Tyres Shaved/Buffed?

[Chunkychucky]

It seems as though getting tyres shaved or 'buffed' is a bit of a dying art - a Google search produced a chap in Birmingham who may or may not have shut up shop at the end of 2023, and a possible service available from Demon Tweeks directly...

Does anyone know of any smaller shops that still shave road tyres down, ideally local to North Yorkshire? Called a couple of shops locally who confirmed it wasn't something they'd heard of being done for years, looking to get some new road tyres scalped down to about 3mm of tread ideally

(I have updated the thread, recommendations received have been linked in the 28th post of this thread below)

Edited by Chunkychucky on Tuesday 2nd July 15:51

[MrBig]

I'm sure there's a good technical reason for this, but I have to ask, why?

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Why?

[Oilchange]

Often done for racing as the tread blocks are too deep, which causes overheating and the shaving creates a nicely scuffed and grippy surface ready to go.

When a race requires a wet tyre in rain and racing wets aren't allowed in the rules a road tyre is often the preferred choice, like Uniroyal rain sports for example, I think shaving is sometimes used here. Will be corrected no doubt.

[Chunkychucky]

Oilchange said:

Often done for racing as the tread blocks are too deep, which causes overheating and the shaving creates a nicely scuffed and grippy surface ready to go.

When a race requires a wet tyre in rain and racing wets aren't allowed in the rules a road tyre is often the preferred choice, like Uniroyal rain sports for example, I think shaving is sometimes used here. Will be corrected no doubt.

Yeah pretty much this!

[essayer]

I thought it was some styling fad I’d never heard of

[Chunkychucky]

Yeah thought it was a 'bit niche', wasn't sure if it would be a question best asked here or in one of the Motorsport sub-forums

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Well I never!

Every day is a school day.

[Tony1963]

I remember it being a thing in the 80s. I ‘think’ the old British Saloon Car Championship competitors used the service as road tyres were stipulated in the rules. On a warm, dry track, shaved tyres lasted longer than new tyres, I was told.

But, 40 years later, tyre technology is on a different level, and I doubt it’s necessary if you buy the right tyres in the first place.

[Chunkychucky]

Tony1963 said:

But, 40 years later, tyre technology is on a different level, and I doubt it’s necessary if you buy the right tyres in the first place.

It'll be interesting to see, MSA Tyre List 1A doesn't have the most exotic tyres on it, but as you say tyre technology has advanced over the past few years so it may not be necessary anymore.

[Smint]

Isn't this just a case of removing the moulding compounds from the tread and taking the initial smoothness off the rubber itself.

Bedding in (or more accurately scrubbing off) times can be really high for some new tyres, some (Vredestein Wintracs spring to mind) give full grip immediately from fitting.
Longest i've found is truck tyres, particularly drive axles where twin wheels are the norm, you can reckon on at least a month or 5000kms before full grip is available...a mate described the sensation like trying to drive a plate of spaguetti, most accurate description
4x4's with largish tyres you can reckon on 1000 miles.

[Chunkychucky]

If the worst comes to the worst i'll just scrub the tyres in with some road miles before going on track and use them with standard treadblocks. I was looking to get the tread blocks shaved down to roughly 3mm of tread, for the reasons suggested previously like less treadblock height on the tyre should result in lower temperatures/longer tyre life and potentially quicker around a lap of a dry circuit.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Surely track day tyres would be a better option? Toyo or Yokohama?

[Jo-say8k]

Isn't the obvious solution to do loads of burnouts to wear them down?

[Megaflow]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

Surely track day tyres would be a better option? Toyo or Yokohama?

If you are thinking of the likes of R888 and whatever A032R is these days, then they are List 1B tyres and the OP needs a List 1A tyre, which is basically standard road tyres.

[Chunkychucky]

Megaflow said:

Jordie Barretts sock said:

Surely track day tyres would be a better option? Toyo or Yokohama?

If you are thinking of the likes of R888 and whatever A032R is these days, then they are List 1B tyres and the OP needs a List 1A tyre, which is basically standard road tyres.

Cheers, just came to write that

The idea of burning through a layer of tread has crossed my mind, but the car barely has enough grunt to get out of its own way, so it might be a bit of a task...!!

[Oilchange]

Overheating the tyres by burn outs will likely damage the tread anyway, that's why they used to shave them, works wonders apparently

As for removing the moulding compound, yes shaving does this but it's primarily for taking off the depth to a level where the tyre won't overheat

[stevieturbo]

Chunkychucky said:

Yeah pretty much this!

So buy track tyres with les tread to start with if it's for the track ?

Would seem utterly pointless doing it to road tyres

[Maxdecel]

Tony1963 said:

I remember it being a thing in the 80s. I ‘think’ the old British Saloon Car Championship competitors used the service as road tyres were stipulated in the rules. On a warm, dry track, shaved tyres lasted loboth nger than new tyres, I was told.

But, 40 years later, tyre technology is on a different level, and I doubt it’s necessary if you buy the right tyres in the first place.

IIRC? I heard of this on the Avon tour of Britain, production cars used on circuits & stages driven by known names from both disciplines.
Think 3mm was considered the depth where optimum grip occurred in the DRY, and removing the height of the tread block also improves handling as there's little or no "lean" on the tread.
Plus it keeps the car legal between stages !

[Dave.]

essayer said:

I thought it was some styling fad I’d never heard of

That kind of shaving/buffing was a thing a few years ago in the VAG scene…. (No, not that VAG scene ) where they would shave/buff the sidewalls to remove all those pesky numbers and letters.