Different Dunlop side walls

[Razor]

Last night I found myself thinking about the difficulty of spotting the markings of the hard and soft tyre in the V8 Supercars, espically with the new thinner sidewall of the 18in tryre. Could Dunlop Japan make the tyre with painted side walls with different branding (White strips with the Maxx branding for the soft tyre and yellow strips with the SP Sport branding for the hard tyre)

[St00ge]

isn't this already done? the sprint tyre with yellow side walls? I think the problem is with the tyres rubbing on the guards and the rubber build up under there taking off the markings

They now also use the front window light to signal they are on softs don't they?

[peckstar]

razor, or you could just look at the orange light in the front and rear window.

ive always found colour walls are difficult to spot., especially as most footage is front on

[GTRMagic]

How about a more interesting idea.... run 'softs' all the time

No confusion, no talk about tyre selection... just soft tyre car confidence!

[Downoz]

I]How about a more interesting idea.... run 'softs' all the time

No confusion, no talk about tyre selection... just soft tyre car confidence![/I]
[/I]




How about this idea, get Bridgestone back with a tyre that will turn a decent lap time. Everyone that builds a new car say how brilliant it is, but hey are still not going like they did on Bridgestones.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Downoz

I]How about a more interesting idea.... run 'softs' all the time

No confusion, no talk about tyre selection... just soft tyre car confidence![/I]
[/I]




How about this idea, get Bridgestone back with a tyre that will turn a decent lap time. Everyone that builds a new car say how brilliant it is, but hey are still not going like they did on Bridgestones.

Going to Bridgestone wouldn't change a thing - the tyres are built to the spec required in the V8 tender and the grip level in the tender was reduced and the lifetime of the tyres increased at the time of Dunlop winning the tender.

Mind you, I think that your comment could be wrong at most tracks given the spec for the soft tyre.

[GTRMagic]

From the reports coming put of the most test of CotF and ots new Dunlop 'soft' 18" variant with Mr Kelly & Mr Winterbottom apparently at the wheel, the tyre tested was said not to achieve its design objectives , and was not signed off for production.

There is a significant difference between the design philosophy of the Dunlop control tyres as in use today, and the former control tyre supplied by Bridgestone. Some drivers never really coped with the change for whatever reason, but I suspect if V8SA ran a car on another brand, the whole feel of the package would change.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the final tyre selection process. Presiably the button needs to be pushed on production for the published August test.

Presuming too that the August test is still happening...

[Razor]

Originally Posted by peckstar

razor, or you could just look at the orange light in the front and rear window.

ive always found colour walls are difficult to spot., especially as most footage is front on

Peckstar, while the amber/orange light is a good idea, the identification of the soft and hard tyre is open to manipulation, espically with the new thinner sidewalled 18in rimmed tyre. At speed it's hard to distinguish soft and hard since the only difference is either a small white or yellow "Dunlop" logo on the side. As pure suggestion, Dunlop could run down the same road as Perelli did with F1, making a coloured strip of either side of the tyre sidewall and Dunlop branding on the top and bottom of the sidewall.

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

How about a more interesting idea.... run 'softs' all the time

No confusion, no talk about tyre selection... just soft tyre car confidence!

Would be pretty cool to see but come to Sandown and Bathurst, pitstops would triple. Do you honestly want to see the cars pit in every couple of laps just for new tyres? (Bathurst would be a minimum of 10 stops if they ran on softs)

Originally Posted by Downoz

How about this idea, get Bridgestone back with a tyre that will turn a decent lap time. Everyone that builds a new car say how brilliant it is, but hey are still not going like they did on Bridgestones.

Good idea but Bridgestone have got other ideas with motorsport. (eg: MotoGP) Plus what others have said, VESA/V8 Technical Commitee (the one that Senor Skaife leads) would try and force Bridgestone to make a tyre practically the same as the Dunlop.

[Razor]

With the incident at Townsville with the VIP Pet Foods Ford supposedly running a mix of hards and softs, this highlights the "manipulation" that I alluded to in an earlier post. If there was a coloured ring like what they ran a few years back (the yellow/pink/white halo around the sidewall) or what Pirelli does in F1, the mixed tyre choice would've been spotted almost instantly.

[GTRMagic]

The question is still whether the hard/soft choice is legal.

Wouldnt mind betting a change in the rules is on its way even as we speak..

All this points to is that the series should ALWAYS operate on the soft tyre...

[formerf1champ]

With one tyre manufacturer, it should just be one compound and it should be a hard one. It's cheaper to make, they last longer, easier to see what's going on, easier for the drivers to manage, it's more obvious to see who's driving better (particularly in the longer races) and there's no bs like you've seen in F1.

[ForumNick]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

All this points to is that the series should ALWAYS operate on the soft tyre...

How many tyre stops would you anticipate for Bathurst ?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by ForumNick

How many tyre stops would you anticipate for Bathurst ?

Its already 7 for fuel now... I doubt it would be less

[ForumNick]

So... maybe an additional 4 or 5 ?

[Tourer]

That of course assumes that the soft tyre could even handle Bathurst.

Given the amount of blistering problems the control tyre has there, I have to say it would be a very risky move to run the softs.

Would need a special construction of the soft for Bathurst if it was going to work there I would imagine.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Wouldnt mind betting a change in the rules is on its way even as we speak..

Yep....

V8Supercar Amends Tyre Rule For Race 15

Didnt take long

[Scrut]

A few years back, VESA tried with different colour painted sidewalls on the tyres. If was a complete failure, as after one heat cycle the paint used cracked and fell off. Now to the best of you knowledge at present the markings are stenciled on when Dunlop fit the tyres. Again these markings are hard to see once the tyres have done a few laps. The tyres should be marked at the factory (like in F1) as this type of identification seems to last a lot longer, as is more visable during a race. With 18" rims and a smaller side wall a factory marked tyre would be the best option in my opinion.

[Umai Naa]

Perhaps the teams could run a fluro adhesive band around the outer edge of the rim itself.

[GTRMagic]

How about using different coloured wheel rims? HRT painted theirs gold.. why not a white one for softs, a red one for hards.

Even Mr Larkham couldnt get that wrong

[mtpanorama]

I am sure even from our state events that you can't change the supp regs after an event has started unless every competitor agrees to it. If it the case I can't see Morris agreeing it to it.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by mtpanorama

I am sure even from our state events that you can't change the supp regs after an event has started unless every competitor agrees to it. If it the case I can't see Morris agreeing it to it.

V8 Supp regs delegate the teams' agreement to the V8 Commission - so if the Commission agrees, they do so on behalf of all the teams, which they have done this case so the change is in force.

[GTRMagic]

How is the new rule worded?

If there are 3 stints, can a team run 'all soft' 'all hard' and 'bubble n squeak'.

[NinnyMan]

Originally Posted by Scrut

A few years back, VESA tried with different colour painted sidewalls on the tyres. If was a complete failure,
as after one heat cycle the paint used cracked and fell off. Now to the best of you knowledge at present the
markings are stenciled on when Dunlop fit the tyres. Again these markings are hard to see once the tyres have
done a few laps. The tyres should be marked at the factory (like in F1) as this type of identification seems to last
a lot longer, as is more visable during a race. With 18" rims and a smaller side wall a factory marked tyre would
be the best option in my opinion.

The white (softs) and yellow (control) Dunlop logos on the tyres are actually
printed on during the construction process. When the softs first came in,
Dunlop tried various things to make them stand out and the thick paint
was deemed the best of the worst solutions. They had to physically paint
the band onto the tyres and it literally took hours to do every tyre.
In hind-sight they may have instructed the factory to have some sort of
marking done when constructed, but they didn't.

The vinyl band around the wheels has been tried before (R Kelly's orange
and black HSVDT car)and while it's good when it's standing still, it's not
so adhesive once hot and in motion.

Personally I think the better solution, as GTR said, would be to say that
teams run say black wheels when they are on softs and the normal alloy
finish when on the control tyres. The alloy finish works with all the liveries
and black wheels pretty much work with any scheme. It would be the most
identifiable way of telling who's on what type of tyre.

[ForumNick]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

How is the new rule worded?

From Here:
Stewards Summary Update 2: 1200hrs Sunday 8th July 2012

Stewards circulated a Rule change made by V8 Supercars:
The new Rule states:

“In addition to Rule D18.6.1.5 it is not permitted to use tyres of different compounds on the Car at the same time.”

[GTRMagic]

Presumably there is a technical definition for 'compound' somewhere?

If you listen to the tyre whisperers, the Dunlop control tyres from the same batch can offer different hardness readings after durometer testing... a smartybum might argue that these tyres may be from different 'compounds'