Melted Tires still good?
06-17-2002, 07:35 PM
#1
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Melted Tires still good?
My wife and I did an autocross over the weekend and I'm trying to determine if our tires are tashed or could still be used...
I bought a spare set of wheels to use for track events and they came with ContiSports that had some tread left. The rears are now treadless and need to be replaced but I'm concerned about the fronts. While they still have plenty of tread the only way I can describe the rubber after Saturday's autocross is melted. The rubber looks like it melted and then solidified and is much harder than it was.
While I would like an excuse to trash the fronts and buy Kumho's all around, I would like to know if this is a common occurance when you push tires hard and if it really has destroyed their grip. I ask because the rubber feels so much harder that I can't imagine it will grip as well as it used to.
I bought a spare set of wheels to use for track events and they came with ContiSports that had some tread left. The rears are now treadless and need to be replaced but I'm concerned about the fronts. While they still have plenty of tread the only way I can describe the rubber after Saturday's autocross is melted. The rubber looks like it melted and then solidified and is much harder than it was.
While I would like an excuse to trash the fronts and buy Kumho's all around, I would like to know if this is a common occurance when you push tires hard and if it really has destroyed their grip. I ask because the rubber feels so much harder that I can't imagine it will grip as well as it used to.
06-18-2002, 04:00 AM
#2
Tom,
That is pretty common for soft compound tires that have been run hard. Basically, you gave them a good heat cycling. They may eve be a bit of a blue color but don't let that bother you.
All that will wear off in a few minutes the next time you run them hard. If anything, it's a good condition as the heat creates a tighter molecular bond within the tire and will make them grip better and last longer.
That said, I just mounted my first set of Kumho's tonight and they are unbelievable! I took them to some local twistys and a vacant parking lot to get them up to temp (around 140 deg. F or so). Now, they will sit at least 24 hours to "cure" before running them hard again. Heat cycling in this way can be very beneficial but only needs to be done once per set.
Matt
That is pretty common for soft compound tires that have been run hard. Basically, you gave them a good heat cycling. They may eve be a bit of a blue color but don't let that bother you.
All that will wear off in a few minutes the next time you run them hard. If anything, it's a good condition as the heat creates a tighter molecular bond within the tire and will make them grip better and last longer.
That said, I just mounted my first set of Kumho's tonight and they are unbelievable! I took them to some local twistys and a vacant parking lot to get them up to temp (around 140 deg. F or so). Now, they will sit at least 24 hours to "cure" before running them hard again. Heat cycling in this way can be very beneficial but only needs to be done once per set.
Matt
