American Racer Tires, Just ordered a set Options

[jjackson]

I believe the car is half a second quicker than it was on fresh A6s. Once I get everything dialed in it may be a full second. I've only had one dry event and not everyone I normally base my times off of showed up. The car feels much faster because I haven't found the limit in the transitions. The turn in is "delayed" compared to the A6s but I believe that's because of the switch to a bias ply. I wouldn't call it understeer, just delayed a very small amount. The setup with the A6s was spot on. It will take me more than one good dry event to feel as confident in this new setup. To answer your question though, yes I believe they are faster and I like the feel.

Comparable times in a bargain priced tire is awesome.
I definitely like the precision of the A 6 radial compared to the bias-ply-
It does take some getting used to.
Good Luck !! J

[Woody]

Thank you. I will keep y'all posted.

[Trekkor]

Love the pictures.
Fantastic!!

[R8CERX]

Love the pictures.
Fantastic!!

Nice car and set up.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

[Woody]

Since my last event I installed my 5 gallon cell on the trunk floor, got rid of the rear brake pressure limiting valve and installed a T, raised the front spindles 19mm and lowered the rear of the car an inch. Re-corner balanced and aligned it with one degree of camber all around. Toe out front, toe in rear. Car weights in at 1826 pounds with a gallon of fuel. Here are my current thoughts on the tires. The vague feeling is still there but I think that's the tradeoff for going bias ply. The straight line grip such as accelerating and braking are very good. Trailbraking is predictable as well. Mid corner grip is good. Corner exit or maintenance throttle through the turn sucks as the inside tire will just spin. I originally attributed this to my lack of a limited slip differential and also that the tires were taller than my A6s which raised the ride height of the car. I honestly believe it may also have something to do with the tire construction. One of my other XP buddies was running a set on his miata and he was experiencing the exact same thing, no drive out of the corners. He removed his rear bar and it didn't change anything. He is running a torque biasing diff. So maybe it is inherent in the design. I don't know. Here's a couple videos from today. This course was very tight and very frustrating for everyone. It didn't flow at all. Little tricky at the finish.

http://youtu.be/7HaoTVYliEo

http://youtu.be/lFsUJv2iimU

[Woody]

I'm thinking I may need to go with a bigger front swaybar. I am currently running a 22mm weltmeister and its maxed out. I think I may have to look into Chris's setups at Tangerine. What do ya'll think?

[Randal]

Since my last event I installed my 5 gallon cell on the trunk floor, got rid of the rear brake pressure limiting valve and installed a T, raised the front spindles 19mm and lowered the rear of the car an inch. Re-corner balanced and aligned it with one degree of camber all around. Toe out front, toe in rear. Car weights in at 1826 pounds with a gallon of fuel. Here are my current thoughts on the tires. The vague feeling is still there but I think that's the tradeoff for going bias ply. The straight line grip such as accelerating and braking are very good. Trailbraking is predictable as well. Mid corner grip is good. Corner exit or maintenance throttle through the turn sucks as the inside tire will just spin. I originally attributed this to my lack of a limited slip differential and also that the tires were taller than my A6s which raised the ride height of the car. I honestly believe it may also have something to do with the tire construction. One of my other XP buddies was running a set on his miata and he was experiencing the exact same thing, no drive out of the corners. He removed his rear bar and it didn't change anything. He is running a torque biasing diff. So maybe it is inherent in the design. I don't know. Here's a couple videos from today. This course was very tight and very frustrating for everyone. It didn't flow at all. Little tricky at the finish.

http://youtu.be/7HaoTVYliEo

http://youtu.be/lFsUJv2iimU

Nice hand work on the first run.

Suggestion: Take your rear view mirror off when you autox. It's right in your line of sight when looking for upcoming right turns.

Your going to love the big motor. And get a TBD, your going to need it.

[Woody]

Thanks buddy. I know the diff is lacking. These tires make it very apparent. I need to see how soon I can fit it into the budget. I still need to figure out and buy the oiling system for the new engine. I would like to dry sump it.

[Randal]

Thanks buddy. I know the diff is lacking. These tires make it very apparent. I need to see how soon I can fit it into the budget. I still need to figure out and buy the oiling system for the new engine. I would like to dry sump it.

Bill Pickering brought up this one:

http://www.wavetrac.net/

I think about 50% of what a Guard unit costs.

The engineering is also very interesting.

Bill bought one and our noted local transmission expert said it was as nice a unit as he has ever seen. We'll see when we run it behind that 3.2 that Bill has in the 914.

[Seabird]

Bill Pickering brought up this one:

http://www.wavetrac.net/

I think about 50% of what a Guard unit costs.

The engineering is also very interesting.

Bill bought one and our noted local transmission expert said it was as nice a unit as he has ever seen. We'll see when we run it behind that 3.2 that Bill has in the 914.

Wow 1400$ that is almost at striking distance. Going to keep these guys in mind.

Miguel

[Woody]

I have been looking at the Wavetracs and was thinking I would go with that over the Guard because it is still supposed to work with an unloaded tire. I know it would transform the car and most likely fix my corner exit problem. What was odd to me was my Miata buddy running the same tires with a TBD had the same exact problem. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[Randal]

I have been looking at the Wavetracs and was thinking I would go with that over the Guard because it is still supposed to work with an unloaded tire. I know it would transform the car and most likely fix my corner exit problem. What was odd to me was my Miata buddy running the same tires with a TBD had the same exact problem. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

I had a Guard TBD in my 914 and it simply worked. With the big motor it was just what was necessary to get everything working together. Magic really!

Have to thank JP as he is the first guy to use one and tell us how well it worked.

When I build a now 901 box it's going to have the Wavetrac.

[blackmoon]

Well we had great weather yesterday and I got 5 good runs in. On a 35 second course the car is at least a half second faster than it ever was on the A6s, maybe a full second. The need for a TB diff is exagerated with this setup so I ended up going full stiff on the front bar. It helped but just masked the problem. Turn in was great, Haven't found the limit while in the slaloms and it seems very predictable mid corner. It was about 85 degrees ambient and I saw 110 on the tires which was close to what the other guys were seeing.

My two best runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exodqAGWBXQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1o1TbTK-dU

Nice directional stripper for guidance (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

[J P Stein]

Brit sent a new pic of his car.....also a vid. At his last AX he beat a DP Miata by nearly 3 sec.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzgyqyPqOA...eature=youtu.be

Runs like this will put him in the hunt at The Nats. in XP. He'll be at Crows Landing for a preview.

The car looks fast just settin' there.

[Randal]

Brit sent a new pic of his car.....also a vid. At his last AX he beat a DP Miata by nearly 3 sec.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzgyqyPqOA...eature=youtu.be

Runs like this will put him in the hunt at The Nats. in XP. He'll be at Crows Landing for a preview.

The car looks fast just settin' there.

Looking forward to watching Britain go against the XP Champs. His car at Medford was crazy fast, so thinking he is going to do very well.

[brant]

Nice paint!

[koozy]

That looks ridiculously fast and equally as fun

[Woody]

Point taken JP. While my car is not a contender in XP yet, I am building it into one. I wanted to start the year in XP so at least I can start gathering some year end points. Your old car, Britain's car is quite the beast. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[J P Stein]

Point taken JP. While my car is not a contender in XP yet, I am building it into one. I wanted to start the year in XP so at least I can start gathering some year end points. Your old car, Britain's car is quite the beast. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

There are 3 DP Miatas running in PNW SCCA.
All of then go to the Nats regular like. All have trophied there. All are about 2 seconds behind the top XP guy (Zust), depending on the day but that is a good round number. They used to beat my old car by 1-2 seconds.

Brit & Alan reversed that nicely. Those 2 guys each make at least twice the money I did AND picked up some sponsership......there's a clue there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif).

Goodyear no longer makes those tires. They are going with AVONs @ $450 a pop.

Good luck, that is a tough road to hoe.

[nolift914]

Any new updates or conclusions, I am getting ready to get a new set of tires for my xp 914.