Okay folks,

I've heard a few opinions on running Kumho V700s on the street in other threads here and there, but I'd love to get a little discussion going on why this would or would not be a good idea.

For me the pros and cons go like this -

Pros:

1. Stick
2. I don't drive the car often enough to care about quick wear (I've put *maybe* 5K miles on it since acquiring it in November 2001).
3. Over half the miles I put on the car (okay maybe more like 2/5) are to and from autox events and the the driving of the event itself.
4. Don't have to buy two sets of tires.
5. Don't have to switch wheels at any time or place.

Cons:

1. I don't drive the car often enough (sitting still is bad for the compound I presume, even if it is a light car).

I think the one con is enough to keep me from buying them for street use, since they'll be rendered useless if they start spotting. But I haven't ruled it out and I'd love to hear all your opinions on it.

-E

 

If you drive the car that little, maybe put it up on stands or on a lift while not in use??

I too am considering running these tires on the street, but I drive alot more than that. I don't drive it if I am expecting inclement weather so can generally avoid bad days pretty easily.

 

They are not unsafe for street use, but I can tell you from experience there is no sense in keeping a race tire around long, they just get hard. It would take you so long to use up the race tire that in the end you wouldn't be getting much grip anyway.

I still think the best thing to do is buy some stock wheels and put race rubber on them. Mount these for race weekends and drive to and from the event on them if you don't want to mess with a trailer.

The race tire is also much less comfortable on the street because its sidewalls are so stiff. The car will "crash" over every bump in the road.

 

The answer is NO. The problem with driving them on the street is not so much treadwear as it is heat-cycling. The more heat-cycling the tire sees, the less grippy it will become over time. Secondly, V700's have a fair amount of tread brand new, but once that tread has worn off, they become very squirmy and hard to drive on the street. I drove to an event (~100 miles) on my worn Victoracers when it was damp in the morning .... VERY not fun. Race rubber is like having a lot of toe out ... it will follow the grooves in the road. For your high-po car, E, it would not be the most enjoyable ride.

Lastly, these things are not cheap. You want them to last as long as possible. I've trailered my current set everywhere. With over 80+ passes, the tires still have ~50% tread left. This includes time trials which are a lot harder on tires than auto-x. I know a trailer and hitch may not sound feasible .... but, you can fit all 4 tires (245/45 16), a jack, and a jack stand in an FD. Just barely.

 

Damon, RRR1,

Thanks for the input.

To address a couple of things you mentioned:

Damon, the ride on the car is so god-awful at this point anyway, that I have doubts that it can get much worse with a slightly stiffer sidewall (though I am continually amazed at how much vibration a car can take without falling apart at the seams, so I may be way off). I have a second set of rims D., but haven't scraped together the duckets to get the race rubber due to other more pressing concerns (like furniture ).

RRR1, I'm not too worried about the money, since it looks like if I don't get the V700s, I'm gonna have to drop the exact same amount of cash on a set of decent street tires, and then once AGAIN start all over financially, and basically end up not buying race rubber...ever. ******* nails. That's the second time I've lost a street tire at an autoX event to a nail (instant karma for exceeding dB levels I suppose ).

But out of curiousity, how much heat-cycling is too much? I mean, what's the difference between using the car on the street 40 times and doing 40 autoX passes vs. just doing 80 autoX passes (adjust numbers accordingly for whatever street time you think equals one autoX pass)? How bad is the squirminess (new word?) once it starts? Are we talking about equivalent performance to street tires in rain?

I'm not doubting you guys at all (you both are far more knowledgeable on this than me), just kinda playing devil's advocate and seeing if I want to take a gamble on the V700s just once and see what comes of it. If I'm gonna drop $500 or $600 anyway, I may as well consider the option...

I look forward to learning more from you guys,

-E

 

Wait until the Victoracers start getting hard after continuous heat-cycling. That's an uncomfortable ride. Think like setting 5 on your Tokicos.

If it makes you feel better, almost 30% of the cars at the event failed the noise level criteria. Although, yours most definitely was the loudest.

Everytime you heat the tire up and let it cool down ... that's heat cycling. Say you go get groceries and go home. Then, you head out to a friend's place and hang out. And then, you head downtown and spend the night at your friend's place. That's 3 .... and counting. The more heat cycles you put on the tires means the less grip you'll have as you continue to use them .... like at autocrosses. See where I'm going with this?

The car will tend to jerk and sway on you. Instead of driving straight, it will move with the undulations in the road. It's not terrible, but driving will require your complete attention. Once the tread bars are gone, forget about driving them in the wet.

 

I have done it several times(I'm a slow learner), I would not do it again do to the tire getting hard (harder than street tires) from to much heat cycling. I may trY AO32s(hard compound), or RA1s(seem to get better as they get older). As for cost, the only street tire that is close is the TAKD at 275.00 a corner, for that price I will keep looking for an R compound thatdoes not go hard on me. Carl Byck

 

you really think you can get a vicroracer to 'operating' temp going to get the groceries? you know, even at a short autoX (small parking lot) i hear people complain they can bearly put enough heat into them to make them sticky. its usally tword the end of the run they when they start to get hot, and thats after racing the car! i have drven them on the street before, and it doesnt seem to bad, though i agree it does no good for the tire and does shortten its life. i dont think you can get it hot enough to call it a full heat cycle on the street unless your doing some illegal traffic violations! but im sure you can get them a little warm and dry them out over time. another thing, they are so soft it sounds like your drving and sand everywhere, they pick up everything! and its not good to drive behind a car that has race tires on thats in front of you! all that stuff they pick up get thrown at you!

my bro was crazy enoough to drive some shaved victoracers in the rain. He said it wasnt bad, but he had no hydroplaing resistance! also, we where at gingerman raceway in michigan when it rained on us at a high speed autoX event. Everyone put there street tires on, but my friend kept his shaved victos on and beat everyone! just dont hit standing water!

 

Don't forget the hazard of picking up nails and crap on public roads. Do you really want to trust a patched tire at 140mph down the back straight on a racetrack?

 

No, I wouldn't trust it.

Ironically enough though, I'm getting new tires because I lost another street tire to a nail...at an autocross, the second time this has happened.

Perhaps I should knock on wood, but I haven't picked up a nail in a tire on the street since I was growing up in Houston. Only autocrosses and driving schools.

 

Yeah, I was leaning towards either S-03s or Kumho MXs, but a family member has had *serious* issues with the S-03s flatspotting on a car he doesn't drive often (less often than I drive the 7). And to my knowledge, Kumho isn't making MXs in 245/45/16 trim yet. Grrr.

Anyway, I'm still pondering my options. I should get the car back from the shop today so I can take a look at see if I can patch the tire for the interim and see what I'll do.

Good to hear from some of you guys who've had a little more experience with the v700s. I welcome any more info.

paz,

-E

 

You live in Illinois. Try Texas where the asphalt gets hot by 10am. enuttage and I both have to deal with the sometimes tortuous heat down here. Summer auto-x's are worse on R-compounds because, in Texas, you'll overheat the tire ....

 

Yep. Believe it or not here in Texas we somtimes spray our tires with garden sprayers to cool them off!. The Hoosiers especially seem to overheat and with a 2 driver car you really have to cool them off.

 

Oops. Forgot to mention you too, Damon. My bad.

 

didn't have time to read all the post but.

I currently am running v700's on the street in Houston daily driving. i changed the fronts because after a couple of hot laps the fender cut into the tire and got it to the cords.

redrotor is right, the more use these tires see the less grip they have. my rears are completely bald now and the only reason i stick with these is because i don't have money to mount the new ones on (not victoracers).

personally i would never do it again because these were brand new heat cycled v700's but in you're situation, why not? although you would need to keep it on stands in your garage or remove the tires...

as for traction wise, i haven't took the car out to a track event since the hot lapping. needless to say, they're useless at this point and are just tires. they worked great when i first had them though!

-steven

 

How many miles did they last before they were rendered useless?

-E

 

I made the mistake of leaving my V700's on too.....ouch! they lasted a whole 3k miles but knowone could beat me on a cloverleaf

DO NOT get stuck in the rain with those tires....I had to pull over....anyway buy Hoosier's....much better

 

Got about 5000 miles on a set of V700s, and 8000 miles out of A032Rs. Heat cycling from daily use kills the r-compound stick (as everyone has already posted). Might as well get good mid-priced street tires like P-Zero Asymmetrics...?

 

I'm actually using P-zero's now and there a great all around perf tire....

 

YUP! Great track tire for dry and wet conditions...

 

Thank you to everyone...

I've decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and get the CCW wheels and slap some street tires on them. It'll serve dually as my street/autoX setup, and I'm grabbing a couple of Nittos to go with my non-punctured Toyos for strip use.

I'm probably aiming for 17X9F (255/40/17) and 17X9.5R (275/40/17). Should get me about what I'm after, and no concerns about using the race rubber on the street.

-E

 

CCW make the best wheels for the money

When I said the P-Zero's were a great tire....I meant great street tire nothing compares to a real track tire, they are still a great tire as Sleepy-R1 stated

Brad