Re: letters. I don't think "more letters = better" is true. I think they have to be the right letters and not just "wah, need moar tire". My letter from last year has still not been officially responded to in Fastrack yet and there have been hints at something coming for STU in an upcoming one, but it hasn't happened yet.

My #1 concern is I wonder how much stuff would break on an STU Evo running 285s. I say that with almost 100 Pro launches on my current OEM clutch so I know it can be done currently, but I don't know whether the clutch would go before other drivetrain bits with more grip.

There aren't as many good street tires in the 315/335 range - I think right now it's just the Rivals. Though I would expect that to change over time.

I think 265's for the AWDs and 285s for the 2WD's makes the most sense - it's still an advantage for the 2WDs because of both width and gearing (all the 265s out there are taller than both a 245-40-17 and a 285-30-18 so we take a bit of an acceleration hit) - but it would smooth out some of the course dependency as a result.

 

265's would be perf. Notice how a lot of other racing org's and time trial series unfairly restrict awd tire sizes. the 245-265 seems to be a common restriction, with anything above 265 only allowed in UNLIMITED classes, which makes no ****ing sense.

 

First of all, I fully agree with the rest of the stuff you mentioned above!

But, this quoted part I could not. Classing we are talking about here is for Solo2, and ProSolo should not be deciding factor for which car goes where. ProSolo rulemakers have ability to do whatever they want and even move cars around if they see fit. At this time they have chosen to use Solo2 rules, but that might change at any time. They certainly did in the past when I was racing my ESP Talon with SS RX7s in the same class.

Secondly, whether one car will explode or not with particular mode shouldn't be used as well, when rules are written. I understand that clutch issue is serious thing, but if one car doesn't go well with particular modification, that doesn't mean that other cars would not benefit from it. If launching is an issue because of extra grip, just take it a bit easier of the line and use the benefits of extra grip elsewhere on the course.

 

It may not be. But I agree well thought out letters will have more of an impact. But more letters will convey a sense of urgency to get things moving, meaning more of the membership has noticed and want something done ASAP.

The other option is to limit the tires sizes of the 2WD cars to 265. Either add grip to the AWD cars or remove grip from the 2WD cars. Ultimately competitive parity is what matters.

 

Question for the STU guys (or any other that have used external canisters for the dampers) - how did you rout canisters from those dampers? Rer ones have quick disconnects, so in the worst case small holes would be needed to keep them inside the trunk somewhere. Front have fixed lines so no help there.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions/info on the subject it would be appreciated.

 

Are your canisters attached on the top or bottom of the damper? As for the rear as you said if they have quick disconnects then its a matter of finding an existing hole or drilling one. As for the front hopefully they come off from the top and then its simple you just run them out the top where the top hats down down prior to mounting the assembly.

 

I believe lines are coming from the bottom of both dampers. They will be hear in couple of weeks, so I might be surprised, but all of the online pictures shows them at the bottom

 

I took a ton of pictures here
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/mo...l#post10600309
(post 328 if that link doesn't take you to the right place)

BTW, I will not think you're a wimp if you want to take it to a shop to do it. I wasn't willing to guess wrong about where to mount the lines, personally

 

Great info there man! Did you have to drill those holes for the rear lines?
I was beginning to worry about the wimp side of mine, so this was very helpful as well!

 

I didn't do the initial install - but the holes weren't there from the factory or anything.

In other ST* related news - I ordered a set of RE71Rs. Availability went from 4-23 to 5-1

 

Let us know your impressions when you get a chance to run them

 

They are good, very good.

 

Any thoughts about them compared to other tires that you've run before?


Also, you and your wife did great this past weekend at the Pro

 

looks like some v720s are available in 245/40-17 if anyone was interested

 

thanks, yeah, the Bridgestones have a lot of traction.


We compared them to the new Star Specs at the test and tune. The stones had a little squirm right after initial bite, especially on transitions. The tread blocks are extremely soft, you can easily dig a fingernail into them. Sidewalls seem plenty stiff though and we ran similar tire pressures between the two (and our old set of kooks). In dialing in the rollover, we eventually dropped the rears a pound. With the Bridgestone, turn in-bite is immediate and the extra traction is noticeable, I’m not saying they turn in sharper, they just grab grab grab. I was able to flog the car around more on the Dunlops, which suits my driving style more, but the grip of the Bridgestones was too superior to warrant not going that route.


So yeah, I ended up hitting a lot of cones, lol… the test and tune was the first we’d run them, day one was a bit of a nightmare and day two was definitely a nail biter… I still ended up cone’ing away my fastest left, and the win (and the Super Challenge, lol), but overall, we’re happy with them. The extra grip in the sweepers (compared to the Dunlops) was exceptional as well, VERY noticeable.


Read solomatters.com’s first day Crow’s Pro report, it has some interesting observations about them, at the bottom of the page.