Max, I have to disagree with you. Moss and Fangio were not running on tires
with anything near the grip that is available with almost any comp tire
today. Wires are at best marginal for any competition purpose. I've got 72
spokers on my Healey but will be rid of them soon, and they are near new.
John
Max Heim wrote:
> Well, in the big picture, look at all those old photos of Fangio and
> Stirling Moss driving the hell out of much more powerful cars -- with
> wire wheels. So "in principle" wire wheels can be suitable for extremely
> demanding applications.
>
> The question is, are *your* wire wheels suitable? That is more difficult
> to answer. But I would think that a hypothetical perfect set of wheels
> and hubs woud be adequate for the racing you describe. So, keep a close
> eye on the spoke tension and center nut tightness, and check the splines
> frequently, and see how it goes. My experience is that problems such as
> broken spokes, out-of-trueness, and loose center nuts make themselves
> obvious very quickly by vibration, clunking noises, etc.
>
> What you may find is that the amount of maintenance the wire wheels
> require given heavy abuse makes it economically attractive to replace
> them sooner rather than later.
>
> BTW I find that moderate street driving here in the land of earthquakes
> and CalTrans leads to replacing 2 or 3 spokes a year. I have no racing
> experience to draw upon, so YMMV.
>
> Eric Erickson had this to say:
>
> >To open up a little 'private' conversation that Mr Cotty and I have just
> >been having I would like to gather some informed comment or even wild
> >speculation.
> >
> >I am planning on getting into some club racing or more specifically
> >Super Sprints. Just four laps around a little mile or so long track
> >with a few curves - it has a reputation for being hard on brakes that I
> >can attest to as my 'street' brake pads turned to cardboard after a few
> >sets of practice laps at lower than 'really-trying' speed.
> >
> >Now the question isn't about brakes but rather WIRE WHEELS (the braking
> >description just lets you know that the twisting and turning is
> >marginally hard on the car).
> >
> >One school of thought says that I will kill myself if I leave the wire
> >wheels on. The wires will collapse.
> >
> >Another school of thought says that for the little distance and
> >effort... just four laps... I should not worry about the wires
> >collapsing unless there are some pre-existing weaknesses or damage to
> >the spokes.
> >
> >The rest of the arguments fall in between those two extremes.
> >
> >Has anyone any thoughts or experience, good or bad, with racing on wire
> >wheels?
> >
> >Basically I am trying to apportion my meagre funds and to prioritise my
> >spending on my little car. My primary aim is to be able to get around
> >the track without killing myself or anyone else. Then I need to make
> >sure the car doesn't fall to pieces along the way. Next is making it go
> >and stop safely and as quickly as possible for a vanilla engine.
> >
> >THEN comes the go-fast stuff on the engine (in the meantime I will have
> >got myself some decent track time under my belt).
> >
> >Can I leave the wheels until later?
> >Do I need to ever change the wheels?
> >
> >
> >Eric
> >'68MGB MkII
> >
>
> --
>
> Max Heim
> '66 MGB GHN3L76149
> If you're near Mountain View, CA,
> it's the red one with the silver bootlid.
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