> My experience with Hoosiers has been primarily road racing, not autox. I
> have road raced on Yokohamas, BFG R1s, BFG g-Forces, Kumhos, and Hoosiers.
> I have autoxed on all of those but not much on the Hoosiers. The Hoosiers
> have been by far the easiest to flat spot. I have corded a few that were
> almost new from just locking the brakes for about 1/2 second. I have
> locked up the g-Forces for significantly longer and they showed some
> flatspotting, but not severe and no cords were showing. The new Hoosier
> R3S03 compound seems to not flatspot as easily as the old R3S02 compound,
> and they also seem to stay more consistent during a race, but a few people
> have told me that they think they are slower too.
>
Many IT class road racers believe the Hoosiers are the fastest, especially
when they are new. But they also complain about how easy they are to
flatspot and the fact that they don't last as long as the other tires. They
also seem to be more sensitive to proper pressures, so you really have to
get them dialed in properly. I can tell the difference with a few pounds of
pressure in the Hoosiers. With the BFGs I can radically change pressures
and it doesn't seem to matter that much.
As far as wear, the Yoks lasted forever. I hated them, so I tried hard to
wear them out, but I couldn't. One of them finally had a carcass failure.
The R1s always wore well for me, as long as I got them shaved first.
Otherwise, I'd get the EGOD. They usually lost their grip from too many
heat cycles before they corded. The Hoosiers are always corded before they
get that old. The g-Forces are a little better than the Hoosiers as far as
wear. The Kumhos seemed to wear a little longer than the R1s.
My personal choice is Kumho, but I don't use them because they don't make a
225/50-14. They seem to be as fast as the R1s were, probably a bit slower
than Hoosiers. They wear really well, cost less to buy, and with full tread
they are very good in the rain. I have a set of Hoosier Dirt Stockers for
rain tires for my ITS car, but I haven't had the chance to use them yet. I
have an old set of full-tread R1s for my autox rain tires.
These are just my personal observations. I am not sponsored and have never
received any tire contingency and have no tire brand loyalty, so I think my
observations are unbiased. And speaking of contingencies, BFG only pays for
ProSeries not NationalSeries. Hoosier pays two tires for a NationalSeries
win. I think Kumho pays something for NationalSeries as well.
Brad Burns
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