hoosier r-6 tire wear

juanbenae · 11-08-2008, 08:02 PM

how do these look? these are my pops' on his vette.

TIA

kurquhart · 11-08-2008, 09:18 PM

Depends on what you want to do with them. For DE, run them until they are corded; there is plenty more rubber in that picture. For competitive lap times, however, 6-8 heat cycles is all they will last.

trekkor · 11-08-2008, 09:38 PM

Same comment.

KT

ninesixfour · 01-03-2009, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurquhart

Depends on what you want to do with them. For DE, run them until they are corded; there is plenty more rubber in that picture. For competitive lap times, however, 6-8 heat cycles is all they will last.

After the 6-8 HC are they still faster than RA-1s, 888s, MPSC, etc. or are they then about the same?

kurquhart · 01-03-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninesixfour

After the 6-8 HC are they still faster than RA-1s, 888s, MPSC, etc. or are they then about the same?

That is a good question, but I don't know for sure since I have not swapped back and forth on the same track day. My gut feeling is that they are still faster, but not by as much.

What I really like about the R6 is the feel, across the entire life of the tire. This is obviously subjective, but I am more confident driving on corded R6 than freshly shaved RA-1. There is more feedback at the limit, IMO.

ninesixfour · 01-03-2009, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurquhart

That is a good question, but I don't know for sure since I have not swapped back and forth on the same track day. My gut feeling is that they are still faster, but not by as much.

What I really like about the R6 is the feel, across the entire life of the tire. This is obviously subjective, but I am more confident driving on corded R6 than freshly shaved RA-1. There is more feedback at the limit, IMO.

Reason I ask is I am considering buying used Hoosiers partly for the greater level of grip but also because they're they only tire company that has 225/245 in 15". I have seen them with 11 HC for $50 a tire which while not being as fast as when new could still be faster than my 205/225 RA-1s and are MUCH cheaper than new.

Interesting what you say about the feel. I've heard that they are very sticky initially but once they go past that super sticky phase they fall way off speed-wise. Again, I don't how this "way off" speed compares to RA-1s but even if it's equal and stays that way until they cord I'll at least be running a larger tire which should help with cornering and braking.

Jack Olsen · 01-03-2009, 05:56 PM

It's all about the heat cycles, not the wear. In my experience, they get bad in a hurry. Not nearly as good as RA1s after their sweet period is over.

Kevin Stewart · 01-03-2009, 06:14 PM

have you guys heard of tire softeners,

Kevin

Brant · 08:34 PM

I've run:
- new r6's
-15 heat cycle r6's
-ra1's

back to back to back
the main problem for me was the difference between the RA1's and R6's was in "feel"

I found used r6's to be "about" the same lap time as new RA1's
however, part of that was that I like and was used to the hoosier feel
I had to drive differnt lines and different style to get the same lap times out of the RA1's
(much looser, much more throwing it into corners and drifting with a looser feel.. when I drift hoosiers it more under control than when I drift the RA1)

the RA1 was not as comfortable "seat of the pants"
I also think they probably take a very different alignment set up and I was running the RA1's with my "hoosier" alignment set up
(I simply bolted them on without changing alignment settings)

given the "feel" I was sensing.. I'm pretty sure the RA1's could of been dialed in faster with some alignment adjustments... but since I ultimately qualify on the hoosiers and the RA1's are for practice/fun... I'm not going to mess up my alignment specs to run a practice session.

believe it or not our light car doesn't cord hoosier's until well above 30 heat cycles.
they are much slower at that point obviously.. but on the light car they slow down very gradually...

ie: you can't feel the difference (or really measure it in lap times) between 10 and 20 heat cycles... granted the 5 heatcycle tire is faster... but its a gradual slow down.

given my tire wear is usually a fraction of the 911's I run with
and my car is so much lighter than the 944 guys and many of the folks who love the RA1
my experiment with buying a set, led me to believe that my car is too light to put the heat into them that some get... I don't think the RA1's like my light car until I slide the crap out of them, and I didn't find the RA1 to be nearly as great as many proclaim...

I've always found that the "internet knowledge group and general conscensus" usually applies to certain weights of car and not necessarily my weight.

Jack Olsen · 01-03-2009, 09:36 PM

How long did you run the RA1s? They're terrible out of the box unless they're shaved. But once they start to wear, they get better and better. I've run better laptimes on RA1s than on fresh Hoosiers. But that is probably because my car was set up better for the RA1s.

Brant · 01-03-2009, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Olsen

How long did you run the RA1s? They're terrible out of the box unless they're shaved. But once they start to wear, they get better and better. I've run better laptimes on RA1s than on fresh Hoosiers. But that is probably because my car was set up better for the RA1s.

you could be onto part of it.
I didn't shave them
and I ran about 6 twenty five minute sessions on them, and then a 2 hour enduro.
they took a lot of wear in the 2 hour enduro.. but not a lot of heat cycles

trekkor · 01-04-2009, 09:58 AM

My fastest laps at Reno-Fernley were on my Hoosiers right when they corded.
This was on their 50th heat cycle...

KT

earlyapex · 01-04-2009, 10:36 AM

I ran Thunderhill last year using the Toyo RA-1, Hankook V214, and Hoosier R6. Often the same weekend. The RA-1 was 2 seconds slower per lap than the V214, which was less than a second per lap slower than the R6. The RA-1 broke away much sooner than the other two tires of course. The transition from grip to slide was gentle and very easy to drive through. The V214 and R6 had much higher grip levels from the beginning. They feel very similar with the nod going to the V214 having a more gentle break away. The R6 is very light and easy to flat spot. There is a NOT sudden and dramatic drop off in performance like in the older Hoosiers. The new R6 is very easy to drive until they cord or flat spot out of use. I raced the R6 until the flat spots made driving a pain in the arms. I'll be on Z214's and R6's this year. My car weighs 2350 lb with half a tank of gas and a 135 lb driver. I run 245/40 and 275 or 285/35 18 sized tires.

Jack Olsen · 01-04-2009, 03:03 PM

I haven't run Hoosiers since 2006, so I'll defer to Eric on the precipitous drop-off issue.

How to the Hankook's last, compared to RA1s?

earlyapex · 01-06-2009, 12:35 AM

From my experience, the Z214 is like the R6 in that they are at their prime during the first few heat cycles and then slowly drop off in performance. I have 20 heat cycles on a set that is sitting in my garage. I will use them in 09 for practice sessions. They are about 1 second slower now than at their prime. I've gotten as much as 28 heat cycles out of a set last year before they became too flat spotted to be fun and I put on a new set. I got over 60 heat cycles out of a set of RA-1's in 07 and do not expect the Hankooks to last that long. The Hankooks are not as sensitive to good braking technique as the R6's. I must be a hack.

ninesixfour · 01-11-2009, 07:13 PM

OK I've got 2 sets of used R6s on the way and I'll report back on my findings which unfortunately won't be until March.