Hater's gonna hate...

Quoted from a local "racing" forum (lol). Some guy that has tracked his RX7 for the past couple years, after he mentioned RS3's and he figured there must be some downside to them, which I said GRM had done a nice test involving multiple tires including them a while ago. The reply:

Grass roots motorsports can take their tests and go to hell imo. i dont put much faith in what any north american person writes in a form of media about any product. they will never write anything bad for fear of offending potential advertising dollars, and wins in tests can be bought in north america (look at car and driver and motortrend). their last test said Kuhmo XS were the top tire out there.... but sorry, they are not. dont think anyone would say that around here who's driven on re11's, ad08s, starspecs, as well as XS. also, what goes on in a 30 second autocross course (their last major test that garnered a lot of attention) is a hell of a lot different then what goes on a real race track after 20 minutes of continuous hard use... or 20 lapping session days of use. different sizes of tires matter also. certain manufacturers cheat with their sizing on certain sizes so they win certain tests. 225/50/16 bridgestones were known to really be equiv to a 235 or even a 240 wide when u measured them. you have to factor in the real dimensions of the tire thats being tested since the end results are going to be fractions of seconds difference and a width variation can determine a winner based on unequal circumstances. so i'll trust what happens off continent for testing over what happens in north america. re11's and ad08s beat out XS overseas. i found it odd grassroots motorsports found htem their winner. i said i was skeptical and would wait for other tests, and i've yet to see another test find kuhmo XS a winner. overseas tests pretty consistently pick RE11s or AD08s, and those 2 tires blow re01rs and ad07s out of the water, which were consistently picked over starspecs for being better tires.

LOL. LoL. LOl. loL.

Can't resist!

Wild stuff. Based upon what he said, I think that guy just "claims" to be tracking his 7, whether he really does or not. Search his messages elsewhere upon that forum (especially if there's an "off topic" place over there as well), and see if the guy thinks the moon landings were a hoax. If so, you now know that you're trying to be polite to a moron..

friedgreencorrado wrote: Wild stuff. Based upon what he said, I think that guy just "claims" to be tracking his 7, whether he really does or not. Search his messages elsewhere upon that forum (especially if there's an "off topic" place over there as well), and see if the guy thinks the moon landings were a hoax. If so, you now know that you're trying to be polite to a moron..

Everybody knows that Obama faked the moon landing. He should release the long form Moon certificate.

I could have sworn the RS3 was crowned the winner in that test? Or is he talking about the test 2 years ago?

I don't even remember GRM testing the AD08.

That test was about 3 years ago! It was in TX on the Hollis Civic.

^Ah ok. I couldn't remember the last time the XS really won a comparison. Sound like this dude needs to be brought to the present.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Sound like this dude needs to be brought to the present.

No need. He obviously already knows everything.

1988RedT2 wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Sound like this dude needs to be brought to the present.

No need. He obviously already knows everything.

True, true....

dogbreath wrote: Can't resist!

lol..... i love this... and even funnier i was up argueing on the interwebs last night with someone and refused to go to bed untill they admitted they were wrong and didnt know what they were talking about.

288

RossD wrote: 288

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

I laughed.

Actually a lot of what he said was true.

There is a HUGE difference between a tire that works well at an autocross and one that tracks well.

Also there is a HUGE difference in actual width of tires vs. rated width and if you were to compare them side by side it would make a difference in how they performed. The rear tires on the AP1 S2000 were 225 but the special version that came on the car was wider than a 255. That's how I found out the difference in rated sizes vs. actual sizes. When I upsized and upgraded the stock tires the 255s were 1/2" narrower than the 225s and I had terminal oversteer.

Later I was researching 18" tires and found that in the 245-265 range real widths could vary by as much as 2 1/2". That's a frickin' HUGE variation and relegates rated sizes to suggestions at best.

I don't know how much of a thought are advertisers when tires are choosen for the tests GRM runs. I do know that not every brand is represented (usually the brand I want to see isn't there). It could just be that in trying to get a specific (odball) size it's not available. There also could be time and logistical limitations and there's only room for X number of comparisons.

I do hate the tire tests when only the tires from Tire Rack are choosen cause they don't carry several significant brands.

Actually, we've made a point to test tires that The Tire Rack doesn't carry (e.g.: Toyo) in our last few tests. We do not skew our data to fit our advertiser needs---simply because every tire company IS an advertiser at this point.

The next test has been completed and should be in the August issue.

What was his avatar?

This?

This is why I stray away from most other forums. That and any time on another forum when I ask about RB20s I get answers on the SR20. Thanks, but no thanks.

Per Schroeder wrote: Actually, we've made a point to test tires that The Tire Rack doesn't carry (e.g.: Toyo) in our last few tests. We do not skew our data to fit our advertiser needs---simply because every tire company IS an advertiser at this point. The next test has been completed and *should* be in the August issue.

No worries, Per, we get it. You guys do very thorough tests. Did you know there are mags out there which test acceleration using some mythical rollout as if 0-60 was conducted on a dragstrip with staging lights? We trust you more than some (all) other mags.

carguy123 wrote: There is a HUGE difference between a tire that works well at an autocross and one that tracks well.

Also pointing out, in the specific article mentioned, they ran the cars on a track and had track times as well, hence why it was relevant to our talks.

I know this person (not personally), and would probably rather be around Iggy on any given day... he does indeed track his car, but LOTS of people in the Alberta racing clubs (especially ~25 age group) seem to think because they've tracked for a couple of years and "immersed" themselves in motorsports that they know everything.

I've known more about racing cars than them since I was 16, so they can knock themselves out in their little circle jerk I DID defend GRM, I am waiting to see if there is a reply.

Edit-

This is the thread:

http://straightpipe.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=938&page=37

Some of the people know what they are doing... sort of. But some of the things even the guys with roadracing experience say is straight lulz worthy.

1988RedT2 wrote: No need. He obviously already knows everything.

I doesn't know you need to capitalize the first word of a sentence.

Let me guess, flatbiller?

Lots of bolt-on "performance" chrome parts?

Ask him about his car and he lists most of the manufacturers at SEMA, but can't tell you why those parts are on the car?

Drives way too aggressively at a track day?

If any of the above is true, my response is...... "Anyway...."

I always get a kick of someone that posts "I only trust X being done in Y country". What makes them think that people overseas are any different? Sure there are some magazines here that have difficulty offending an advertiser, but they have them there too. It all depends on the source.

Truth is, I trust the GRM guys (and girls) more than most, because most of them actually do go to autocrosses and the track. Except for testing with the stop watch, tires are like shocks to some degree, in that different people like different makes and compounds depending upon their car and driving style, preference. In fact, I believe most of GRM's tire testing states something like "this one was faster on this date, with this driver and this car."

Anyway, like the title says, haters are gonna hate.

In reply to carguy123:

I'm actually curious how "truth in advertising" laws should affect things like this.

In other words, their is absolutely no reason modern engineers can't make the tires to spec (please don't lecture me about why they do it, that's not the issue).

So, are my 245 starspecs really not 245's then?

mndsm wrote: So, are my 245 starspecs really not 245's then?

Nope. They're 257.52s.

z31maniac wrote: In reply to carguy123: I'm actually curious how "truth in advertising" laws should affect things like this. In other words, their is absolutely no reason modern engineers can't make the tires to spec (please don't lecture me about why they do it, that's not the issue).

I've wondered the same thing.

And to clarify I wasn't hatin' on GRM. I think they do the best job out there, it's just they never seem to quite include the tires I've read about or am looking at. The common thread to not being the tires I'm looking at is the "available at Tire Rack" part of the equation. Just because they tested one tire that Tire Rack didn't carry doesn't change the meat of the issue since all the others were only Tire Rack stock.

While I've never had much good luck with Tire Rack - I've bought there several times and never had an order be filled correctly. It has nothing to do with TR's service or lack thereof, it's the fact that using them only artificial limits the selection of tires.

I really appreciate all the info we glean from GRM's tire tests and the tests really are the info I would like to hear, I'd just like to hear it about ALL the top hot tires rather than just those we can get from TR.