[platypus]

Hey folks,

Here's something that's been bouncing around my head for a bit here. Generally, on rally cars, you'll see 2 spare tires. If you have directional tires on your car, what do you use for spares? Do you carry one for the left and one for the right? Use non-directional tires for the spares? Or does no one use the directional tires because of this very issue?

 

[Don Kennedy]

I've wondered the same thing. It's one of the issues that has kept me from looking seriously at Silverstones since that is all they offered last time I looked. Maybe it doesn't matter all that much, particularily when using it as a spare?

 

[T Bier]

It's bound to be better than running on a flat. I have a Tamiya model of a Toyota Alltrac Safari car with 3 left tires and 2 rights or maybe the reverse. Anyway, if the WRC teams don't worry about having a spare left and right why should you?

 

[Chris Powell]

Many rallyists who use directional tires carry two spares, one of each. Hmmm...what if I blow 2 lefts (not left turns, which I have a habit of doing, but tires) ... ? x(x(x(x(

CP
Desert Storm Rally
A2 Jetta #305

 

[john teeter]

I have been running the silverstone directionals for a while now.

we only carry one spare.

At wild west 2001 we had a flat at the end of a stage(broken wheel) and put the spare on. Turns out we put a left tire on the right front. I remember noticing when we put it on thinking, "oh, better change that at the next service." We then ran another stage and I forgot about it. We ran the rest of the rally(80 stage miles) with the "wrong" tire on one corner of the car. I felt no major problems with the car. It wasn't like it wanted to shoot off one way or another. I didn't notice any cornering differences with that tire.

I have heard that if you mount all the tires on backwards then the car does feel a little bit more squirelly...but not terrible...i.e. people finished the rally before they figured out the problem.

If asymetrical tires really had that big of difference...don't you think everyone would be running them all the time? I think we are talking 5-10% difference in grip one direction or another...if you can't get through that for a stage or more as a rally driver...what are you going to do when your clutch stops working or your rear brakes fail?

IMHO this is a minor point that shouldn't stop you from trying directional tires.

John

 

[Jerry Brownell]

If you choose to carry two spares, by all means, carry one of each. If you've flattened two tires, what are the chances you need to run hard enough to need that extra little bit of traction you get by having the correct tires in the correct places on the car? Chances are you've either had to stop in the middle of the stage to change tires or you've limped through a stage on one or more flat. Your competition has beaten you at this point and you now running for finishing points.

We run Silverstones and usually carry one random Silverstone as a spare and one doughnut spare. We figure if we flatten two tires between service breaks, the donut will suffice to keep us going.

 

[platypus]

Cool, thanks for the thoughts, everyone! I will boldly go ahead and use the directional tires, and carry one left spare and one right spare.

 

[Don Kennedy]

Yes, thanks for the input. I would not have thought it to be a big issue but needed to hear it from someone that's done it. WHEN I have to make the decision for another set of tires I'll use this info.

 

[Trevor Donison]

>Yes, thanks for the input. I would not have thought it to be
>a big issue but needed to hear it from someone that's done
>it. WHEN I have to make the decision for another set of
>tires I'll use this info.

Personally, I've always carried a spare that wasn't bi-directional. I'm only going to use it until I get to the next service, then I don't care what side its on.