I know that Hoosier reccommends heat cycling the R6 tires, but I'm curious who is and who is not. If your are, do you think you are getting additional heat cycles out of them and if so how many extra? Also, if you are heat cycling, are you having them done by Tire Rack ( or similar supplier ) or the "old fashion way" on track. Thanks in advance for any input the group can provide.

Thx.

Mick

 

ill start - I dont. Usually put them on for qual and away you go on them

 

same here

sometimes we heatcycle them if we have time but I haven't noticed a measurable improvement in life when we do

 

Me too. It's a pain in the *** to properly "heat cycle" tires unless you have 3 sets of wheels. And I certainly haven't noticed any benefit.

 

What everyone else said. Put them on a go.

 

Don't pay Tire Rack to heat cycle them.

Bob Woodman says this on his website:

"Tire Break-in Procedure
NOTE: It's been our experience and observation that the ONLY PROPER WAY to heat cycle tires is on the car. There is no machine that can properly heat cycle the tire because the machinery lacks sufficient heat, abrasion and load."
R6 Roadrace

The first laps for the tire are critical for setting up the durability and competitive life. The first session should consist of no more than 10-15 minutes of running. The early part of the session should be run at an easy pace, with the speed gradually increased until the end of the session. The final lap should be run at the fastest possible speed. The intent is to achieve maximum tire temp on the last lap. At this point the car should be brought in and the tires allowed to cool at a normal rate.

During the initial run-in process, the inflation pressure should be 3-5 PSI higher than you would normally use. The best progression would have the driver taking 4-7 laps to accomplish this break-in. Each lap should be approximately 7-10 seconds a lap faster than the previous lap. The goal is to have the tire temp as high as possible on the last lap without "shocking" the tire during the warm up laps. In essence, no wheelspin, late braking, or sliding. The last lap should be at, or very close, the maximum possible.

 

^^^^ THIS ^^^^









Professional Racing and Driving Coach

 

Well, that whole warm up procedure is not happening in qualifying (could you imagine that?). And I think the most grip an R6 is going to make will be in the first 2 hot laps, so get it while the getting is good.

FWIW, I've done it both ways on stickers (heat cycled and cooled, and run hard immediately out of the pits), and I've seen no difference in performance longevity.

 

Same experience here. Can run stickers for qualifying. Very consistent.

OP-A question for you would be what is your goal? Is it longevity or competition and pace? In my case it is a balance between these two, so I found that a practice set of Nitto's helps my practice seat time all year long on the same set. That way I can save my 'stickies' for racing.

 

Thanks for the input. Sounds like everyone is in same boat as me...tried it but no real gains in longivity. BTW...I'm searching for the balance between performance and number of HC's.

 

+1

By lap 3 they have peaked, and by HC 10 they should be done if you get decent wear. If you're getting 20 HC out of hoosiers, you need to push harder or stop wasting money on hoosiers.

 

I also have seen no appreciable improvement in longevity due to heat cycling. However, I do get close to 20 heat cycles on a set, but I do drive them until they cord. With a good setup, the wear is even - and even with an agressive setup, you can flip the tires. WRT cycles: the first 2-3 are fasest, the next 10-12 are pretty close to equal, and the last few are a mixed bag ending with sessions that are 1-2 seconds slower, and more difficult to drive.

IMO you can run fast lap times on the leading side of the Hoosier's slip angle range and preserve a few extra decent sessions. Ymmv.

-td

 

Td, did you ever run on v710 kumhos? How do they compare to R6 on a track and how many HC with adequate traction one can get out of them?

 

I've pretty much run Hoosiers exclusively for the last 3 years. I ran a bunch of tires before that - but not 710s. I think VR *might* have some info on them. .

 

he might but usually only facepalms back. I just tease him, that`s all.
I have a set of v710 in the basement so at the end of the season i`ll try them myself.

I got other probelm am not sure what to do with, I do like RA1 tires a lot but they are all gone now and despite of rumors that they will start production again no one has them anymore.

I still have 335 rears which I tried to sell with no avail, and now I see 275/35r18 NT01 surfaced on Ebay for $490 per pair. Theoretically nt01 and ra1 are made from same compound but tread is different. Sizes wise 275 nt01 in front are 25.5" and 335 RA1 in rear are 25.9" - so it should work... but i am really not sure of idea to mix nt01 and RA1 despite their claimed similarities.