By far, the majority of Sprite driver's I come across are racing on
Hoosier's bias ply Street TD. If you're used to the "reassurance" that a
radial provides, the Hoosier may scare the shit out of you on the first lap
you try them, but after finding that they "slip-slip-slip..." then hook up
like a slick, you'll find that they're a very fast tire. In my experience, a
radial feels great until it lets go without warning. The Hoosier bias ply is
far more "predictable" when pushed to its limit.
We (VSCDA) see folks running both the 70 series and the 60 series...(used to
be 70 series for Group 2 948 guys, and 60 series for the Group 8 1275
guys... but our groupl claaifications have been somewhat muddied by recent
internal wranglings...)
The Revolutions that David mentioned are a very cool wheel. We see a fair
amount original Minilites (magnesium). I run the American racing 8 spoke
magnesiums... but all these old wheels need to be crack checked. Another
popular wheel is the American 4 spoke wheel... kind of gives a sinister
look when the centers are painted dark.They are aluminum, and heavier than
the earlier 8 spoke style. I have a set of the Mililte reproductions as
sold by VB & Moss.. They're pretty, and no doubt strong, but pretty heavy.
If you like that style, the Panasport racing wheel gives you that look in a
significantly lighter wheel.
I'd also say a majority of us do run rain tires. It varies from performance
radial street tires, to Hoosier Dirt Stockers. I've found it far simpler to
have the same wheel for rain and dry tires, so there's no issues with
offsets, or different style lugs, etc.
WST
----- Original Message -----
From "David C Littlefield" <dmeadow at juno.com>
To: <vainent@nfdc.net>
Cc: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: vintage race tires
> I can only tell you what I'm running and what some others around are
> running. Some of this depends upon your local vintage club's rules.
> Always, always check the rules before buying anything! You don't want
> any expensive mistakes.
>
> CVAR (my local club) allows maximum wheel widths of stock +1.5". I think
> VSCDA only allows stock + .5", for example. I'm running a set of
> Revolution wheels that are 5.5" wide with Yokohama A032 175/60R13 tires.
> I'm on my second set, the first ones lasted about 3/4 of a season. They
> grip really well in the dry but are pretty marginal in the rain. They
> are almost a slick tire with a few rain grooves. Almost no one I know
> uses separate dry and rain tires, so an all-around tire is important.
>
> Some other spridget drivers I know are running a Kumho tire (V700?). It
> is a little less expensive, grips as well in the dry as the Yokohama
> (judging from watching others), and seems to do better in the wet. It
> also can be rotated from side to side where the Yokohamas are
> unidirectional. By the way, the Kumho tire may have a rotation arrow on
> it, but Kumho, via the Tire Rack webite, says that they can be swapped
> from side to side. Swapping the tires around more will help extend their
> usefulness. I don't know how the Kumhos wear, since I haven't tried
> them. I'm thinking of going with a set when my current tires wear out.
>
> The tire that everyone raves about is hard to find. The Yokohama A008.
> I understand Yokohama quit making it in spridget size. I've known some
> people that have found used ones with lots of life left for good money.
>
> I like the Revolution wheels a lot. They are extremely light and very
> true. A couple of them required no weights to balance and the others
> maybe a half to an ounce of weight. Normally they are rather expensive,
> although I got a good deal on a set. They are made in the UK. A lot of
> the spridget drivers also use the KN Minilite replicas (Minators)
> available from Moss, Viccy Brit, and others. They are rather heavy, but
> strong. You can, of course, go with true Minilites or Panasports for a
> lot more money.
>
> David Littlefield
> 1962 MGA MkII
> 1974 MG Midget vintage racecar
> 1951 MGTD
> 1961 Jaguar E-Type OTS
>
> On Sun, 18 Aug 2002 20:01:25 -0400 "Gary Breeback" <vainent@nfdc.net>
> writes:
> > Hi all, what is the current hot tire / wheel set-up for vintage
> > racing a
> > spridget ?
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/spridgets
|