Saratoga Raceway - March 22/09

[CamWeiss]

I'm headed up to the mountain shortly, but if you bring your helmet Brad I might be able to take you for a couple runs.

See ya Sunday.

[Brad Taddeo]

Thanks for the offer Cam, if you (or anyone) are in town on Saturday swing by the Lubex across from the Superstore, I am there until 4.30.  If you need a look under the car and we arent busy that is the place to do it.  We have been super slow lately at work and we ran out of motorcycle magazines to read. 

[CamWeiss]

Well, today was lots of fun.

Met a couple new people, scrubbed off a bit of tire, packed up my small mountain of shit (Racing stuff, ski gear), and went home.

Four DSM's present, three of whom ran. Dan, if you're lurking the forums you might as well sign up! Both you and Brad have got pretty straight looking cars.

Dunno when I'll make it up there next, but I'd encourage both of you to come down anytime - The clubs down here are friendly, I promise!

[Maurits Vos]

Goddamn it and second guessing the suspension.. I knew last night I shoulda have spontaneously gone up to run...

Sounds like you had a lot of fun man..

Brad. How was it? Did you run at all or did you just watch?

April 25th I'll be there Cam. Hopefully with some new tires.

[CamWeiss]

If you're gonna get new tires, be sure to get something good.

I'd reccomend some BFG KD variants, Falken Azenis, Kumho MX, etc. Then a second set of a/s rubber for your stock rims (if you've still got them).

[Brad Taddeo]

It was awesome.  Being my first event I didn't know what to expect.  I learned a lot more than I had expected to.

I didn't run my car due to my 2 mangled rims, I will run when I find some wheels to turn that I can trust.  I did however get to ride shotgun in Hamish's car.  It made me completely re-evaluate my goals.  Everyone is more than encouraged to show up to these events, I know I wont miss any of them for any good reason.  I will gladly work corners until I get some wheels so I can run the track too.

As for Dano, I gave him the address to the forums and some encouragement to join in the fun on the boards.  I think he was as surprised to see us there as we were to see him.

[Maurits Vos]

Good on ya, Brad! Yeah it would be nice to see some more DSMs out there.

Cam. I'm going through the motions looking for some decent A/S tires right now. That's all I can afford and plus I'm trying to stick with something that had a good life, is good in rain and still a good tire for dry until I can afford to throw more money on my old eagle rims. Sumitomo HTR+ seem to be there tire for me.

Think anybody from VSMC that has a tirerack account could give me a hook up?

[CamWeiss]

Thoughts on tires.

Seriously, don't bother with a/s tires. Especially at this time of the year.

My Azenis are great in the rain (Go find a pic of the tread pattern, it's very good at moving water). I got 20++ events (and 3 trackdays) on them last year and had them on from June through October, while using somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the tread. They weren't that expensive, either. Mine were, if I recall, under $150 each from 1010 Tires, out of Vancouver. No border fees and cheap shipping work to your advantage, there.
Get some 225/50-16"s and put them on your black wheels, and find some a/s or snow tires for the stockers in the fall.

If you are dead set on getting all-seasons, I'd reccomend the Falken Ziex 912 (I've got them on my stock wheels right now), or a Kumho Ecsta ASX or AST.
Either way I'd look for something with 340 - 400 treadwear in an a/s, with an A temperature and AA traction rating.
For a summer, tire, 180 - 220 treadwear, A and AA temp and traction ratings.

TireRack doesn't sell Falken, but TireTrends and 1010Tires (both from Vancouver) do. Their prices are competitive with Tire Rack once you factor in shipping, border fees, and brokerage unless you're prepared to ship to a proxy company in the states.
There is one company, I'm not sure of the name, out of Wahington State, that will receive your order and fly it to YYJ for less than you'd pay for brokerage (Keeping in mind that shipping with the Tire Rack is usually free within the continental US, but not free to Canada).

Some prices...
Kumho ASX - $140 @ 1010
Kumho AST - $126 @ 1010
Kumho MX
Kumho XS (New version of the MX) - $216 @ 1010
Falken Azenis RT615 - $186 @ 1010
Falken Ziex 912 - $130 @ 1010

These were prices for 225/50-16", with the best price listed between TireTrends and 1010. If 225/50-16" wasn't available, I left the field blank.
Just as a note, I paid a bit less when I bought mine than what I can find now.
the Azenis were $141 each from 1010, plus shipping, disposal fees (mandatory for all tires sold in-province), and tax. The total was a hair under $700.
The Falkens I don't have a price breakdown for, but the total was some $526.