I think your point(s) are right on target. The 285 doesn't give an "as designed" sidewall profile, which compromises the contact patch. I guess the question we're trying to answer is how much and in what direction (lenght or width), relative to the 245 section tire.

Interesting point: I put both a brand new 285 Hoosier and brand new 245 Kumho on the scale and they both came in at the same weight, with an insignificant rounding error

 

the larger tire is probably more forgiving if overdriven, I prefer the crisp response of a narrower tire tho

the new Topeka site does pose an interesting dilemna, on one hand it will likely be cool there, on the other hand that's a lot of surface area for sand to get trapped and build up under

top drivers pushing the limit can overheat Hoosier or Kumho tires before their 3rd run, with a codriver it's a real problem

 

Remember there are more choices.

One of the early drivers in Houston tried the 245, 275 and 285. There was no doupt this far south the 245's were not up to handling the heat. The comparison between the 275 and 285's is more interesting. The 285's being a little wider were better for longer turns and the 275's were better for the transitions. I've got a set of 275's to use for my initial setup purposes. If I can find a good mounter I'll probably go to the 710 285's by nationals.

Ray

 

Interesting conclusions. I'm not sure if I follow on the heat issue. It doesn't neccessarily follow that the bigger tires, with the distorted sidewall leading to more contact patch movement under the rim, would be any better in terms of heat management, as far as I can tell. I'm also not sure why the 275 would be better for transitions, when it is .6" taller than the 285 and almost the same width?

Good luck with the 285 V710...I know a few people have tried (and tried...and tried...and tried) to get them on with no luck. I guess the bead just won't sit. The 285 Hoosier wasn't too hard to get on, with the cantilever in the sidewall. I hope you can get the Kumhos on, so that we can hear how they work

 

The one thing that I'm absolutely sure of about the 285 A6 is that it dealt with heat a lot better than the 245 710 on 90º+ days at FedEx last July and August.

 

we found that mounting the 285 Hoosier was easier than the 245 V710 Kumho

 

What did you compete in at Topeka in '06?

I agree with Clyde that the 285 Hoosier was easy to keep cool in the hot summers of DC. But it didn't grip any more than the 245 Kumho did, and it made the steering less crisp and the overall handling felt soggy. Overall, we went no faster on the 285 Hoosier than we did on the 245 Kumho. Oh, and they cost more. Oh yeah, and they wear out quicker, and when you run them at low enough pressures to stick, they feel sloppy and cord quickly. As for the 275, any idiot can see why that is not going to be a good choice for the RX-8.

But do whatever you want, because more rubber is always better.

 

Did you do any controlled back to back testing of pressures? What alignment were you running?

 

Back to back testing of pressures? Only so far as to ask ourselves why the hell the damned things weren't sticking for crap, and start dropping the pressures 2psi per run until they did start to stick (and then cord and feel like mush). We do have datalogs, I believe.

Somewhere around -2 degrees negative camber, zero toe front, zero toe rear and I can't remember anymore what rear camber we ran. I'm sure Clyde has it written down.

 

Man, Aaron must have been the man in Topeka to overcome those godawful tires.

 

Nah, just think of how much better he would have done if he had chosen the correct tires!

I still think the Hoosier might be the fast tire for HPT, but definitely not the 285 version.

 

Lucky that he was able to flip them after the Finale.

 

godawful enough to finish behind four drivers on Kumhos, not that either comment has any relevance to this topic

 

so did we, not that either comment has any relevance to this topic.

 

only that the thread starter brought it up

Did he finish 4th because he was on 285 Hoosiers, or did he not win because of them, or was either one a result of how well he did or didn't drive, or the result how well or not so well anybody else drove, or were the alignment of the stars for or against him???

The results are only the results, but if you want to use them for that intended purpose they don't support your position

 

I didn't bring up Aaron's results from Topeka, but I did start this thread.

At this point, I have my own thoughts regarding the 285 Hoosier. This thread was started just to get an idea as to where others had ended up on pressures. It appears, now, that we'll be going our own direction and will have to see what happens...

 

lol

Brought what up? Brought up mounting of Hoosiers, but not performance?

Thanks for informing me of my position, omniscient one.

Although, in actuality, my point was that the 285's don't completely suck, as you seem to want them to every time they're brought up. Not saying they're the best...otherwise we'd still be running them (we won't). However, for us, based on limited results, they were pretty much equal to the 245 Kumho's (regardless of how they felt, results were comparable)...the fact that they're more expensive and less durable doesn't make them a good choice for us. For someone else, maybe they are. Pardon me for offering an opinion that differs from yours and not explaining it clearly.

Please return your regularly scheduled omniscience.

 

I think that pretty much sums up how I feel about 'em. Which is why I mentioned the 245s.

 

Jeezus.

 

Other than feeling like they launched well at the Packwood PS, I felt the same way about the Hoosiers.

It'll be enlightening to watch Mike's results with testing the Hoosiers this year (especially considering that you guys are going to be able to run more fresh sets than most).

 

Not sure about that...Matthew is providing a couple of sets, but we don't have exactly an endless supply

We'll be flipping the set we use at SD and El Toro for Packwood, in all likelihood.

 

it immediately followed this:

otherwise, I'm feelin' the luv

 

right, no one was discussing the tire's performance at all...no one made any indication about how good/bad they might perform relative to the 245 Kumho...silly of me...sorry for the threadjack

 

 

Oh yes, I forgot - dknv is absolutely right, the 285 Hoosiers launched like a bat outta hell. It's just too bad autocross has turns.