AX racing on street tires - loud is good?, pushin the limits and lookin for more Options

[Chris Pincetich]

I gotta stick to the tires I have now for 2007 due to AX class points and my budget.

I have 195/50 Dunlop 2000 Sport (I think) on 15x6" alloy rims. I got these because I was worried about fitment of 205s and never guessed I'd becaome an AX addict. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

These tires seem to get more slippery as they warm up. As a result, I end up fish taling a bit. I tend to 180 slide about once a day, and can keep the back end from swingin around 90% of the time. Some times I mash the brakes, turn in fast, get about 10-20 deg fish tail, and hook up heading right for the next apex. YEAH it feels great and I hear the tires squeel. Other times I have a smoother approach and lots of squeel all through the arc of the turn. Sometimes I'm smooth and don't hear the sqeel. With so many turns adding up to my time, it is tough to tell which approach is fastest. I don't feel like I kill any speed on my little slip slide and hook up and when I watch others it looks fast as long as the tail isn't swingin out wide.

My AX book (with the 911 on the cover) talks about the friction circle, and I think I need more info here. It says that pushing the limit up to the grip release is fastest, and then hints that sometimes going a little outside the cirlce is fastest. Losts of allusions to pushing the limits but no "one size fits all" explanation.

Is this loud sqeelin approach as good and fast as it feels, or am I just enjoying the ride and going slower than I could?
At what point in the friction circle are my street tires making the squeel noise?
Is the soft compounds in DOT-R and slicks too soft to resonante and make the squeel noise? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

I started dropping PSI this year - from 32-34 down to 24-26 PSI at the last race. Still well on the tread, not rollin over to the tread wear line. Is this extra side wall flex good? I think so!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

I know most of youz guyz had humble beginnins like me and my rustored 1.7 914 so enlighten me on the finer points of maxing out my street tires! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[nebreitling]

chris, first off, you look really good out there. seat time, seat time, seat time.

secondly, you may try even higher pressures -- like 40 hot. there may be less peak grip, but they may also be more responsive. ymmv, keep experimenting until you KNOW what works.

your goal, with a 1.7, is to never lose momentum. with street tires, that shouldn't be too hard -- you don't have enough grip to bind up the chassis terribly. however, sideways is never fast. hell, even turning the wheel will cause a 1.7 to lose speed. you must straighten out every freaking turn as muc as possible, in order to put all 65 hp of fury to the pavement.

that means, first off, strategizing the course by prioritizing turns. got a long straight that goes into a series of turns? go in hot with an early apex. got a short straight that goes into a turn that leads to a long straight? do everything in your power to maximize your mid corner and exit speed -- even if it means giving up the entry.

in general, i like to think that a low powered car should apex slightly earlier than a high powered car. the faster the turn, the more this is true. but every turn is different. you should be thinking of at least five turns at a time, to make sure that you are connecting them the best way possible to put power down.



grant, joe, 1.5 g's is for little old ladies.