[Shotimes] Cheap tires for a 91 SHO

[Ron Porter]

Very good points. What many people don't understand is that the stock brakes
on virtually every car made can either lock up the tires (non-ABS) or engage
the ABS for a panic stop. Better brakes won't change this (nor shorten the
stopping distance), it's the tire quality that determines the stopping
ability of almost every car. 

Putting better brakes on a SHO won't help the ultimate stopping
ability....where it helps is in repeated hard stops, as in a track
situation. Sure, better brakes can have a different "feel" for partial
braking, but this does not improve all-out stopping ability.

Todd Serota, who owns/runs the TracQuest events, has found this with many
cars that run at the events. Everyone is impressed with the z06 Corvette for
handling, but the stock brakes still go away quite quickly. They may feel
very good on the street, but after a few laps the Z06s lose brakes, whereas
the Vipers and Porsches keep on truckin'.

Ron Porter 

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Mark Nunnally
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 12:17 PM
To: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Cheap tires for a 91 SHO

Bingo Bingo.  Tires stop a car, not brakes.  Buddy at work just bought a '03
Accord 240 hp V6.  Figured out my ASA rims dual bolt pattern fit, so we
pulled off the skinny OEM 205/60 rubber, and stuck the 225/50 V700 race
rubber on 7.5" rims.  Obviously the car would go around a corner a bunch
faster, but nathan couldn't beleive how well the car stopped.  With the
g-tech, we were getting 30-40 feet shorter stopping distances between the 2
different wheels/tires.  It was obvious how many more g's the car would pull
with the sticky tires.  granted, that's an extreme example (crappy OEM
skinnies vs fat wide race rubber) but even sticky street rubber would make a
difference.  10-20 feet on a stop can save your life, or your car.

My 89 (on the way to the track running the 450 nittos) won't stop worth a
turd.  The tires lock up when you barely breath on the pedal.  With the
nitto drag radials, or the race tires, it's like night and day.

The Yokohoma ES100's have good straight line traction (braking and
acceleration), especially considering the cost of the tire.

mark