dp35

I should have included this info from the beginning -

The car is an Ariel Atom. Because of its light weight, it has a hard time getting enough heat into the tires. I always measure my tire temps & pressures ASAP after track sessions. At my last track day the hottest my rear tires got was around 130 degrees F (fronts are much cooler). The hottest my rear tires have ever been was 157, and the fronts have barely reached 130.

With that in mind, I doesn't seem like the blueing was caused by excessive heat.

My front tires have done 12-14 track days, and are worn about 1/2 way through the wear bars. My rears have done 6-7 track days, and are about 3/4 worn.

Barfly

I believe it is from UV exposure. I think it is also more prone with tires that stay relatively dormant. I have run RA-1s to the cords over 2-3 weekends in 100+ heat and didn't see any discoloration, but if I stored the tires for a few months and they were exposed to UV, they would always seem to turn blue. I also had a used set of used RA-1s from a world challenge race, that were worn, but not blue. After sitting dormant, they started turning bluish especially around the edges of the tires.

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Jason

mdrums

My RA1 rear tires are a little blue on the edge. They have 6 days on them and have been doing this for the last 4 days. I store these tires in my garage.

Barfly

There goes my UV theory.

C.J. Ichiban

my 993 with yoko advans get this also, I noticed it recently in the sun while they were a bit overinflated to prevent flat spots from forming.

wouldn't think it's a big deal unless you're getting weird tire wear. These tires seem not to wear at all on the streets and take a bit more heat but still run well on lower pressures on the track.

Glen

I concur, have actually found it to mean less than sh*t....

M758

Many of my RA1s would blue on the outside edges (corner really not on the main tread). This was quite common and I never noticed and reduction in grip. It would however happen after I got a alot of runs in them. For me that was a first sign they were going to die soon. Even so I would still race on them as I could a 5-6 more heat cycles and they were still fast.

BTW... this is on 2600lbs 944 with 350lbs-in spring rates.

chrisp

just curious, why not run narrower tires on the atom? If you're not getting the tire into the temperature sweet spot then drop down a size (or I guess stiffen the springs as someone pointed out earlier). They're lighter, cheaper, have better aero (especially on your semi open wheel car) and at temp will stick better.

Potomac-Greg

Same here. They're in my garage, individually covered. It's got to be heat related.

pat056

Race tires on the Porch of a condo. I can relate to that

38D

Every R / slick I have ever used would "blue" to some degree. Doesn't mean squat.

forklift

I found this a while back, bull**** or not?

http://www.z06vette.com/forums/f90/b...5/#post1212564

Sean F

well, it is a corvette forum

forklift

Yeah, mine turn blue and I don't care, but thought it was worth the read.

38D

That whole cleaning thing seems like total BS. Have you ever seen a race team pre clean sticker tires?