Driving the point home about tire break in
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 12:49 pm
This is geared more to the HPDE type of driver but could apply to auto-x, or even performance street tires......
I can't go into real specifics but at Sebring we were shocked at how long tires did not last. It was not a comment on the track over all but rather the method of break in.
As an example ( and like I've said before) the best laps in your tires are in the first 5, with a set of stickers, it was pretty clear that if you were to run a fast qualifier then it would be in the first 5, if you got blocked (Buford) and you couldn't get a clear lap in you were really screwed. Now, that being said, we also ran a set of stickers new to used (in one long stint) and when they fell off, it was very dramatic, and they were pretty much toast from then on. (the amount of time/laps/wear/ temps and pressures are proprietary so just take my word for it). Lastly, tires that were broken in by running a short stint lasted quite a few laps longer than expected.
So it is pretty clear, if you want to go fast, do it in the first 5 laps of the tires life (and don't forget you have to anticipate the temp/pressure to do that..hope you've been working on your graphs) if you want them to last, break them in , in one or two 3-5 lap stints and let them normalize.
BTW gratuitous babe pics from Sebring......
I can't go into real specifics but at Sebring we were shocked at how long tires did not last. It was not a comment on the track over all but rather the method of break in.
As an example ( and like I've said before) the best laps in your tires are in the first 5, with a set of stickers, it was pretty clear that if you were to run a fast qualifier then it would be in the first 5, if you got blocked (Buford) and you couldn't get a clear lap in you were really screwed. Now, that being said, we also ran a set of stickers new to used (in one long stint) and when they fell off, it was very dramatic, and they were pretty much toast from then on. (the amount of time/laps/wear/ temps and pressures are proprietary so just take my word for it). Lastly, tires that were broken in by running a short stint lasted quite a few laps longer than expected.
So it is pretty clear, if you want to go fast, do it in the first 5 laps of the tires life (and don't forget you have to anticipate the temp/pressure to do that..hope you've been working on your graphs) if you want them to last, break them in , in one or two 3-5 lap stints and let them normalize.
BTW gratuitous babe pics from Sebring......