Brand new tyres on a trackday?
Discussion
>>Is there any problem with using a set of brand-new tyres (Goodyear Eagle F1) on a track day ?
Yes!!! Unless they are track day tyres, you will wear them out VERY quickly and they risk blistering. Because the treadblocks will be the greatest height, the car will probably feel bad, as the treadblocks will move as you corner hard. Believe me, I speak from bitter experience with an almost new set of Pirelli P-Zeros!
Zubin
Yes!!! Unless they are track day tyres, you will wear them out VERY quickly and they risk blistering. Because the treadblocks will be the greatest height, the car will probably feel bad, as the treadblocks will move as you corner hard. Believe me, I speak from bitter experience with an almost new set of Pirelli P-Zeros!
Zubin
Brand new tyres will be very soft and will wear very quickly and be very easy to overheat. Definitely recommend curing them beforehand, this will harden them up so you get more grip and less wear. Having a lot of tread shouldn't be a problem unless you plan to be a complete hooligan - as long as they have been cured.
GreenV8S said: Definitely recommend curing them beforehand, this will harden them up so you get more grip and less wear.
I've just had new SO3s put on the rear wheels and will be at Castle Combe next week - obviously not ideal. If I take the first session or two fairly gently will that cure the tyres or should I be doing something else?
There definitely isn't time to do it at the track day, it's well worth doing this beforehand. What you need to do is get the tyres good and warm by pulling moderately high G forces in acceleration, cornering and braking for 20 minutes or so, just enough to start working the tyres without sliding them. You should get them up to 40 or 50 centigrade, in practical terms this is hot to the touch but not uncomfortably hot.
Obviously, be careful where you do this. Then leave the tyres to cool down over a couple of hours. If you have time, do this twice, but the first time makes the biggest difference. While the tyres are really hot, the vulcanisation process continues. This toughens the tyres, reduces wear and increases grip. But it is a very slow process which takes several hours. Hope this helps,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
Obviously, be careful where you do this. Then leave the tyres to cool down over a couple of hours. If you have time, do this twice, but the first time makes the biggest difference. While the tyres are really hot, the vulcanisation process continues. This toughens the tyres, reduces wear and increases grip. But it is a very slow process which takes several hours. Hope this helps,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
Whilst it is not ideal, there is ‘no problem’ – with you doing it. I put a set of SO3’s on the front of Trev about a month ago, drove home from the tyre place, about 5 miles. The next week drove the 20 miles to Silverstone from my house, and did a Track day (full circuit). So on less than 30 miles it was straight on the track. Yeah I had to be careful in the first session, and had to lower the pressure to get some grip early on. But there were fine.
I did get some understeer issue’s, but then Silverstone is notoriously bad for Understeer. Although as Pete says, you will find a lot of racers, especially in the club series will buff around half the tread off new tyres, and run them in, to get the ultimate grip.
jj (now sporting a set of cracked front discs and a nicely bedded in front left..!!
)
I did get some understeer issue’s, but then Silverstone is notoriously bad for Understeer. Although as Pete says, you will find a lot of racers, especially in the club series will buff around half the tread off new tyres, and run them in, to get the ultimate grip.
jj (now sporting a set of cracked front discs and a nicely bedded in front left..!!
) 
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