Figured I'd throw this one out if anybody has an opinion.

Right now I have 2 AX days (16 runs) on my A6's. They still feel great. I also
have new A7's in the basement, and since I have 3-piece wheels, mounting is free
except for my time.

I compete for the championship in NCR PCA, there are 6 events and 4 completed.
I won 3, so winning either of last 2 locks it up. Last event is october which can suck
for weather (914 is not competitive in rain next to modern cars IME). But coming
up next is a 2-day (counts for NCR and also PCA Zone 1).

Would you:
a) Just use the A6 for 2 more days
b) Use the new A7 for next event then pop A6 back on
c) Flip A6 on the rims
d) other



Thanks,
Mark S.

Get another set of wheels, mount the A7s on em'.

A6s are good for maybe 40-50 passes.....limit your runs per event. They will stilll look good but heat cycle out. 4 or 5 passes per event are plenty.

I used to go thru 2 sets of new tires per year (2 drivers). Always saved one set for "big deal" events. With 2 sets od W&Ts you can pick your spots.

In the long term, tires are your main expense......it pays to save them. They are also about 1-2 sec faster than heat cycled out tires. We used to run at least 20 or more events per year.

Sorry but more wheels are not an option or necessary. Need exact weird offset
on narrow car. I got lucky finding fuchs centers to build my own.

I got about 90 runs before they are obviously a problem , I assume they are
gradually getting worse but I'm not good enough to notice.

I'd never limit my runs per day unless it went to 12 or something. I'm not good
enough; later runs will always be faster. We get about 70 second laps so there
are many elements to tune.

Thanks for suggestions

If your goal is to wrap it up and win, change the tires, you can alway save the low cycled tires for practice or future setup. Don't give yourself any reason to wonder, get the win, then use up the tires!

Imho..I'd run the A6 for the 2 day and see if you can wrap it up...saving the A7s for next season (stored inside in black garbage bags).

If you run the A7's 1 time they will start to age..then won't be as good for next season... That being said the guys that have switched 1/2 way thru the season are dropping serious time on the a7's.

There are valid points to prepping the best car you can and leaving no doubt as stated above but considering how much the new set cost I'd try and keep them for next season.

Good luck in your championship hunt!
Andrew

If you put on brand new A7s without heat cycling them first they wont be as good as heat cycled. Some even claim you can "ruin" them by not heat cycling them properly then taking the weight off for them to "cure" for 48 hours min.

And as for the A7s "ageing" between seasons, some of the racers in my club heat cycle brand new tires, then store them for months on purpose, so I dont know if that is actually a bad thing.

You can buy the SM7s from Tire rack pre-heat cycled (IIRC).

https://www.hoosiertire.com/pdfs/TCTR7_A7.pdf

Per Hoosier, The A7 does not req the same break in as the R7..they state they can be driven around the competition site to remove the shine (mold release) and are ready.

I dont know of anyone breaking in new tires in the fall to be stored until spring in our region..but like most things I suspect if you ask 50 people what works for them you will receive 50 different answers.

To me the A6's with 16 runs are in the sweet spot...wrap it up next event and save the $1000 worth of new rubber for next year (breaking them in however best suits your mojo)

Sorry I was gone for the week. Not being sure of the weather, I am staying
with the A6. If it rains all the time I'm doomed anyway (competing with modern
GT3RS). If it stays dry in the mornings I'll probably be fine.

I agree that the A tires don't need to be pre heat-cycled. Hoosier says only the
R tires do.