Formula Ford Tires
EuroFormula Ford
Championship Series Tires.
The
tires being used on the Formula Fords, in the EuroFormula Ford Championship
Series, came through a
number of discussions between Jim Doughty and Steve Tremonti, of Carroll Shelby
Enterprises.
The
first goal of Carroll Shelby Ent., the western states Goodyear racing
distributor, was to utilize a current tire from the Goodyear
D.O.T. product line. This
however was not possible to match both the front and rear tire sizes.
One of the limiting factors was the car’s 13inch-rim size.
From here they started to look within the Goodyear family of brands starting with Dunlop. They could find a rear tire that met the requirements, but still no front. Looking deeper into the Goodyear family tree would be necessary.
In
the late 1990’s Goodyear acquired the Dunlop brand which brought the street
tire manufacturer Sumitomo label with it.
Sumitomo
offers a number of tires in the 13inch range.
Since the tire was being used in Formula Ford competition, a high performance
designed tire was needed. The Sumitomo HTR 200 High Performance Summer
Radial was finally chosen.
Within
the HTR 200 Tire line Carroll Shelby Ent. chose the 175/50/HR13 for the front
and the 205/60/HR13 for the rear because of their size relationship to the
current Goodyear racing slicks. Both
sizes fit nicely on the spec 5.5inch rim and the overall diameter of the tires
are nearly a perfect match. The new
Sumitomo front diameter measured 20” compared to 20.3” for the Goodyear
D2273 Race Slick and in the rear it was 22.8” compared to 22.4” for the
Goodyear D1671 rear Racing slick.
This
match allows a Formula Ford Driver to bolt on a new set of Sumitomo tires for
about $300.00 and get multiple race weekends on them, opposed to a new set of Goodyear
race slicks for almost $700.00 a weekend.
The
Sumitomo’s have already proven themselves to be a fun, durable and driver
friendly tire, that tolerates abuse, and hold there own while in a competitive
environment.
Expect to see close Formula Ford racing within the EuroFormula Ford Championship Series!
The cars in the EuroFormula Ford Class, are using the following Sumitomo Tires.
Front
HTR200 175/50R13 72H
Rear
HTR200 205/60R13 87H
The Sumitomo HTR 200 High Performance Summer radial was developed to meet the
needs of today's sports car, coupe and sedan drivers by blending dry and wet
road performance with enhanced comfort and wear resistance.
The Sumitomo HTR 200 features a silica and natural rubber enhanced tread compound molded into a symmetric tread design with stable independent shoulder and intermediate tread blocks to provide dry road handling and enhance wear resistance. The HTR 200 radial's wide circumferential and curved grooves team up to enhance wet traction and reduce the risk of hydroplaning.
Internally, the HTR 200's twin steel belts are reinforced by JointLess Band (JLB) technology which uses spirally wound nylon belt edge strips to provide long term integrity under high speed conditions while it reduces weight and helps provide more uniform ride quality.
The Sumitomo HTR 200 tire’s styling features subtle black letters (with the exception of a narrow white stripe on the P225/70R15 size). Sumitomo HTR 200 tires are available in 70-, 65-, 60- and 50-series; H-speed rated sizes for 13" to 15" wheel diameters.
