Tire choice

J

john_greene

New member
We have a Series 4 Lotus Super 7 that has been brought back to life recently. We would like to have the correct tires on the car prior to going on the setup pad. This car was last raced by my dad in the early 2000's with Goodyear bias ply tires, which I assume are no longer available. What seems to be the current trend for the smaller sports cars with solid rear axles? Should we make the switch to radials? Is Hoosier the best option?

Thanks,
John Greene
 
I thought more people might reply, but they didn't, so....

The easiest thing to do is to put the Hoosier bias ply on the car as it sits, assuming it was set up correctly with the Goodyear bias ply tires which are no longer available. The set-up should be similar in terms of camber, spring rates and probably tire pressures from what I have seen. I assume that your Dad ran 8 x 20 x 13 Goodyears.

However, a case could be made for making the switch to radials, since you aren't used to anything at this point. There is enough information out there to allow you to come pretty close in terms of initial set-up, and the new S 80 series radials have been shown to not only work, but to be actually faster than the bias ply tires even on a live axel rear. Many teams have already shown this to be the case, myself included.

If I was you I would contact Brian Linn who just recently put a Lotus 7 on the pole at the Runoffs at MRLS and is usually very free with information for fellow competitors. Craig Chima would be another source. Also Jerry Hinkle, Rob Futcher, Austin Britton, Peter Morton, and Gary Johnson if you know any of these folks. I think that all of these people run the bias ply tires.

If you want some info on the Hoosier radials on a RWD live axle car send me a PM.
 
Thanks for your advice and offer. I think you are right in that bias will be the best option for the time being. I was a little concerned that they were soon to be obsolete, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Hopefully we can get the car on track at some point this year and have a little fun.
 
Ron Bartell":3fuijxky said:
If I was you I would contact Brian Linn who just recently put a Lotus 7 on the pole at the Runoffs at MRLS...
Click to expand...
John-
I ran Peter Morton's Lotus 7 last year. Since I knew I was going to have the car for a handful of races I decided to stick with the bias-ply tires and not try and figure out the set-up. I was really happy with the Hoosier bias-plys on the Lotus. The Lotus was really easy on the tires and the car handled great, even on the softer 35B's in the heat of the summer in the CA desert. The car had an open diff and with the power the driver could abuse the "outside" rear tire on corner exit. At the Runoffs Craig Chima shipped me a limited slip differential and it changed the tire pressure build-up and wear in the rears a lot.

For my driving style, I love the feel of the bias ply tires. I've been told that Hoosier will discontinue them at some point, so I made the effort to get my Miata to work on the radials. I can do the lap times that I did with the bias-ply tires, but haven't made them faster yet. I think I need to adjust my driving style, just not sure what it is that needs to change.

As Ron mentioned, Craig Chima (in Ohio) was a great resource for me to get the car going as well as it did. George Bauchman of MidWest Motorsports did the engine and it was a huge improvement. PM me if you want their info.

I copied Ron's quote because I forgot about that part of the Runoffs. All I remember is something happened in T-6 of the second lap.

Good luck,
Brian
 
John-
I ran a Lotus for many years and sold it in 2010. That was pre-13" radial, so I never tried them.

I did try some FC fronts all the way around to try to eliminate some frontal area/drag when the Runoffs were at Road America. Ran them at early 2009 races including the Sprints. The benefit was negligible, so I went back to the cantilever bias before that year's Runoffs. I'd stick with the old 20x8 cantilevers. Unlike Brian, I didn't particularly like the R35 compound. The R45B stood up very well to my abuse and I was pretty successful with the car.
 
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