I have tried to do the break-in procedures on Hoosiers in the past but found that 1) it's logistically very difficult and 2) didn't provide any measurable return on effort/time invested.
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I have used the Tire Rack heat cycling service quite a bit, though I'm not sure how effective it really is.I have tried to do the break-in procedures on Hoosiers in the past but found that 1) it's logistically very difficult and 2) didn't provide any measurable return on effort/time invested.
I have to tell you, and I have little experience with these myself, but from guys in the industry, the BFGs are a great tire, I think one of the endurance series is using these as a "spec" tire, and they go a full 12 hours. BFG has always been a pioneer in street performance tires, starting in the 70s with the BF Goodrich "Tirebirds"
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You still have room on your credit card.....?Fabman is quite correct and it was the reason I switched over to BFG gforce R1Ss ( plus they are close to $300 a set cheaper ). I heat cycled them, also, but they worked well on longer runs. They last quite a bit longer too, as I still have two sets and will burn them up at early races this year. They really make you up your game, because they take at least one lap longer to get up to temp over a R7, and that often means passing guys you outqualified, but who took off during the start , ha. Towards the race end they did not seem as greasy as a Hoosier, but that is when you run a 30-40 minute event. 20-25 minute races Hoosiers dominate, but I am hoping once I go back to R7s this year, getting them heat cycled will help me get at least two to three weekends out of a set. Time will tell , but I am hoping for my Credit Card's sake to maybe see three weekends or part of three weekends with careful rotation.
Note -- I am not going with or talking about A7s, as have not seen drastic advantages on the courses I normally run.
ITE only has 3 rules:If you guys can get your hands on some Michelins, I think you'd like them, unfortunately, they are very expensive, I want to say $2500 per set, maybe more, but they are a very consistent tire, that you can run to the cords.
You know, we really went off the rails when road racing went to big brakes and 18 inch wheels, they should've left them with 15 inch bias ply tires and Outlaw brakes and learned how to drive, we would have a crap load more entries with $600 sets of tires.
If you guys can get your hands on some Michelins, I think you'd like them, unfortunately, they are very expensive, I want to say $2500 per set, maybe more, but they are a very consistent tire, that you can run to the cords.
You know, we really went off the rails when road racing went to big brakes and 18 inch wheels, they should've left them with 15 inch bias ply tires and Outlaw brakes and learned how to drive, we would have a crap load more entries with $600 sets of tires.
The optimum temperature ranges on the A7 are enlightening. Seems like they can overheat on a Texas summer day if you just look at them funny. I think part of the conversation needs to differentiate what "going off" actually means here - is it "aging out" from use and heat cycles, or is it "getting greasy" in one session due to overheating. Those are two completely different scenarios.
Also, session-to-session changes in tire "feel" need to be considered in conjunction with changes in driving style. As you're learning the track in the early sessions, you're probably driving 8-9/10ths, which would help keep the A7 in it's temp. range. Later sessions you start pushing and can overheat the tire. It gets greasy, your lap times get worse, so you try pushing harder because you know you should be going quicker, they overheat more, and it's all a vicious spiral. Going from a car that's easy on tires to one that punishes them can make the mental part of this worse (I was able to push this hard in the other car).
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I'm going to reset a bunch of alignment/ride height/corner balance parameters and go burn up some tires testing. I was so lucky when 12+ of us ran the same corvette and all shared data to make the racing closer. In my class I'm the only S550 in Cali and there might be a couple other guys in the country so I hate to do it but I'm going to have to put in the work assuming "I think" I know what I'm doing.
Rob or others,
Why take ambient temps with the tire pressures? Why not temp of tarmac? How do you manage tire pressures on a cold tarmac vs hot tarmac? A cold tarmac would imply a cold day which typically make more power. But a hot track surface seem to have more grip to me but too hot and the tires get greasy faster.
So let's say tarmac 90F hot pressure 35 is ideal for lap time.
Then tarmac in morning is 50F do you start cold pressure higher with say 37 because it is harder to get tires up to temp and pressures to grow?
Then tarmac is 125F in the heat of the day. Do you start your cold pressures lower say 33psi because the tires heat up really fast and pressure grows quicker?
Or does none of this matter and the fastest lap is always when your pyrometer readings are the most idea and that just happens to at "X" hot pressure?