Hoosier road-race tires for a Griffith...
Discussion
I know it's not the most common choice for tvr enthusiasts and Griffith owners but i'm seriously thinking to fix this Hoosier R6 road-race sportscar DOT radial tires with my new 17/18'' pro-race 1.2 wheels, on my Griffith, sizes available are 225/40/17 front and 255/40/18 rear
I have Hoosiers (DOT sportscar vintage) on my C3 Vette and they honor the brand name, they are not everydays rubber but i dont use the Griffith everyday anyway and i never use it on the wet...
What's your opinion?
I have Hoosiers (DOT sportscar vintage) on my C3 Vette and they honor the brand name, they are not everydays rubber but i dont use the Griffith everyday anyway and i never use it on the wet...
What's your opinion?
Edited by panic on Tuesday 14th October 21:55
Think i'd wet me pants if a gnat pissed on the road 
I have used the A6 (softer) compound version of these on the Griff for Hillclimbs for the last two seasons. They were the only reasonably soft slick I could find that would fit sensibly and give the same rolling diameter as standard. Ideally they would be a bit softer but they did gain me about 1.5 sec over A032r soft compound rubber. I run them on 17” Pro Race 1.2 wheels. They are very stiff for a slick and would say the improvement over the 32r is turn in, they give enormous front end grip so you can really lean on them but they are not so good off the line or under heavy breaking, probably no better than the 32rs, they also need a fair bit of negative camber to work well. I have 245s on the rear, as advice from the supplier suggested that I may struggle to get heat into anything wider. Plainly not road legal but I would be surprised if anybody thought they would be.
There have been suggestions that they are legal in some states but to be fair they are clearly marked for competition use only and the Hoosier documents also clearly say they are not for road use. As I understand it they are called DOT (Department Of Transport) because the markings are as per road tyres which allows them to be used for some race series or other in the US. Can confirm that they are not ideal in standing water or indeed a hail storm.
steve-V8s said:
There have been suggestions that they are legal in some states but to be fair they are clearly marked for competition use only and the Hoosier documents also clearly say they are not for road use. As I understand it they are called DOT (Department Of Transport) because the markings are as per road tyres which allows them to be used for some race series or other in the US. Can confirm that they are not ideal in standing water or indeed a hail storm.
When I looked it was a few years ago and Hoosier were making the most about the fact they were street legal but they are effectively race slicks. It sounds as if they have come to their senses!panic said:
Thought they had been delayed and not available yet ?panic said:
Yea those are R888s but I thought the R1Rs were the replacement/upgrades for the R888?steve-V8s said:
I run them on 17” Pro Race 1.2 wheels. I have 245s on the rear, as advice from the supplier suggested that I may struggle to get heat into anything wider.
I hadn’t considered the issue of tyre width and getting tyres warm. If 245s are the limit for the back, what’s the limit for the front?Can difficulty warming the tyres be a problem with road tyres?
With road tyres, how wide can one go before it becomes a problem?
What width rims are you using and what tyre size do you run on the front?
I am not by any means a tyre expert and thought we were talking about slicks for use on the track not road tyres. The slicks at the start of the thread only really offer best grip when warm as that softens the rubber significantly, therefore when sprinting or hill climbing you get the chance to spin the rears before the start to warm them. The wider the tyre the less load there is at the point of contact because the contact is spread over a wider area so the wider it is the more difficult it becomes to warm them by wheel spinning.
Heat is not an issue with road tyres, well not so much of an issue, most normal road tyres also tend to work better when warm but the difference is not so apparent and is very dependent on the compound you choose. So called track tyres “R888, A032r, etc” are better when warm, but with normal road rubber you would struggle to feel the difference. There is however a feeling that “Normal” road tyres do need to have several heat cycles before they offer best performance but this is a quite different topic.
The Hoosiers are 245 rears on 8” rims and 225 front on 7.5” rims, on the road I use 245 on 7.5” and 205 on 7”
No doubt there will be a tyre expert along soon but take care if you are fitting a size other then the original spec. Wider is not always better, it will change the shape of the contact area and give more grip one way and less in another or possibly less in both directions. The original front and rear sizes were set to give a correct balance, change that and you may well end up making a car shaped hole in the hedge.
Heat is not an issue with road tyres, well not so much of an issue, most normal road tyres also tend to work better when warm but the difference is not so apparent and is very dependent on the compound you choose. So called track tyres “R888, A032r, etc” are better when warm, but with normal road rubber you would struggle to feel the difference. There is however a feeling that “Normal” road tyres do need to have several heat cycles before they offer best performance but this is a quite different topic.
The Hoosiers are 245 rears on 8” rims and 225 front on 7.5” rims, on the road I use 245 on 7.5” and 205 on 7”
No doubt there will be a tyre expert along soon but take care if you are fitting a size other then the original spec. Wider is not always better, it will change the shape of the contact area and give more grip one way and less in another or possibly less in both directions. The original front and rear sizes were set to give a correct balance, change that and you may well end up making a car shaped hole in the hedge.
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