Miata Mailing List: December 1994, Message #124
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   From: Alan Dahl 
Subject: Re: 40-dollar racing tires?
   Date: Mon, 5 Dec 1994 13:27:40 -0500

Roadburn@aol.com
> Blackburn Racing in Indianapolis now is selling Bridgestone's SCCA
> road-racing RE-71 RAZ tires in 185/60-14 and 195/60-14 (and perhaps other
> sizes) for $40.
> 

> It's a close-out sale; there are limited numbers. Blackburn (800/828-9143)
> will ship, but I'm going to make a road trip to get the free mounting &
> balancing.
> 

> Jeff Maurer mentioned these tires on an earlier post, suggesting that they
> are very sticky but take heat-cycling better than autoX tires and are also
> good in the rain. They also will wear fast; the wear rating is 30. You can
> buy them shaved to any specified tread depth, but I plan to shave my own --
> by applying asphalt.
> 

I ran these Bridgestone RAZs on my Miata back in '91 before switching to BFGs.  
They are a decent tire and last quite a while but are not up to the current  
state of technology. RS-IIs and especially BFGs are a lot stickier.

That said they would be a fun tire for track days or summer performance tire  
use. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if you could get 10,000 miles out of a  
unshaven set on the street.

BTW: I would recommend against shaving them, I don't think that there would be  
a lot of benefit, they seem to work just fine at full depth.

I don't think I'll be buying any since I'm drowning in tires at the moment. I  
think I have 4 or 5 sets of race tires at home right now. When I get organized  
I'll offer 2 or 3 sets to the Net (probably January).

---
  ___   __   ___  Alan Dahl                    | alan.dahl@mccaw.com
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