Track tire wear and heat...?

[davewadd]

I have been autocrossing for about 3 years now, and do an occasional track day. I have always paid attention to the tire pressures I run at events...but not any attention to heat. I've read some snipits about heat guns and probes,...and I see guys cooling down their tires with spray bottles between runs, etc..but I never really got into monitoring heat.

The pics below are my C71 Hankooks. I like these tires a lot, and this is not mt first set. When I buy them, I have them heat-cycled before mounting...hoping it will give me longer life.

After an event at Qualcomm Stadium yesterday, the tread build up on the tires is more than I've had in he past. The wear is even, and the tires still look good...no flat spots and no chording.

If you are knowledgeable on the subject, can you tell me if this like good build up?..or did the tires get too hot? Thoughts?

[Xavier PJB]

Dave, I am not familiar with Autocross, however I am doing loads of track days, running Toyo R888. My tyres get in the same poor shape while I am out of the trak on the dirty part of it.
I would say that autocross path is not cleaned at all. The high temperature of your tyres (which is ok) make them softer (which is all right :-), and as per there are tons of piece of rubber on the track, there are glued on the surface of yours. I have never paid attention to the temperature of my tyres, as while I am on the track, there is no way to cool them down. Presure is key for sure and highly dependant on the the temp.

If those are your front tyres, you should think about doing a proper camber. My 2 cents.

This is my experience.
Cheers

[Per Schroeder]

That's very typical of an event where you have a lot of competitors running on the same course/same day. We get that much pick-up or more at SCCA Solo National Championships--even on the clean line. You typically get it on the non-driven wheels, but if there's enough rubber laid down, you can get it on the driven wheels as well. There are all manner of ways to get it off--I use a horse comb and a heat gun, but some folks will swap out all four tires between runs and clean them afterwards to insure max grip.

[davewadd]

Thanks for the response.