Radial Tyres for Targa West 2010

[mc68]

ripped from bmsc.

email sent out from Tapper recently

Radial Tyres for Modern Cars

A major issue at Quit Targa West is the damage to the roads through chicanes and corners. We are looking at various different ways to reduce the damage being done. It has been recommended to us by a number of leading competitors to run radial tyres. The other advantages with running radial tyres is the cars go slower and the driver gets a better feel of the car sliding. They also offer far more grip in wet conditions.

If we were to implement radial tyres in 2010 it would be for all Modern Challenge and Modern Competition Cars and if successful we would look at doing the same for Classic Cars in 2011 or 2012. We welcome feedback from competitors with regards to running radial tyres. Please send comments to info@targawest.com.au

Extensive discussions have led Quit Targa West Organisers to make various changes in order to secure a viable future for the event. As a result of these discussions the decision has been made to limit the Modern Categories of competition and challenge to street rated radial tyres. Further specifications and regulations to this effect will be released as soon as they come to hand.

Opinions? How will they enforce a radial rule?
as technically alot of r comps are still in a sense, radial

[TJ]

Wow thats going to piss some people off.

35 GTR owners already run the stock tyre and wheel since there is no 20 inch comps.. good times for them.

[mys1]

I dont know af any R comps that arent Radials, COrrect me if im wrong, Slicks are a whole different ball game, But your Bridgestones, Yoko's Toyos etc are all Radial dot rated R comps :S

[Joe]

Fuck, so I can't run 20" cross ply's on my R35 GTR then?

[Alt_F4]

35 GTR owners already run the stock tyre and wheel since there is no 20 inch comps.. good times for them.

Doesn't steve run toyo 888s on the 35?
The toyo 888s have been around in 20in for a couple of months

[FranZ]

Steve ran them for the first time at Mt Buller last weekend.

[esky]

havn't some road car based events aready done this? some time attack event i think it was.

i was under the impression that they ran a rule that tires couldn't have a treadwear rating softer then 140

[bjohnson]

It's like Esky said, they usually set a minimum treadwear rating of 140.

I'm all for it.

Hopefully it spreads to other events.
Much more cost effective, it means (especially for club events) that you wouldn't need to have a second set of rims you can just drive around on your semi comps all the time (My hankooks are coming on 20,000kms now).
It may help to bring more people to events and it will bring a heap more sponsorship from other tyre manufacturers.

I don't think it will be a bad thing for targa events. I've heard the average speed is still too high and they need to bring it back down, at the moment they just stick chicanes everywhere. With a shift to Semicomps that should help bring it down, so less chicanes and more flowing road. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I know there have been talks of taking the DOT/MOT? approval away from R Compound tyres in the UK. Not to mention that I don't think R Compound tyres are that big in the US, they usually either go for full slicks or semi comps.

It should be interesting to see how it all pans out..

[Lonewolf]

isnt the treadwear rating determined by manufacturer though?
e.g. they will just change the number to 200 and be done with it, whilst maintaining the same grip level?

i think that it may also make it a bit less competitive for 2wd cars, but i guess the same could be said under current rules (hence classes etc)

Interesting indeed.

[macksrallye]

I don't think it will be a bad thing for targa events. I've heard the average speed is still too high and they need to bring it back down, at the moment they just stick chicanes everywhere. With a shift to Semicomps that should help bring it down, so less chicanes and more flowing road. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Trust me, you won't see less chicanes or more flowing roads. The small amount of difference in pace that restricting tyre choice will make is not enough to offset the vehicle & driver development that is always happening. I know from many conversations with Ross Tapper that each year they go into the TW thinking that they will get the maximum average speed under the magic mark. After each TW it's just not quite enough & back to the drawing board for the organisers.

[LostInTheWoods]

Ummm reduce the average speed?

The GTR's already use street tyres. Fail.

[FranZ]

Fail on the self accessed tyre rating - Toyo did this in the US; they changed batch numbers and treadwear rating changed however tyre compound did NOT change.

The fact its self accessed means there will be a an r comp modified and designed with more than 5mm of tread depth and more grooves and will be marketed as "high performance" tyre.