Carrera GT

I accept the "don't worry, be happy" sentiment, but this game is about details and focus, so I'm not about to take the single most important aspect of the game and say "near enough is good enough."

I like 38, but found 40, 41 to be great hot on the rears (they're also getting to be damn wide, so they probably need the pressure.) I had the fronts lower, but hadn't finished incremental adjustments before I ran out of time.

I realize that taking an RS to the track is a high cost and high risk game. And one I won't keep up for long until get a dedicated track car. But if Hoosier is to be believed:

... the user has the responsibility to either follow the instructions or spend 50% to 100% more on tires ... this directly justifies the cost of a second (or n'th) set of wheels, which I've done, but now I'm trying to learn to do the rest of the job correctly.

As you say, "graduating" from competition tires to Hooters is a joy (and a "gateway" drug to slicks ... I know from my 993 ...) but if I am burning money faster than slower tires only to show 1-2 sec on the clock, I can do things like practice at DE's and then just use the hooters for time trials or occasional "flat out" fixes.

obsessedone

Wow! I apologize for offering the benefit of actual experience. Good luck to you.

Veloce Raptor

..

mark kibort

exactly! way OVER thinking this!

If you want, Ill heat cycle your tires when ever you want. Ill put 30mins of heat in them and will hardly scuff them up.

Seriously, run them for a sesson, normally. 15mins or so, which is most of a DE or race qual session. wait 24hours and hit them again, HARD!

Done

mooty

i never heat cycled my R6. i am lazy.
last weekend i tried to HC it properly per hoosier instruction CGT posted.
i am pretty limber and quick in tire changing. but basically you waste one session.
POC for example had 4 session per day, at about $80/session.
i am not sure how many more HC the R6 will last after HC. but i just added $80 to my set of tire cost as i wasted one session. i wont be HC them any more in the future.

mark kibort

plus, it seems that the A series will wear out before they get close to heat cycling out. I havent done any R hoosiers, just A's recently, but I suspose they wont get much more life out of them by heat cycling, as your first day is a heat cycle.
I tend to feel, its a waste. I used to do it many years ago, before I started using used tires, and even then, it did nothing I could notice.

AllanJ

Hire a top-level pro coach for a day and see what he can do in your car. I did. He was 6 seconds faster than me (1:55 vs 2:01) with Nittos on the car. Learning how to drive will give me much more than Hoosiers so that's what I'm working on.

Cheers,

Carrera GT

Agreed. There's no question that the improvements to the nut behind the wheel far outweigh and exceed improvements that can be shaved off tires or suspension. This question pertains purely to where the rubber literally meets the road.

Carrera GT

This "over-thinking" nonsense belies the importance of tires. There is simply no two ways about it -- whether you just trounced the field at Laguna with PRC or you had a fun day in the "blue" group for at DE at Thunderhill, tires are as important as any other single factor.

Advice to ignore the setup procedure from the vendor is either misguided or misleading.

mark kibort

My advice has NOTHING to do with the importance of tires from a safety or performance perspective. the only thing that the manufacturer suggests, is that heat cycling, using their method or others, will improve the life and "Possibly" the performance of the tire as it ages. those of us familar with these tires and others, during max performance use of them, KNOW that we are shaving hairs here. If you spend as much time on the driving end of the spectrum, you will trumph any gains possible with heatcycling or not heat cycling your R6s. plus, all tires get heat cycled the first time out. basically, dont use them again for 24 hours or do. the difference in the end will be very slight, especially since folks here that can help you, probably can shave 10X the dreamed about difference in lap time, just by a coaching suggestion.

obsessedone

I think most of us are suggesting that the vendor's recommendations are a sound starting point, but that the collective actual on track experience of those who have offerred comments suggests other options may in some cases be as good, or better, than the vendor recommendations in actual practice. Vendors make a good faith effort to provide sound and safe recommendations to provide service and avoid litigation. Few vendors are able to test their products as extensively as they have been tested collectively by those of us actively using the products on track. Many of us have found that often those recommendations are OK but not necessarily the best.

If you are only comfortable following the vendors explicit recommendations, you are unlikely to benefit from posing questions in these forums, you will be better served to read the manufacturer's literature.

mark kibort

+1

Also, this follows suit for their alignment and pressure suggestions. Do you know that the FASTEST of the A series guys that have ever hit the track on hoosiers, run 10lbs different pressures than recomended?
Do you know that all cars have very different suspension set ups and geometries?

As was said, there is a wealth of knowledge on the track, with the car YOU drive. The experience, testing, and evidence is far superior than what you will find with ANY manufacturer.

Carrera GT

Here's what Hoosier claims re. break-in procedure:
"
The payoff is greatly increased competitive tire life.
The benefits to doing it right include greatly increased tire life as well as consistent performance and durability under stress.
"

Let me repeat my question and return to the topic, please.

Aside from tirerack, is there a tire place in the SF Bay Area that offers heat cycling?

Anywhere between Laguna and Sears would be ideal.

Veloce Raptor

Oh good grief.

https://rennlist.com/forums/7856646-post26.html








Professional Racing and Driving Coach

mark kibort

Amen!

I guess I shouldnt fight it either. These are the same guys that pull off their tires after 3 heat cycles thinking a new set will buy them a second. If it wasnt for all the BS out there about tires, I certainly wouldnt have been racing for the last 10 years on near free tires

To answer your question Carrera GT, tire rack is the only one around that heat cycles tire to add to their bottom line pure profit.
Think about it. Do you think you get 50%-100% more life, or better stick halfway through their life? really??? so, instead of 15 heat cycles, you can now magically get 30? gain 1-2 seconds a lap halfway during their life vs not doing it? trust me an others that KNOW that this is BS, it is BS. I challenge you to find ONE driver here that has done a heat cycled R or A6 and gained any lap time at all, with that process being the only change.

EDIT:
Here is why it seems that heat cycling works: a novice driver, who is getting better all the time, burns though several sets of tires in a season of DE and time trialing. he is the same guy that is boiling his brake fluid and burning the inside edges to cords because he has the "race" alignment now. Then, he heat cycles the tires at Tire Rack, he is driving better and they last longer than the previous set, but he has forgotten that he is always getting a little more out of each set these days, because he is driving better, not plowing the front tires or getting lose on every corner. He believes the longer life is due to heat cycling. Then, a year or two later after 4 more sets, he is burning though tires much faster than ever, because he is running 4 seconds faster a lap now. He is now in the "in" crowd and now understands that HC'ing the tires is a joke to grab $100 from you on every set. He then doesnt do it for a set and finds out that the tires last just as long and his lap times dont change.
end of story. sound familar???