[Shotimes] (OT) Safety group seeks tire expiration date

[Donald Mallinson]

Ron,

I don't consider hard driving on the street a positive 
trait.  I see lots of stupid people that might seem daring, 
but are really just putting others in danger.

I don't doubt that you take corners on the street harder 
than I do.  Doesn't proove a thing, except you  seem to wear 
your street driving like a medal.  :)

You take every opportunity to try to put down my street 
driving, which you only get to see at the conventions. 
There is a big difference, for example at the conventions, 
when you are putting on an event and when you are just 
participating.  If everyone had taken the Indiana tour like 
you did, we would have more than just YOUR car pegged into a 
tree. I have to keep the entire group in mind, thus I will 
always err on the side of caution.  I would hope you would 
understand that, but you don't seem to be able to grasp the 
concept.

Eric's caravans to some of the early conventions are a 
perfect example of why you do NOT try to take a group of 
cars, as small as 5 or 6, and travel at excessive speeds. 
Those were fun, but dangerous caravans, especially when they 
got over 10-15 cars.

As for the race tires, I didn't take them to several 
convention events because I didn't have time or space to 
bring the car on a trailer or the tires with all the other 
stuff I have to bring.  Thus, I did a bunch of track events, 
driving as hard as anyone, but not a lot of them on the race 
tires.  And frankly, you don't know how many track events I 
do, I don't do many drag events, but I will bet I do a lot 
more track events.

I also had these tires heat cycled by the Tire Rack and I 
have no doubt that extended their life considerably.

Ability to slide tires, wear them out quick, wear out the 
sidewalls (ala Kirk), wear out brakes, etc, doesn't prove 
anything on a track.  Just proves that a lot of overdriving 
is going on.  Might be fun, doesn't prove skill.  Doesn't 
have anything to do with how much fun someone is having.

I don't gauge how good of a driver I am on the track or 
street by how many tires I wear out or how fast.

If I get more of my money's worth from my tires than you do, 
then I think that is a good thing.  No less a "driver" than 
Jackie Stewart knows where I am coming from, many people 
could learn from reading his books about the difference 
between wild drivers that look fast and smooth drivers that 
really ARE fast and safer.

Don Mallinson



Ron Porter wrote:
> The GT IIs are not the original tires. It came with the POS Eagle GTs.
> 
> For aggressive, responsive street driving, tires should have a treadware
> under 300, and getting 20K on them is all that should be expected.
> 
> Old tires, or those with high treadware ratings that last to long, do not
> perform optimally. I probably drive harder than you do, and expect more out
> of my tires. They are expendable commodities for me, and the performance is
> worth more than squeaking out more time with them.
> 
> Don, if your race tires are eight years old, (1) you don't track them
> enough, or (2) you don't drive hard enough!!
> 
> Ron Porter
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donald Mallinson [mailto:dmall@mwonline.net] 
> Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 12:56 PM
> Cc: 'Shotimes'; 'SHO Tech'; 'V8List SHO'
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] (OT) Safety group seeks tire expiration date
> 
> 
> Ron,
> 
> I did acknowledge that old tires fail, but probably not at a 
> rate a lot higher than new tires. I didn't read so well on 
> another topic earlier (shims/valve stems clearance) and you 
> missed this one....maybe us old farts just can't read anymore?
> 
> Being involved with the old car hobby like I am, old tires 
> are just not a big concern of the group as a whole.  I think 
> most people in the hobby understand that the older a tire 
> gets, the less you should trust it, but I have had FAR more 
> new or nearly new tires (about 3) fail on me than old tires 
> (none).
> 
> I think replacing tires every two years is way too soon, but 
> it is your money.
> 
> Heck, the RACE tires on my '89 are now getting to be about 
> eight years old, and they see lots of high speed and stress. 
>   I think I will retire them this winter though, may have 
> pushed my luck enough, especially since one of them has a plug!
> 
> If those GTII's on the Fiero are still in good cosmetic 
> shape, you might want to keep them and sell them on E-bay. 
> Someone will want them for SHOW purposes I am sure!
> 
> :)
> 
> Don Mallinson