Project SC300 Road Racer: Part 23 – Wider is better!
by Erik Jacobs
We had brakes, we had suspension, we had refreshed hubs, and we had a scary, twitchy car on ugly old tires that were manufactured in 2012.
When we started working with Nankang they didn’t yet have stock in the US on their awesome new Sportinex track tires. They actually air freighted them to me direct from Taiwan. Yes, that’s right, Nankang is based in Taiwan and rumor is that many moons ago Nankang was one of many contract manufacturers that the Japanese used to produce their parts. Nankang’s logo carries a familiar pattern to a Japanese manufacturer you might be familiar with.
Nankang has a history in motorsport. While their European/Motorsport headquarters is in the Netherlands, they maintain an on-site presence at the Nürburgring and are constantly doing tire testing.
The AR-1 is a new tire in their motorsport lineup, which is effectively a semi-slick that carries a DOT stamp and 100 UTQ treadwear. We opted for the 295/30R18 size. With the SC300 weighing in at approximately 3084lbs partially wet and with no driver, this seemed like a big enough tire to do the job.
It was time to mount and balance up the new shoes and get this thing aligned!
Titan 7 is a relative newcomer to the wheels scene, but its founders and employees are industry veterans, and it shows.
5 comments
This car has come a long way, and it seems still has a long way to go. Great article!
You’re not kidding @MattAtRedondo ! Sometimes you have to step back and look at the long path you took to get you are before you can appreciate it.
Just don’t try to add up all the dollars you spent. That’s a bad idea!
Those wheels look amazing. As an aside, you really should always run valve caps at the track. I run the little plastic ones because as you mentioned – every ounce counts.
I’ve had debris or dirt get into the stem from an off track excursion and cause a deflation. Caps eliminate that possibility. Looking forward to the next installment.
@Rob Evans – oh, that’s actually a brilliant thought. I never would have considered it. I’ll pick up a baggie of plastic caps!
Great article! I’m subscribing to see how it goes!