a4944

Hi All,
I'm about to buy a set of 245/45-R16 Toyo RA1s for the next DE season. I've done a search and there are varying opinions on shaving for DEs. This is my first set of R compounds. I want them to be faster than street and have good wear. Car and driver weighs 3200 lbs. I'll be running the SE tracks (VIR, Roebling, Rockingham, CMP). Anyone with a similiar setup have opinions on shaving for DE use? Wear is my primary concern. Some of these tracks are hard on tires so I'm thinking full tread may be best.

Thanks,
Mark

Eric in Chicago

Track hard on tires will be worse if you run full tread. Shaving the tires prevents heat build up and chunking of the tires. I ran shaved pilot sport cups last year, no problem (except that they are slippery as hell for the 1st two laps) A buddy runs shaved Toyos on this 951 TS and has no problem. Again, shaving is good for track tires, and will make them last longer

RJay

I've been running on the Toyos at full depth with good result. I initially bought them for rains, but have been using them in all conditions and noticed no chunking or excessive wear despite driving pretty hard. My car is very light at 2100# and I fully agree with the comments above. I would note that the Toyos are pretty squishy at full depth, now that mine have been "shaved" through use they are less so. When I buy them again they will be shaved.

Antonio

I've ran full thread Toyo RA1's, 245/45-R16, in two SCCA schools so far. After seven hours of track time, including an one 30 minute race, there is no evidence of chunking whatsoever and very little wear. If your sole purpose is running DE's, it does not make sense to shave them unless you plan to carry a rain set as well. If you keep an eye on them and rotate them accordingly, they'll last you for a long time.

jerome951

Mark,

I'd recommend you not shave them. I've never had chunking problems running them full-depth on my stock, porky TurboS, and I've probably been through 4 or 5 pairs of fronts. I think you'll get better life out of them, especially if you car doesn't wear tires completely flat across the tread face.

Also, the full-depth tires will be slower than shaved tires. Since this is your first set of R-compound tires, it will take a while for your driving techniques and reactions to catch up to RA1s. As they wear, RA1s get faster, so you can continue to adjust your driving to the increased speed. Just my $0.02.

Dave in Chicago

I ran the RA-1's at full tread this year on my porky 3200 lb. 968. No chunking or undue issues except for uneven wear from being sprung way to soft (gonna correct that this year).

They do seem to get faster as they wear. I've been running 235/275 F/R on 17" wheels.

MarkPcar

The RA1 has been a great tire on my spec miata. We ran the 25 Hours of Thunderhill and started the race on a new set shaved to 5/32's and they lasted from the noon start until 5am the next morning with no noticable change in performance. The Miata guys run these tires until the cords show.

Full tread may be OK for DE, but shaved will be faster.

Z-man

Another satisfied RA1 customer here! I run 245/45-16's at all four corners on my 944S2. (Great tire combo for the 944 series cars, btw) I didn't shave them before using them, and I have no chunking / excessive wear issues.

As said above, for DE's, you're fine without shaving.

-Z.

Jarez Mifkin

since we're on the subject of R1s...what kind of heat cycling do you guys do to them when you get them? what are your hot pressures?

Z-man

jmorris: So far, I have 10 days (~ 37 heat cycles) on my Toyos - first season I'm using them. Not cording yet, and last I used them (VIR in November), the 'grip factor' hadn't fallen off the tires yet.

As for hot temp pressures, I'm somewhere between 37-40 psi. (Starting around 32 psi cold)

-Z.

Jarez Mifkin

Thanks Z, after your first scrubbing in, how long did you let them sit? I'm going to the PBOC Winterfest here in a couple of weeks and have a set of take off RA1s that i'm going to use for 3 30 minute lapping sessions of friday, before the 4th and last session of the day, I plan on putting the new tires on, since I only have one set of wheels, scrubbing them in for a few minutes of the session and then letting them sit overnight, my first session on saturday is at 10:30 am which will give the tires almost 19 hrs to cure....long enough you think?

a4944

Thanks all. Full tread it is, at least for this first set.

Mark

Z-man

Jason: 19hours is significantly more time than what I allowed the tires to sit. I really didn't let them sit for any time - IE: I didn't take the tires off the car after scrubbing them in and before the next day's sessions.

-Z.

Jarez Mifkin

sounds good z-man....in that case, I'll just do what I planned and be done with it. Thanks for the help.

jerome951

Apparently scrubbing in and curing RA1s isn't necessary. They wear so well anyway gaining that an extra couple of track days out of them isn't worth the heat cyclying hassle...