I realize going as absurdly skinny as the ones used for drag-only cars is obviously going to be a detrement to handling, but...

How far could you go with manual steering and skinni-ER (not as thin as drag only wheels) tires on a road racing/auto-x kind of car?

 

why would you want to compete in something and then do something to not help yourself?

 

You want wider tires on an auto x/road racing car, not skinnier ones.

 

Try 30+ mins on a road course w/ manual steering and check back w/ us.

 

do formula Vees count?



i would say that if the car is heavy enough that you cannot drive with full width tires due to fatigue, the car needs power steering. (or a diet)

 

I have an idea, try running skinnies on the drivers side (front and rear) and slicks on the passengers side.

 

What? I assume this is a joke, right?

 

These guys are definitely right. Roadracing/Auto x cars usually run the widest tires they can, but if you really want to use skinny tires I probably wouldn't go with anything smaller than a 225/60 combo (H or better rating). My car resting on a stock suspension still felt pretty agile for street use.

 

The reason I ask is I've seen cars for road racing use manual steering and somewhat thinner tires up front than the rear.

Obviously it works for the Lotus Elise and Ulltima GTR, but in a camaro because its relatively nose heavy and not a MR car, would it be a bad idea?

It was really just thinking out loud about if it would be worth giving up power steering and some tire width for feedback and less weight/friction.

 

Skinnes aren't a good idea for daily driver, MUCH LESS road racing......

 

Hey! The ultima is street legal and the lotus elise can be daily driven! Just not terribly comfortably....

 

he wont get back with you, he will be in the hospital for a broken wrist when the wheel whips back and he cant grab it and gets nailed my one of the spokes.

 

The variable is weight. Those cars are so light, it's like a go kart compared to our cars. It makes it a lot easier to turn the wheel, and they can run skinnier tires.

 

So, with 2000 lbs on the front axle (well, stock) its prolly a good idea to have power steering and wide wheels. Ok.

Guess I wont be thinking about this unless I end up with a aluminum engine, fiberglass hood and fenders, and tubular k-member and a-arms.

I mean, I'd LIKE to, but it wont be anytime soon.

 

k members and a arms are a no no for roadracing (till the spohn comes out)
the fiberglass fenders are a horrible fit, and actually weigh more than the steel fenders......

 

They're only strong enough for drag racing? DAMN

And the metal fenders are already light enough? The nose is some resin or plastic (I'm really not sure but one of my parts cars had a front end crash - the nose was fine, the hood was not :P) so I guess all I need to lighten it up is a new hood. Shibby.

 

you can actually buy roadracing/autocross Kmembers and Aarms from any of the companys currently making them...

however, you still cant buy any Kmembers from spohn. he has the A arms though.


fenders are THIN stamped sheetmetal with support on top and the bottom.. they arnt freestanding and have no internal bracing or "backside", so they're light.
the nose is urathane(sp?) plastic

 

hmmm, interesting topic. I would think that you would not need to run that skinny tyres up front to be comfortable with a decent manual steering setup. Depends quite a bit on the leverage you achieve from the steering wheel, and the steering ratio, and how big your arm muscles are!

As for the skinnies on the ultima, they are 245/35-18, so they ain't that skinny, just look it in comparison to the 335s on the rear! But being mid engined they are not a great comparison to our cars. (fun out on the circuit though...)

I would expect for road racing that you would actually want a fairly balanced tyre setup. Remember that for a good road-racing car you need a balance of power, braking, and handling, and on a nose heavy car the majority of the braking and handling is done by the front tyres.

Si.

 

Stock, a camaro has about 5-600 lbs more on the front axle than the rear. A new hood, removing some emissions and AC, battery relocation, maybe going to an aluminum engine and k/member/arms would help aid that, right?

And yeah... I guess it would be better to have thick wheels up front to prevent understeer.

Just curious again... How do you set up a nose heavy car without trying to reduce weight up front? Just stiff springs and bars?

Those turbo AWD imports are nose heavy and manage to haul themselves around well enough. Supras are not light either and I see them being tuned up to carve through turns and they have cast iron engines too

 

Get the castor & camber sorted, and make sure that the springs and shocks are in good condition. Make sure you have a wonderbar or you'll split the steering box off the car. SFCs are a must too.

Si.