Tire questions - tread depth, heat cycles, scuffing vs stickers
06-12-2010, 09:06 PM
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Tire questions - tread depth, heat cycles, scuffing vs stickers
Had a few questions about tires, and figured some dudes up here might have some good insight. so, here you go:
Lets presume one runs a tire like a Hoosier R6 on their Boxster S spec race car, though im not sure tire and car are that relevant.
a. how would one come to know how many heat cycles the tire can tolerate?
b. how many heat cycles can the tire tolerate before performance significantly falls off the curve?
c. how many laps, what criteria or conditions would want to be met such as to deliver the best times/laps on that specific tire? that is, ive heard guys say, 'take it out, put on 2,3 laps , get the tires hot, pit, check pressure, adjust, take it back out and the 2nd lap thereafter is probably going to be your qualifying best'. im not as much curious as to how to get the long term, big haul best out of the car, but when where and how do you get that peak hot lap that just smokes the clock? how long do you think performance stays strong before it fades, even if still very driveable.
d. ive read a lot about scuffing tires vs sticker tires. i was , more to the point, watching GrandAm from Watkins where i think the camaro GT was talkinga bout how they scuffed all their tires the day before. they said they did 2,3 laps on them, changed tires, scuffed every tire. of course, they ran out of tires, and ended up using sticker tires and of course blew one with 90seconds left in the race. ugh.
my question is, what precisely are they accomplishing with scuffing the tires? is it the heat cycle that 'hardens' or improves the strength of the tire, or are they just basically throwing 2 laps on them so first laps out they arent as slippery/risky as stickers?
and lastly,
e. when one talks about a 'tire being shot', i guess one could talk about the tire having exceeded its heat cycles. perhaps you run a track like limerock which doesnt eat up tires and u can get a lot of sessions on a set of hoosiers, etc,. ive heard tires like hoosiers become no good, irrespective of tread in that 8 to 10 heat cycles at most.
and
f. then what about tread depth... that is, its a slick (or close). there is basically no tread. so why as the tire wears would it degrade if its a slick. its still, well, slick. does the tire harden as you lose slick tread depth and that depth of tread is what conforms and heats and sticks to the asphalt.??
with my miata RA1s, the more worn they get, typically, the faster they get. right before cording, they are fasssstt.
anyway, sorry for all the tire questions loaded up in one post but i ifugred it would make for a good discussion, and well, i had tires on the brain.
thx in advance.
Lets presume one runs a tire like a Hoosier R6 on their Boxster S spec race car, though im not sure tire and car are that relevant.
a. how would one come to know how many heat cycles the tire can tolerate?
b. how many heat cycles can the tire tolerate before performance significantly falls off the curve?
c. how many laps, what criteria or conditions would want to be met such as to deliver the best times/laps on that specific tire? that is, ive heard guys say, 'take it out, put on 2,3 laps , get the tires hot, pit, check pressure, adjust, take it back out and the 2nd lap thereafter is probably going to be your qualifying best'. im not as much curious as to how to get the long term, big haul best out of the car, but when where and how do you get that peak hot lap that just smokes the clock? how long do you think performance stays strong before it fades, even if still very driveable.
d. ive read a lot about scuffing tires vs sticker tires. i was , more to the point, watching GrandAm from Watkins where i think the camaro GT was talkinga bout how they scuffed all their tires the day before. they said they did 2,3 laps on them, changed tires, scuffed every tire. of course, they ran out of tires, and ended up using sticker tires and of course blew one with 90seconds left in the race. ugh.
my question is, what precisely are they accomplishing with scuffing the tires? is it the heat cycle that 'hardens' or improves the strength of the tire, or are they just basically throwing 2 laps on them so first laps out they arent as slippery/risky as stickers?
and lastly,
e. when one talks about a 'tire being shot', i guess one could talk about the tire having exceeded its heat cycles. perhaps you run a track like limerock which doesnt eat up tires and u can get a lot of sessions on a set of hoosiers, etc,. ive heard tires like hoosiers become no good, irrespective of tread in that 8 to 10 heat cycles at most.
and
f. then what about tread depth... that is, its a slick (or close). there is basically no tread. so why as the tire wears would it degrade if its a slick. its still, well, slick. does the tire harden as you lose slick tread depth and that depth of tread is what conforms and heats and sticks to the asphalt.??
with my miata RA1s, the more worn they get, typically, the faster they get. right before cording, they are fasssstt.
anyway, sorry for all the tire questions loaded up in one post but i ifugred it would make for a good discussion, and well, i had tires on the brain.
thx in advance.
