I did some testing with Goodyear and Hoosier tires in Bristol and
Talladega, here are some results:
(F5 - tire change screen: Y = yellow, R = red, RF = right front, etc)
Bristol Talladega
Lap Goodyear Hoosier Lap Goodyear Hoosier
--- -------- ------- --- -------- -------
65 RF Y 24 RR Y RR Y
69 LR Y 31 LR Y
72 RR Y 32 RR R LR Y RR R
74 RF Y 33 RF Y
75 LR/RR Y 34 RF Y
91 LR R
95 RF R
Lap counter in pre-season testing seems to have a bug, the maximum
number of laps in Talladega recorded by it is 37. Anyway, RR Hoosier
blew up when there was fuel for one lap, RR Goodyear a lap later. Both
tires sets got almost undriveable at same lap.
No blown tires in Bristol as I got bored of running the track alone for
200 laps (quit on first red)...
It looks like there is only marginal tire wear difference in Talladega,
and I recorded about 0.2-0.5 mph faster lap times with Hoosiers.
In Bristol the situation is different. The car was bit faster with
Hoosiers, but the temperatures were 10-20 degrees higher (temperature
on white with Goodyears, sometimes on yellow with Hoosiers). Goodyears
felt bit loose, this could explain why rear tires wore out relatively
quickly. Maybe setup changes are needed for both tires: higher
pressure for RF Hoosier and less oversteer for Goodyears? (It is worth
noting that driving style in Bristol has bigger effect on these test
results than in Talladega.)
I'd like to hear if others have done similar tests with tires and the
results.
Pasi.
