[Guillermo]

The august 16 Insight gathering BBQ and convoy around Toronto went very well. There were 6 Insights. My girlfriend Lenie will put some photos on the web hopefully tomorrow.

I would like to thank nnielson who drove all the way from St. Louise for our gathering in Toronto (He left St. Louise at 6 am and arrived at the BBQ at about 4 pm). He also took some time away from site seeing in Toronto to watch me race my Insight on Sunday.

Here are the results:
http://www.wosca.com/Event_Results/Summer-2003-Event-5-Results.htm

I came in 17th place out of 36 cars, I'm happy with those results but I still have room for improvement. There were a few corners that I could have driven better.

 

[joe4ska]

nice time,
why did a porche come in last place, did he not know how to get it out of first gear

 

[Guillermo]

That porche was a crazy little yellow car that looked like a classic home built creation. It arrived on a trailer.
You were close, he seemed to have trasmission problems because this gears were grinding and making terrible sounds.

By the way, I stayed in 1st gear 90% of the time.
I love the Insight's tall first gear!

 

[gomarlins3]

I left mine in 1st the whole time as well when I ran mine. Congrats on the good run.

 

[Tonpilot]

Very nice result! You beat cars like the BMW 323 and Subaru WRX...really nice going! The Insight is quite nimble and handles well!

Do you have pics?

 

[Guillermo]

I don't have any pics of that event but I did take some good video from a previous auto-x race. It will take me a few weeks to post it.
I'll provide a link when it's ready.
I must admit that the experience of 4 advanced driver courses and racing ocassionally over the last 2 years is what helped me beat far better cars. And the 195/55R14 Toyo T-1S ultra high performace tires at least puts me in the same grip range as my competion.

 

[Lawson Huntley]

Congratulations on your success using the Insight in autocross competition. I’ve noticed that Toyo also makes the T-1S in a 195/45/14 size, and have wondered why you chose the 195/55 size. I can imagine the bigger size tire offering more driving comfort on the highway, with very little odometer/speedometer error.

However, for autocrossing, the 195/45 seems to look a little better on paper. It’s 11% lighter (15 vs. 16.8 pounds) which means it’s quicker to spin up and has less unsprung weight. It’s also 1-1/2" less in diameter (effectively giving a lower overall gear ratio, and lowers the car 3/4"). The footprint of each tire is about the same, with the 195/45 being slightly less. Also, the smaller tire diameter effectively gives closer overall gear ratios, which could be either an advantage or disadvantage in competition, depending on the course.

What's your opinion of each tire size, and why did you chose the 195/55 for your Insight? I’ve been thinking about getting a set of T-1S’s for my Insight, but was considering using the smaller size. Thanks.

 

[Guillermo]

Great question,
I chose the 195/55R14 because it has the exact same circumference as the OEM tires. This was confirmed by my GPS.
By the way, even the OEM tires are not the exact size for the speedometer because it reads 2% faster then you are really travelling. Which means that everyones mileage results are actually 2% worse then they think! GASP!
I upgraded the tires 1 month after I bought my car used, so I wanted to have an accurate speedometer etc.. for reference.

Back to answering your question,
As you can see in the official tire spec chart:
http://www.toyo.com/tires/index_frame.html

The minimum rim width recommended for the 195/55R14 T1S is 5.5"
The width of the OEM Insight rims is 5.5" and this is most common for a 14" rim.
The minimum rim width recommended for the 195/45R14 T1s is 6".
This is not a good idea for several reason including that it stresses the sidewalls of the tire too much.

But yes, a lighter and smaller diameter tire is advantages for quicker acceleration. Put if it forces you to shift more often the smaller gear ratios can slow you down.
Ideally you would install the widest 13" rims that fit and use smaller diameter light weight super grippy race compound tires!