RE-01R's Flipping Inside Out?

[Charles]

The outer 3rd of the tread on my RE-01R's are wearing considerably faster than the remaining footprint.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'll attribute this to the fact that I only have ~ -0.8 degs camber in the front, ~ -1.1 rear, soft springs(163F/132R), and a heavy car.

I only drive on these tires to and from events aside from the actual timed runs.

My question is this............ these tires are directional but could I flip them inside/out anyway to get more life out of them?

What would be the drawback to this?

[rippin mazda]

Well ideally you need more camber. Flipping them will only be an issue if they are directional tires and you drive in the rain. In the dry it will be fine.

Ryan

[Miata GT]

This could be really old thinking so I'm sure I will be corrected if necessary...but I always understood that radial tires should never be reversed as the bands in the construction take a set and, if reversed, could cause premature failure.

[Alizarin]

Charles, perhaps you could unmount the tires and swap sides (i.e. put them on the rims for the opposite side) rather than run them backwards? I did that for my (now shot) race tires and they definately extended the life.

[kickslop]

The problem is, you're trying to solve "money being wasted" and you're going to pay $70-$120 for an umount then mount + balance... to solve it

I'm no alignment guru, but my understanding is that camber (in your case largely dynamic, not static) has very little effect on tire wear. Maybe you have incorrect toe settings?

[Charles]

The problem is, you're trying to solve "money being wasted" and you're going to pay $70-$120 for an umount then mount + balance... to solve it

I'm no alignment guru, but my understanding is that camber (in your case largely dynamic, not static) has very little effect on tire wear. Maybe you have incorrect toe settings?

I had my toe set to as close to zero all the way around as they could get it. My daily driver RE92's with ~ 22k on them are wearing perfectly even. Difference being I'm not driving too aggressively on those. A friend of mine works at a local dealership so I'd just drop this wheel/tire package off, let him dismount/mount/balance, "tip" him and pick them back up.

I think Kenny's idea will work although I'm || that close to modding the car into modded +3L class anyway. If so I'll end up with adjustable camber plates. The original plan was to leave it alone until the warranty was up but that may get tossed aside:)

Then I can play catchup to you, Jeremy, Russ and whoever else I'm forgetting

[treekiller]

The problem is, you're trying to solve "money being wasted" and you're going to pay $70-$120 for an umount then mount + balance... to solve it

I'm no alignment guru, but my understanding is that camber (in your case largely dynamic, not static) has very little effect on tire wear. Maybe you have incorrect toe settings?

While I agree with not wasting money on mounting and dismounting, unless you have access to equipment or can do it on the cheap. it is common to do a flip and rotate from side to side.

most of the tires wear is autocross this is evendinced by the outer shoulder getting a lot of wear and knowing the allignment settings are (.08) and zero toe. if the saabaru is much like the 2.5 RS it's going to perform best with (1.8)to(2.2) front camber. you can get away with less static camber with more caster but being a McPherson Strut car and AWD there is little reason to fight the caster battle, or spend the money.

static camber is easy top get on the subaru, slot the top hole inboard (of the two that connect the spindle) it dosent take much like 1/8 of an inch or so to get your desired camber settings. you can do this with a dremel tool or a die grinder. you'll have to set zero toe when your done but that is easy. you can purchase a 1/8" dowel to prevent any future slippage but some agressive torque on the bolts should be enough.

your car will be significantly faster on most courses setup this way and your tire wear issues will be solved. if you want to use my tire pyrometer I can show you numerically where you are on-course. you'll be amazed how much hotter your tires are on the outboard side. and when you start using the entire tire the car will understeer less, wear tires slower, and be faster!

[Loren]

The only instance where you can't flip a tire on the rim is if the tire is specifically marked as asymmetrical... that is: marked "INSIDE" and "OUTSIDE" on the tire.

Most performance tires are just directional. You can flip the tires on the rim, you just have to move them to the other side of the car when you do. And even then, the big reason for that is water evacuation. Most tires will work just fine mounted backwards as long as you never drive them in the rain.

Aside from all that... you need more negative camber for autocross.

[Subsonic]

The problem is, you're trying to solve "money being wasted" and you're going to pay $70-$120 for an umount then mount + balance... to solve it

If those tires are only for autocross - no need to balance them. Low speeds.