LSR tires

[Bob Drury]

Leon, I ran a spool for the last eight years, and only spun the one time, with 8 passes over 200, so I would give it a try before you panic too much.  I think a lower horsepower car (500 or less) with about the same torque would probably be less sensitive, and perhaps a younger driver would also help........................

[Howard]

I ran a spool in my liner with a 1.5 to r&p and had no problems thank goodness but my rear axle was only 22" wide. Much less effect. I have heard of numerous problems on the salt with spools and short wheelbase and wide track on the driving wheels. When Gale Banks and I were trying to put a program together for my liner, we were both in constant contact with the gal at MT Tires and I had four 30's and two 26,5"s on order. I was number eleven on her list but you all know how that turned out.
When Cooper bought out MT, Gale talked with the big kahuna at Cooper and tried to impress him of our need but that obviously did no good.
I think my old car with Earls's power can go a lot faster but not without proper tires.
My health and finances prevent me from doing this anymore but I sure wish you luck. We can't let the really fast cars die.
Howard Nafzger

[fastesthonda_jim]

Even the tires for the Veyron are unique. They're specially designed by Michelin to handle the stress of driving at 250 mph. The tires need to be sticky like a race car's and able to handle 1.3 G's on the skidpad. However, they also need to last longer than the 70 or so miles of a typical race tire.

Michelin therefore created completely new tires to handle the Veyron's unique requirements. In the rear, the tires are 14.4 inches (36.6 cm) wide. Specifically, the tires measure 245/690 R 520 A front and 365/710 R 540 A rear, where 245 and 365 are the width in millimeters (9.5 and 14.4 inches respectively). The rims are 520 mm and 540 mm in diameter (approximately 20 inches). These tires, in other words, are massive -- the rears are the widest ever produced for a passenger car.

So, I realize this was a couple of pages ago, but you say Michelin produced a "completely new tire" for the Veyron?  Well what is the potential market for that?  I mean how many Veyrons are they gonna sell?  Oh, JackD will get two, one for commuting (when he's late) and one for weekends, but other than that what's the total market for this "one off"?  Even given only 10k "excessive wheelspin" miles per set they probably won't sell 400 of these tires ever.  And really, what's the difference in chances of your dying, or sufffering a JackD-like mental disorder, between a 250 mph crash and a 400 mph crash?  Not much, I would guess.

So why are they making this tire and taking on this "liability"?  For the cool press it might give them?  I dunno, "Builders of The Fastest Tires on Earth" has a nice marketing ring to it.  Maybe we need to appeal to greed rather than common sense?

[Bob Drury]

Psst, Jim, no one has told Dolan yet that he's nuts...lets change the subject before he catches on.............

[JackD]

"Money talks and just talk can cost more than money."
"When you put your money where your mouth is it tends to protect your chin if you are going to lead with it."
"People that live with glass chins should not put them out front."
"If sticks and stones are your weapons of choice, you are really gonna hate my gun."
There are more Veron Hot Rods in So Cal than LSR streamliners on the planet and they buy lots of tires , even up front.
You guys are a real inspiration and so easy. LOL

[fastesthonda_jim]

I dunno about "more Veyron hot rods".  At last count there was exactly one in the U.S.  Course that was about a half a year ago, and with an anticipated production run of 300 (less than 50 a year) it will only be a matter of time before a few dozen of them will be cruising SoCal.  So okay, I stand corrected... maybe Michelin will sell 3000 tires composed of two different sizes front and rear, so 1500 of each size (300 cars X 4 tires = 1200 plus replacements.  No spares.  Where would you put a 14.5 inch wide tire in such a a small car?).  And no, I don't know at what cost.

Still it seems that there is more danger of a drunk crashing than an LSR type (check what's left of an Enzo that died at 162mph giving the driver a cut lip).

Glad we can help keep you awake, Jack.  

Jim (the one with the glass checkbook.... see thru)

[JackD]

So your basis is on 1 car model from 1 car builder with a run for just that model car and a production run of 300 cars that will all be sold before they are built ?
Is that is all we can expect from that builder ?
I promise to wake you again if I need you.

Never mind, I think I already know.

"Don't date out of your species."

[russ jensen]

 I have a spot for a couple of sets of These fat michelins on my hot rods, but don't like idea of changing rim size, probably will down road.

[JackD]

 I have a spot for a couple of sets of These fat michelins on my hot rods, but don't like idea of changing rim size, probably will down road.

Boyd sold the wheel business but I forget to who.
He could have carved them out for cheap. Now with the new owner the price might have gone up.
Keep an eye in the salvage yards and maybe even get friendly with a tow truck driver that picks up abandoned vehicles.
On my roadster I put Halibrand 15x10 pin drive Quick change mags from the back of an Indy Car. I got them for $10 each from a wife that was having a weekend garage sale while her husband was in Vegas with his secretary on business or something. You just have to find those because they sorta happen in a hurry and don't make the paper.

[russ jensen]

[quote="1212FBGS" I wouldn't race on no thin from china.  long.
kr[/quote] I wouldn't be so tough on stuff made in china, quite a few years back customer needed 454 crank for puller trk, gm sent junk 2 times & time was getting short so he got an off brand, I couldn't beleive  what a nice crank it was , and couldn't beleive it was made in china, and it has stood up better than the gm counterparts throughout the years of pulling wars. am presently finishing a set of 10 ton Holt heads cast in china, and they are nice. Have used gunpowder made in china and found it to be equal or better than dupont, din't know about their tires but afore mentioned stuff has been first class.

[Reverend Hedgash]

My dear congregation of speed demons.

This tyre problem is as vexing as any of Job's ills yet there is a way through, we merely need to unite!

At the moment Goodyear et al are still getting free advertising with their name painted (usually badly) on the side of existing LSR tyres whenever an image of a car is published.

We could all bandy together and paint out the tyre make names on our LSR cars as a group protest highlighting the fact that the sport is not supported anymore by these manufacturers in every photo published.

This would up the stakes for any newcomer interested in making tyres (or encourage old ones to continue) as they would be the only ones with names on at meets and published rather than being a minnow amongst all the others.

...ah I can see it now... I'll be showing a picture to my grand son in 30 years, it will be of the lakes and the cars all have black only tyres... "son, you can tell this photo was taken in the naughties, when racers came together and fought for what was right, together, side by side. Just before Goodyear bought the lake itself and banned Land Speed Racing forever..."

Reverend Hedgash

"Why protest when you can riot"

[JackD]

Some do care.
The care and feeding of a tire builder is not a very well developed skill.

[BAKERSFIELD BOYS]

CAN ANYONE GIVE US FEEDBACK THAT HAVE USED THE 32" DUNLAP TIRES. WE ARE PLANNING TO PUT A PR. ON OUR 34 FORD COUPE A/CBGALT. TO HELP US RUN 240 & CHANGE  AT BONNEVILLE HAVE ANY OF YOU RUN THIS TIRE THAT FAST THANKS FOR ANY INPUT.

[promachine]

We have run the 30`s to 240 with no problem.
The key is to shave them down to allmost nothing and take off the corners. I f you don`t shave them enough and get allote of tire spin
they will chunk. Been running them for 11 years, chunked a few
when we were to lazy to turn them down enough, but never had one blow apart. 10 years ago found a nail at B-ville, tire went down at 220,
felt a little weird but maintained control with no problems.
Got a set of 30`s and 32`s on order now.
                                                               Good luck

[JackD]

It is not common knowledge but a tire designed for the street can benefit from a break
 in period of running a few hundred miles before they are shaved and used for high speed.
 The chunking failure is reduced by the shaving that removes a lot of the unsupported weight
 of the tread rubber to the casing.
The bond from the tread and the casing is done in the mold but will work better if some heat
 and flex cycles are put through it first.
 They are substantially stronger than a green tire .
 That is part of the reason a new tire might fail where an older one might not until it wears out.
You can start out with a better tire if you break it in as part of the preparation.