Just noticed a 245/45-18 (not the 245/35-18 previously listed) on Kumho's site. Anyone know anything about the availability of such a size... TireRack doesn't have any information on them.

http://www.kumhotire.com/int/Tires/P...uct_name=ECSTA

BC

 

I talked to Larry at TireRack sales. He said they'll be available in 4-6 weeks... but he thought that schedule might be pushing it. Has anyone heard if Kumho is trying to get this tire on the market to support Nationals?

BC

 

it's a typo, note the diameter is 24.7", this is the 245/35-18 size that became available in Jan/05

 

How do we break this news to Larry at TireRack?

 

D@mn! It was almost too good to be true.

 

I dont know why you guys would want a 245/45-18? The 245/35-18 is the way to go, lowers your gearing. The 245/40-18 is closest to stock tire diameter, going with at 245/45 is just going to raise your gearing. We run a 245/40-17 on the T2 car so that we can take advantage of the lower gearing and it works great....

 

Along,

I think we are looking for the slightly taller tire due to bouncing off the rev limiter on most of the local course designs... with 275/35-18s mounted. With only a few car lengths of popping, we never get enough room to make a 3rd gear shift worth while (with the dieselish 6800 RPM redline). And for some reason, even with our low speed situations, the Z doesn't seem to need the lower gearing (remember, we A/X'ers are only using 2nd gear) ... or maybe it's a case of not having a tire that provides adequate traction to even make use of lower gearing.

I have a set of Hoosier Wets in 245/35-18... man, they are small! I have yet to hear of any A/X'ers running the 245/35-18 710s... I'd like to see how they'd do before I plunk down the cash... but hey, I'm up for anything, thanks for the suggestion from the high speed side of life.

BC

 

IMO, 245/40/18 gearing is as small as I'd like to go in Solo2. I hit the rev limiter in 2nd gear at just about every Solo2 event.

I've since moved to 255/40/18 (Azenis RT-615) and am hoping for a little better balance between gearing and rev limit (besides improved width and grip).

 

I've run both 275/35/18 and 245/35/18 Hoosiers. My PAX times are better on the 245's, but most of the lots around here are small and I don't hit the chip in 2nd very often. The gearing/acceleration difference is very noticable.

 

I run the 245/35 710s and there are places where you can make the torque curve work for you in 3rd gear instead of beating the rev limiter to death. Occasions where the open area leads into a slalom and then a tighter feature, I can shift to 3rd, carry as much speed as I dare through the slalom and shift back to 2nd at the slow feature.

I dyno'd the car this Spring and the torque falls off around 5500-5800 but looks flat maximum between 2000 and 5500. I can be very wrong however I feel that the torque can work for me at lower revs in 3rd when the right series of features are presented as opposed to popping the limit in 2nd and backing off.

Works for me.

 

BC, sounds like you need your ECU reflashed, the extra RPM (7200) makes a big difference in how long you can stay in gear

 

Along,

Yes, I do... maybe I should migrate out of B-Stock...

BC

 

I dont know if you are legally allowed to use a reflashed ECU but SCCA Club RAcing gave up on enforcing it years ago and made it legal in showroom stock and Touring. There is no way they can tell, just flash it and stay in B-stock...

 

Until the protest committee convenes...

Changes to the ECU outside of factory specified changes (ie. reflash to upgrade to fix a problem) are not legal in stock, but are in some other classes. Also, we don't have to worry about "unlimited boost" cars.

 

My point is there is no way to police it. They dont have access to the base code in the ECU so there is no way for them to tell. Thats why Club Racing gave up on this years ago, why Solo hasnt I dont know....

 

If I make a mod outside of the rules, I'll move out of Stock. I get slower every year, until I'm totally out of contention, I'm sticking to the letter of the law.

Besides, I occassionly run without my Stillen exhaust system's boat anchor mufflers (fabbed tail pipes to replace them) at events... everyone can hear the slightest throttle input and RPM range change. Which reveals why I'm so slow now-a-days: my brain can't effectively process smooth throttle modulations anymore... two positions: On/Off... it's really sad.

Along, thanks for the input... I keep "hovering" the classifieds, waiting for a set of Evo Control Arms, 9.5" RPF-1s, Forced Induction, etc. to come up for sale... then I'm probably AWOL from B-stock... only to be found floundering in SM2, getting smacked by turbo Miatas and Z-06s... but sporting a content smile on my face.

Isn't this stuff just too much fun?

BC