I think the three of them (Advans, Dunlops & B-Stones) all seem to be fairly equal. So for the money the dunlops seem to be a better buy. There was very few people in my region running either the RE-11 or the AD08. I can only think of one each.

 

I tried out all three of these tires last year, and while all of them are fast and can deliver, it comes down to preference. I think most people are initially drawn in by the Dunlop's cheaper price, but personally, I liked the AD08 the best of the three. The Dunlop feels more vague than the AD08, and the AD08 seems to wear nicer, as well as stick better in the wet.

At a test-and-tune earlier in the year, the AD08 was roughly .2 to .3 faster on average than the Z1 on my car with me driving around a ~40 sec course. The AD08s had one event on them and the Z1s had about three - both were unshaven. No damper/sway bar/etc. changes were made between running the two tires, only pressures.

YMMV. The Dunlops are by no means bad or slow - I just happened to be faster on the Yokos.

 

Vorshlag likes the AD08 too and they did well on the track.

 

Dunlop took the top STU 4 spots this year at Nats out of 45 drivers. Most of the top cars tested the top 3 tires, and for the relatively heavy Evo on 245 size tires in an autocross environment, in warm weather, the Dunlops proved quickest. Some say they are the most consistent run to run also.

Rick

 

Bump for wing removal actually being legal now in STU.

 

This is a proposal at this point. Wing removal is not legal yet. From the March FasTrack (Link):

STREET TOURING

- The STAC has provided the following rule change proposal, which is published here for member comment: Replace 14.2.F in its entirety with the following:

“F. Wings may be added, removed, or modified. Non-OE wings may only be attached to the rear deck/hatch area behind the centerline of the rear axle. The total combined surface area of all wings shall not exceed 5 square feet as calculated per Section 12.9. The number of wing elements is limited to 2.

Wings, and any component thereof, may not extend beyond the vehicle width, as defined by the outermost portion of the vehicle doors, less mirrors, door handles, rub strips, and trim. In addition, no portion of the wing or its components may extend beyond the rear most portion of the bodywork, above the roofline of the vehicle, or more than 6” forward of the rear axle, regardless of body style. For convertibles and roadsters, the highest portion of the windshield frame will be considered the highest portion of the roof.

Reinforcements to the wing mounting area may be used, but may serve no other purpose. Body panels to which a wing mounts must remain fully functional (e.g. trunk lids and rear hatches must open fully). Wing endplate surface area is limited to 110 square inches each ,and the total number of endplates is limited to a maximum of two. Substitution or removal of rear wings must retain any original third brake light functionality unless otherwise equipped (e.g back deck).”

SCCA FasTrack News March 2010 Page 18

 

...along with making a large number of STU/STX cars as they sit illegal...

I'm not a big fan of "take away" rule changes, so I've already written my letter.

 

Also we may want to write a letter to include some allowance for a front lip, factory style or not. With the new rule everything except a wing allowance goes away.

Maybe the letter could say something like: " Allow add-on factory style body parts to be added or substituted to the same generation of car model"

This would allow SE front spoilers, etc. to be used.

Rick

 

Anyone need cheap tires to start the season? Looks like TireRack is closing out Advan AD07's for $117/tire in 245/40/17. Here

 

I saw that too. However, they are probably very old. Expect a 2008 or earlier build date.

d

 

Arg... "2005 Production."

Any opinions on whether or not 4-5 year old tires would actually be worth it?

 

I'm putting my car on 2 year old RS-2's for it's first season. When I first considered it I almost didn't because they were 2 years old

4-5 "might" work if you put some forumla V on them.

 

What coilover setups are some of the top guys using? Im looking for a new set of coilovers to replace my megan tracks and am interested in whats what basically. Ive looked at the kw v3s but havn't found much info in the motorsports forum, more specifically autox specific. Any ideas? Also any ideas on other coils besides kw?

 

There's really no one right answer, just about everyone is on something different.
Ohlins DFVs and Flags are pretty common, and there are a couple people that are on now-unobtanium ZZYZX Koni stuff, but the car that won at Nats in '09 was on Bilstein PSS9s. I don't consider myself one of the "fast guys" (I haven't even been to Nats before), but I am on Moton Clubsports. So there is a pretty wide variety out there.

KW V3s are okay but the off-the-shelf version sucks - the spring rates are terrible. Robispec can help get you set up with some KWs that work. Even so, for the money, I think you'd be better off getting some used Ohlins DFVs. The valving (and flexibility of such) is really hard to beat, especially if it's a dual-duty car that also sees a lot of street driving. My old DFVs with 9k/11k springs rode at least as well as stock on the street (probably better).

 

What's this Pill everyone is speaking of?

I did 12 practice launches at the Lincoln Pro plus runs and first round of the challenge. My launch control is set at 5700RPM. A tiny wheel spin, and off I go with no bog.