Kuhmo Victoracers?

[Globerunner513]

Well i've searched a bit and it seems there is a fair amount of people who have experience with these tires. I just got a set of 4 victoracer tires (205/55/14 about 50% worn?) that are going on some 14X7 turbine style wheels i got with them. For $120 i can't complain.

 

Anyway I'm wondering just what the threshold of street use is for these tires. I plan on doing a lot of autoX this year, as well as your occasional night time mountain/canyon run kind of deal.

 

Right now, the Z is my daily driver, although I can deal with bolting on the good tires if I wanna go zip around. I've just never owned a set of tires like these and am looking for a little tips/pointers I guess.

 

Thanks!

 

Here's what the tread looks like.

 

 

And just for kicks, what I did to the wheels I got

[jt1]

You can drive them around some on the street, but they're going to wear quickly and they really don't have good grip untill you get some heat in the tires, which is going to be hard to do on the street. To go back and forth to an AX is fine, but I don't think you'll like them much for general driving. Once they get a little heat they are a great tire for track day events, good grip and good life. Those don't appear to be worn even 50%. They don't have much tread even when new.

 

jt

[m4xwellmurd3r]

From what I've read on a few forums from people who use these, they Do grip ok on the street (even when cold they're better than normal street tires) but if it EVER gets wet outside, don't even THINK about using them.

oh, and they'll only last a few thousand miles

[Challenger]

Nice, love the wheels! Whered you get them?

[preith]

You can drive them around some on the street, but they're going to wear quickly and they really don't have good grip untill you get some heat in the tires, which is going to be hard to do on the street. To go back and forth to an AX is fine, but I don't think you'll like them much for general driving. Once they get a little heat they are a great tire for track day events, good grip and good life. Those don't appear to be worn even 50%. They don't have much tread even when new.

 

jt

 

Agreed. My street experience with race rubber is extremely limited but IMO they were probably worse than any street tire I've ever used when cold. As for tread depth, new ones don't look much better than those after shaving.

 

My most recent set of tires on my road racer were Victoracers, 225/50/15's. As with my ESCTA's, I've found their grip drops significantly after about 2 race days of heat cycles (practice/qual/race). They still had some life in them but probably worth a second or two in lap times. I've also found the Victoracers like lower pressures than the ESCTA's, about 25psi.

[Globerunner513]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice. Seems like I'll do what I had somewhat planned, and get some cheapo street tires, and bolt these on if I want to go to the track.

 

Also, obviously they need to be warm to grip well...but too hot and it will be detrimental to the tire? I've heard of spraying down the tires after a session, anything specific about doing that? I'd like to at least get a season out of these tires, but if they're going to start loosing grip after the first weekend, I'd like to make sure they last as long as possible.

 

Thanks again!

[preith]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice. Seems like I'll do what I had somewhat planned, and get some cheapo street tires, and bolt these on if I want to go to the track.

 

Also, obviously they need to be warm to grip well...but too hot and it will be detrimental to the tire? I've heard of spraying down the tires after a session, anything specific about doing that? I'd like to at least get a season out of these tires, but if they're going to start loosing grip after the first weekend, I'd like to make sure they last as long as possible.

 

I was hoping some of the autox guys would chime in, I unfortunately have zero experience with that on race tires, but the reason for shaving is to cut down on heat, if not done they can potentially chunk. Purely speculation, but it's my guess the ones who 'spray' are running full tread tires or are on longer circuits. When I autox'd with the Milw. region in the late 90's we had an instructor group which had the 'privilage' of running back to back sessions to keep tires toasty.

 

I hope I didn't scare you away with the heat cycling comment. They will still be good, just not as good as new, but better than any street tire, and the Victoracers have a good lifespan reputation. That's only been my experience too.

[jt1]

Also, obviously they need to be warm to grip well...but too hot and it will be detrimental to the tire? I've heard of spraying down the tires after a session, anything specific about doing that?

 

Some tire stuff is voodoo, and this may be. But here's my understanding of spraying a tire. When you heat cycle a tire, it gets harder. Sometimes that's desirable, for instance if a track is chewing up a soft tire and you want to get a tire to last the whole race. Then you can scuff a new tire, bringing it up to temp, and wet it down when you come in. This cools the tire quicker and makes it a little harder than letting it cool naturally, and you get the benefit of the heat cycle right away instead of waiting 24 hrs.

 

I'd like to at least get a season out of these tires, but if they're going to start loosing grip after the first weekend, I'd like to make sure they last as long as possible.

 

 

 

A tire gets harder and slower every time it's heat cycled. The best way to get long life is to not overheat the tire when it's new. Whether or not it lasts a season just depends on how much you run it.

 

jt

[blueovalz]

On a high output 2 rotor RX7, they last for about 5000 miles combination street and autox as witnessed personally.

[tube80z]

We spray tires at an autox to get the tread temp down to a range that produces grip. If they get too hot they get greasy and your lap times get much worse. I haven't ran on recent kumhos but they used to be worthless much over 110 degrees of temp measured in the pits.

 

Unlike road racing the generates core temperature in a tire autox heats from the outside in. If you read a lot of tire data they'll tell you that you should see temps in the 190 to 200 range, which leads to this confusion. If you ever see a temp like that on an autox tire bits of rubber would probably be flying off.

[Clifton]

I've run RA1's, Pirelli Corsa's, and V700's on the street. They all grip better than a non R comp on the street, even cold. Mine isn't a daily driver but I do get enough mileage out of them that that's all I'll run on it, I don't even think twice about driving from Az to Ca every year. I was autoxing about 5 times a year. I ran my ra1's on the street until they had less tread than your V700's until I flat spotted one beyond driveable. Arz on here has run V710's, V700's and R6's on the street. I know he runs them until they are slick too, it doesn't rain here. He did run a Falken Azenis on the front but wanted softer and went with R6's, even on the street.

[Savage42]

I have run them on the street and have to say that there are 2 issues with them. As mentioned, wet weather is a bit of a problem here in the Northwest. As for mileage, that depends on driving style, roads taken, etc. I know several of the 510 guys down in the bay area that have always run DOT race tires and typically get about a year or around 12,000 miles. These tires also have a bad tendency to track with the ruts in the road and are pretty bad with road noise in the car. It's usually less costly to have a dedicated set of race tires and a good set of street tires, as both will last longer. Just my experience.

[hughdogz]

I just got a set of 4 victoracer tires (205/55/14 about 50% worn?) that are going on some 14X7 turbine style wheels i got with them. For $120 i can't complain.

....

And just for kicks, what I did to the wheels I got

 

I think this is the first time I've seen the EXACT same wheels that came on my 260Z! There are many variants on this style, most of which are less appealing to me.

 

Check it out:

 

Do you know who makes them? I only have the front two center caps, and those have a sticker that says "Rocket Racing Wheels". I notice you have a sticker on the rim, what does it say?

 

And those DORAL tires were hard as rocks!! I have some low-end Toyo Proxies on now and it made a world of difference. I never thought a semi-generic cigarrette company would make tires.

[Globerunner513]

Thanks for all the insight guys!

 

As for the sticker, this is what it says....

 

[woldson]

Can't wait for the pics of the rims and tires on the car! Congrates!

[hughdogz]

As for the sticker, this is what it says....

 

Mmmm....intellesting. Thanks Globerunner!! I thought they were pretty decent wheels. Since Rocket Racing? went out of their way to get SFI spec approval back in the day, they are probably decently strong rims.

 

I know what you guys are going to say, just because it meets SFI spec, doesn't mean squat (in reality). Kind of like ISO 900x certification, it just means that the processes are well documented.

 

I really like your black finish. I second Woldson, I'm anxious to see how they look on your ride!! Cheers!

[Globerunner513]

just a quick picture of the wheels/tires on my car. I'll have better pictures this weekend.

 

 

Really needs to be lowered now

[Challenger]

I like how it sits.

 

You just need to update your sig now.

[capt_furious]

Wow...I've never really like turbine style wheels, but those look good. The spoke width and spacing are nice, and they look great in black.

[X64v]

Wow, any more room between those tires and fenders and you could cross a river!

 

Just teasing. Drop springs would do wonders for you, though.

 

 

I know he runs them until they are slick too, it doesn't rain here.

 

Exactly why I have no qualms about running Victoracers on the street (which I'll be doing soon here). Speedgato has well over 10,000 miles on his (street, autocross, and track use), and they still have just a little tiny bit of tread showing, which means they still have a fair bit of life in them as slicks.