I too was in the dark... and I have six new RA1's with two scrubs on the car...
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They are still allowing the RA1 in the other classes so I wouldn't worry unless you stash RA1's like some stash ammo.
Doesn't matter. I heard the new tire for AI/CMC will only be available in 18's.
*ducks*
I hoped that was just a joke, but take a look at the sizes of Toyo RRs currently available:
205/50ZR15
225/50ZR15
P275/35ZR18
Maybe we could go back to the 4-lug 15" 10-hole Mustang wheels and 11" rotors with single piston calipers and drum brakes in the rear and call it CMC-Retro?
A ~3175lb, ~250rwhp CMC car on 2 different RR compounds was tested at BW in June of this year, in addition to a well prepared and setup AI car. An entire day of testing, in some warm temps (~92 degress, IIRC).
Toyo had 4 tire engineers onsite that day (and possibly the entire weekend), taking temps, pressures, notes, etc. IMO, they (NASA and Toyo) took this gig pretty seriously.
17's are supposed to be available as well. Not sure when, however.
I'm all in for the RR's.
Unfortunately, I don't have any copies of the test sheets, nor the results, as we weren't allowed to keep them. There were a total of 4 sets of Toyos bolted to my car - my original set (went out just to make sure everything was good on the car), a brand new set of freshly shaved RA1's, then two different compounds of RR's (also brand new).
S1 involved going out and running on my existing Toyos, making sure the car was ok. S2 was the fresh set of shaved RA1's to get a baseline. S3 was RR-A, S4 was RR-B. I was instructed to run the ENTIRE session (20+min), taking ~2-3 laps to get up to speed/temp, then run them as hard as possible for the rest of the session. Engineers were on hand to take tire temps/pressures, answer questions, and collect data sheets from the drivers after each session.
There were NO changes made to my car, at all, beyond bolting the rims and tires onto my hooptie. We used the same pressures I normally run.....AAMOF, that's exactly what the engineers wanted me to do.
The RR's were used in the 3 hour enduro that evening (not sure which compound, likely both but I'm not positive), but I don't know what the outcome was regarding longevity. Testing involved an SM, a 944, my car, and an AI car. It was a very interesting day, and I was quite tired (ha!) at the end.
For those "doubters" (DL and MFW) - I can tell you, honestly, from my discussions with the NASA and Toyo folks in the days leading up to testing, during the day of testing, and that weekend......they (particularly NASA) had no desire to repeat the previous R888 tire-change clusterfuck. It was very much at the forefront of their minds.
Adam,
Why is there a need to replace the RA1? Who is this change for.......NASA, Toyo, the racers? Ask the same questions we ask when talking about a rules change in CMC. I do like the fact thay we will not have to get them shaved. Opens up more places to purchase from.
JJ
"Opens up more places to purchase from"
I think you might have nailed one reason for the change, no special equipment needed more tire places carry them= evil corporate profits