Dunlop vs Avon vs Hoosier Vintage FF tires

[Tom Duncan]

I'm just getting into participating in West Coast vintage events with an SCCA Club Ford 1981 PRS. I've done two so far, CSRG at Thunderhill and SVRA at Sears Point.

I've run on a set of used Avons, used Dunlops and new Hoosiers. They all seem to be about the same in performance and handling but that's just an anecdotal impression, not having done back to back tests on the same day and not having used any of them more than a weekend.

One thing I noticed was the Dunlops seem to squeal quite a bit in cornering whereas the Avons and Hoosiers don't. However I was advised the Dunlops were quite a bit older than the others so that may be a factor. If this squeal is an indicator of maximum bite (or a bit over) I think it would be a good performance aid. Or are they just old.

Anyone have enlightening iinput?

Tom Duncan

[mdwracer]

I think that the Dunlops that squeel in cornering are still working and I have been told that when you do not hear them...that is the sign they have gone off. The Dunlop is a great tire,however is no longer made and the word is they will never be made again.

The Avon is asimiliar "great tire"and people agree the feedback (squeel) is not there.

The Hoosier being significantly cheaper sounds great, but I'm concerned that it may be a one season only tire or potentially heat cycle out quickly as that is what I have had experience with them doing to me. (in DOT tires)

I too am getting back into Vintage and have run the Dunlop but never tried the Avon or Hoosier and these questions were just raised by me to friends as I am buying tires in Spring and going to the ALL Formula car SVRA event and 50th World Anniversary of FF at IMS!

Thanks for posting this as I'm wanting to know these answers...

Mike Winebrenner

[Tom Duncan]

Very good Mike, let's hope for more input.

I have laugh a bit about your concern about the Hoosier being a "...one season only tire". Coming from SCCA where just a few years back FF tires were ONE SESSION tires having a set of tires last all season looks pretty good to me!

Tom

[Roland V. Johnson]

Buy the Hoosiers and race them. There is much more difference in drivers and car set-ups than the tires.

[tstrong]

I'm with Roland on this one. The Hoosiers are a great deal and very close to the Avon/ Dunlop in performance. I did back to back testing with brand new Hoosier vs 3 weekend old Dunlops and the Dunlops were about .5s avg per 90 sec lap faster but setup was optimized for Dunlop, not Hoosier. I have now run 5 weekends and 2 test days on the same set of Hoosiers (the backs are just about out of tread) and although I have not had a chance to repeat testing at the same track I started at to get direct lap time comparison I will tell you by feel and relative times to known competitors there has been very little drop off in performance. I am hopeful we can get everyone on the Hoosiers so we aren't wasting a bunch of money trying to chase a slightly faster tire, but either way just on the economics of it I am going to be running the Hoosiers and not Avons. The difference is small and the price is less than 2/3 of what the Avons cost. Todd

[Tom Duncan]

From what I can tell so far the choice between Avons and Hoosiers is pretty much a no-brainer, no contest there.

However, can anyone further elaborate on what has been said about the Dunlops squeal?

Also, approximately what is the outright performance difference between the VFF tires and the American Racer AR133's?

Tom

[tstrong]

So as to the squeal, I do experience it with the dunlops whether they are new or old. Just as a data point the Hoosiers I am using have 29 heat cycles on them. Todd

[tstrong]

Ah, forgot the second part of your question. We run the AR's as part of the Series but I have not done back to back same day testing. From my recent experience I would estimate the Hoosiers to be 1-1.5s per lap slower than the AR's. Just like the Dunlop/ Avon they will be closer on cold days and further off on hot days as they build heat much faster than the AR's, but are prone to overheating towards the end of a run if pushed hard in hot conditions. Todd

[Mike Summers]

Todd, will you please contact me off list. Have a couple questions

Mike Summers
bluesbrother30@yahoo.com

[Tom Duncan]

So does the squeal indicate maximum use of the tires on that particular corner or past that point and actually slower?

My impression of the performance difference between the ARs vs VFF tires is about the same, 1 to 1.5 seconds, maybe a bit more depending on the conditions.

Thanks all.

Tom

[reidhazelton]

I drove the Avons and Hoosiers this year. It was not a real good comparison as they were on different cars and totally different tracks so it is hard to get specific on the differences. That noted, the Hoosiers felt more stable in a slide. It was more controllable and linear. I had quite a bit of time on each and I didn't feel a drop off with either one. I don't know the price, but people have told me the Hoosiers are substantially cheaper.

Both are good tires, and you can't go wrong with either. Win or lose, the outcome will not be because of the tire choice - you can win on both. I'd go with the cheaper one, that's made in the US.