Vintage Tires

[smsazzy]

What is everyone using for vintage tires, and how long do they last?

I see Hoosier has a set of treaded vintage tires. I have ordered a set to test. I'm just curious what seems to be the expected life out of these tires.

[SR Racing]

I think they are getting at least a season out of them. (At least based upon my sales to them.)

Jim

[hars550]

I use Dunlop and if taken care of I can get 2 seasons.
8 races a season and I rotate them.

[smsazzy]

Have you ever run on a set of slicks (Hoosier/Goodyear)? Any idea how much slower the vintage tires are?

[Bill_Bonow]

A good source or point of reference is Butch Deer. He has driven on both and can give you solid feedback.

butch_deer@midspring.com

[BobShedd]

Stephen, I have been running on the Hoosier Vintage tire on my Zink for the last 3 seasons ( my guess is maybe 12 weekends ) and they are probably 1/2 worn ( I'm mid pack )They will outlast the Dunlops, however many ( not all ) feel the Dunlops are slightly quicker. My perception is they are not as good as the Dunlops on a cold spring or fall weekend - they don't seem to come up to temp as well as the Dunlops when the track is cold. Dunlops are about $ 200.00 per set more money ( last I checked ). Overall I like the Hoosiers.

Bob Shedd Vintage Formula Vee

[Bill_Bonow]

however many ( not all ) feel the Dunlops are slightly quicker.

I fall into that (not all) catagory. 2:56 at Road America in a Monoposto '68 Zink Z-5 on Hoosiers. Bob, I think that is still a good time 14 years after the fact?

[brian]

I understand the size is a bit different from the slicks. What are the dia's?

[smsazzy]

From Hoosier Website:
120/590-15 (22.6")
135/620-15 (24.1")

ITEM APPROX.APPROX. RECOM. MEASURED SECTION
NUMBER TIRE SIZE PATTERN WIDTH DIA. CIRC. RIM RIM WIDTH MODEL
44405 120/590-15 L 4.8" 22.6" 70.9" 4.5" 4.5" 6.1" VINTAGE T.D.
44408 135/620-15 L 5.6" 24.1" 75.6" 4.5" 4.5" 6.9" VINTAGE T.D.

[Mark_Silverberg]

Bill I believe your 2:56 was in June of 2003 as I recall. Any yes that is still a very good lap. That was on the old style hoosier tires which have since been updated.

Monoposto regulations say the rear tire must be minimum 24 inches diameter. A smaller diameter may be good for 1.5 sec per lap on a track like Roebling Road.

Dunlops if well managed can be made to last for 6+ race weekends. They do not fall off much with time sitting. A race was won last year with tires which were first mounted in 2007.

[Bill_Bonow]

Mark,

You are correct, June Sprints 2003. I was thinking one birthday earlier. Been to too many, they run together as you get older.

I'm hopeful that "managed" doesn't mean one needs to bring 5 sets of wheels per weekend

[Mark_Silverberg]

I typically have three sets of Dunlops mounted and available when I am running more than three races in a year or have a little extra money to spend.

In a three day weekend I use the "old set" for practice.

I change to tires that are a newer for qualifying and race.

I have one set of tires scrubbed in at full tread in case of rain.

When the old set runs down to the cords I get a new set and move the other sets down the food chain.

For the past two seasons I have run on a single set of tires. They went on the car in the summer of 2009 as my race only tires. - ran two races in 2010 and three races in 2011 and still have quite a bit of tread left. I think I have one or two sessions where I ran the wet reserves but you can easily get 5+ races out of them. Of course if I was a faster driver maybe not so much.

[FV80]

...ran two races in 2010 and three races in 2011 and still have quite a bit of tread left...

I THINK I'm beginning to understand how people can get *TWO SEASONS* of racing out of a single set of tires.
Steve, FV80

[Mark_Silverberg]

Yes, but before you are quick to judge on that, our vintage race weekends typically involve 1 hour of track time (three sessions) on Friday. A similar amount on Saturday and about half an hour on Sunday. As I said before about 6 weekends which would be about 15 hours of running time on a set of tires. Does that help?.

My point on two seasons on a single set of tires was that, although I typically have multiple sets, you can still run on a single set and have pretty good tire life and run 5 or more races.

Yes, I would like to run more races but sometimes life brings other priorities.