Headed towards a 2-day HPDE at Barber’s Motorsport Park, I had a dilemma. Do I run a mis-matched set of old street tires? Do I run my 1 event old Hoosier R7s?
Hoosiers run ~$1400 for a set. With the 2-day event, that was going to be 4-5 on-track sessions each day. Doing the math on heat cycles and wear it was a real possibility that my new Hoosiers would be completely toast by the end of the weekend. That’s an expensive HPDE.
The stock rims and mis-match tires were never a real consideration. I don’t want to be on a track with questionable handling and behavior across the tires.
So, that left only 1 real option. Buy new wheels and tires. Amazingly, when I talked the situation through with my wife, she actually agreed. Time to hit up TireRack. A set of O.Z. Racing Ultraleggeras (15×7) and some Dunlop Direzza ZIII (200 treadware, 205s) came in a price less than a new set of Hoosiers. Lost almost 10lbs a corner of unsprung weight as well.
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