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Track tire questions

Mike Ottati <[email protected]>  ASKS:
 
I'm contemplating geting a set of soft compound tires for drivers schools
and autocrosses. I'm reached the point where I plan on doing them regularly
and it makes sense to me to have a separate set of tires for the situation,
rather than suffering with and wearing out street tires. I don't plan on
shaving them, since (1) I'd like them to last for a while, (2) I'm not
really after that last tenth of a second off my times and (3) I'd like to
be able to safely and leagly get to and from events on them. 
Here are my current considerations"  
comp TA R1 
A008RS 
Yoko Ao32 Road Race 
Anyone with experience and comments on any of these or other brands out
there? Is not shaving them a bad idea in general?  
I plan on using 225/50-15 on a set of 15 x 7 bmw alloys, the car is a 95
325iA. 

ANSWER:  As I have used all three of these in the past 4 months, your
requirements are somewhat opposite to each other.
Starting with both Yokohamas, they require more camber to work at their best
than the R1s.  With very aggressive driving the outside edge on these will wear
materially faster than the remainder of the tire.  The A032R seems to require a
lot more heat in the tire for optimal traction than the A008 or R1 but they
don't "go away" as easily on the race track.  I would not choose them as an
autocross tire.  The R1s are probably the best compromise for both autocross and
driver's school events as they work well with stock suspension settings, I would
choose them if I wanted to have a driver's school tire and be competitive at
autocrosses.  Your last requirement as to "be able to safely and legally get to
and from events"  would tend to eliminate both the A008s and R1s.   The A032Rs
come with 8/32 tread depth and a tread pattern designed to displace water and
they can be rotated so that the former inside edge now becomes the outside edge
by remounting the tires.  As to some other peoples requirements, Money, the
A032Rs are wearing much better than any previous tire that I have used in the
past and I expect to reduce my tire costs by at least 50%.  
To quickly summarize,  Use R1s for a stock suspension and use garbage bags to
transport them to and from the events or use A032Rs, monitor the wear patterns
and rotate them as required.
Hope this helps,
Bob
Many BMWs