on 8" wheels....and the Hoosiers were 225/50-16 in front and 245/45-16 in rear....but it worked out nicely....on the 8' rims you could hardly tell which tires were wider....

My impressions on track were quite a bit different than the R1's....the R1's were very much "velcro"....in other words once they start to slide (large slip angle) the available traction drops off a cliff....so it takes a serious correction and huge reduction of speed to save the slide.....but the Hoosiers are much more forgiving....they have near the peak traction of the R1's...but allow a much greater slip angle while still retaining good traction.... so I found them much easier to control vs the R1's..... My personal best lap times between the two are within .04 second...so its very close...but I just feel the Hoosiers are easier to drive....

schwank

Interesting. I have run Toyos for the past couple of years but this year made the call to step it up. I compared the R6 to the R1 and decided for now to try the R1 on my 944 Cup car. We had pretty decent experiences with the BFG on our endurance E30 so hoping to replicate that on the 944. I was told by the guys at TreadZone.com that the R1 has a new compound this year... TireRack no longer lists the R1 for 15's and told my local distributor they were NLA until TreadZone enlightened me. Maybe the compound change will make a difference.

Everyone else runs the R6 so I will go it alone, but that doesn't bother me too much. To me the R6 is the safe route that I can fall back on and get the same performance as everyone else. I was reasonably competitive on Toyos so we'll see this year...

mooty

i ran both.
now i only run hoosiers. much eaiser to find, trade, drive.
consistent from lap to lap.

IcemanG17

I got the Hoosiers "used"...they had two track days total on them..... they do look MUCH more worn than my R1's did after 26 heat cycles....however I think the R1 wears longer, but might heat cycle out too...I had to replace them since I flat spotted 1 tire....so 3 okay ones didn't do me any good... :>(

While I do think I am a "better" driver now, than a year ago when I 1st got the R1's.... I do think I will buy a set of R6 when these wear out....

Streak

I recently had opportunity to run R1's. I have always run Hoos because they offer the contingency.

I will never put R1's on my car. Ever. They are garbage. Maybe there are some suspension settings specific to the tire or pressures were wrong but they felt greasy, squirmy and they plowed like nothing else.

They are no comparison to hoosiers.

Veloce Raptor

Maybe it's you...

Actually, R1's seem to work great on Spec996's...

mglobe

Yup, they sure do. R1's have consistent grip through about 30 HC's.

From what little I know about Hoosiers, I'm not sure comparing Hoosiers with two days on them to new R1's. I suspect that if you were comparing new to new, the Hoosiers would be considerably faster... for the first day or two.

Streak

You could be right. Seriously. Like I said, maybe pressures were wrong or camber settings etc. I will say that I wasn't the only one who had that reaction. Good Hands drove them first and when he came back in to the paddock after practice he took them off the car immediately so it wasn't just me.

One major irritation I noticed was that the would not turn in. They just wouldn't. They were like driving on ice. The Hoos turn instantly and if you get in too hot and understeer they recover and grip pretty quickly. The R1's seemed to slide forever and ever and ever no matter how fast you were going. Maybe it was track surface. I dunno. I do know we both had the same reaction after driving them.

I was surprised because I've always heard good things and they are less expensive. I've only ever known people to run them on heavier cars so maybe that's a factor.

Either way. Didn't like'em. And lap times on the hoos was about 3-4 seconds faster. That probably had a lot to do with driver confidence in the hoos vs the R1's.

mark kibort

you shouldnt see that much time difference, but certainly there might be a feel difference. Having tried a myriad of DOTs, it seems that there are Hoosiers and then everything else. I have never worried about my compeitition when Ive seen them switch between all the other DOTs. however, when I see a brand new set of A series hoosiers, I start to realize it will be a battle of grip and I better really step up to allow the Toyos to hang.

the main differences of most all the other DOTs is how they feel and behave under different conditions. your right, if you are not comfortable, it will be a confidence problem. But, if you understand the differences, you alter your style a little and you should be able to match your previous times. Hoosiers , both A and R just allow you to do things you just cant do with the toyos or other DOTs. and even though they are greatly different, i only see .5 to 1.5 seconds difference on any given race day. (but that is Laguna, sears and thunderhill, times may vary at a longer or turnier track, near you . )

333pg333

There was also some 'internet word' that Hoosier has changed it's compound but not told the general public. Could be just chatter of course. Seems that there are Corvette guys running the A6s and getting good performance out of them with a heavier car. Weird?

Veloce Raptor

I disagree. Hankook Z214's are right up there with the Hoosiers in my experience, and on some cars are actually a bit better.

FredC

Are you saying that there's chatter suggesting that Hoosier made the A compound more durable? That's interesting.

http://www.hoosiertire.com/pdfs/H2O.pdf Could it be that a new A6 shares compounds with the new wets?

mark kibort

Actually, that is one that was impressive first time out. (other person's car)
didnt have enough time on them, but certainly felt really sticky.

mark kibort

when did this supposed to happened? Ive been using the A series for a few years now and they are good to the cords probably because they wear so fast! I get them with 4 heat cycles and put another 8 on before they are toast visually. still more sticky than the RA1s at that point.

sig_a

Hoosiers run larger than R1's and others. Perhaps some of the performance difference is the R6's wider section width and tread given the same size in the R1's.