I put some RT-215's on my car over the summer for autox duty + daily driving but didn't really have any idea as to how hot to let them get for autox. Over the summer, they got hot to the point where I could barely keep my hand on them after the third run of four.

This past weekend I co-drove with someone on V710's and he started saying they were getting too hot when they felt lukewarm to the touch. I trust his judgement on the subject so I was wondering if I should start watering down my RT-215's at events when they reach a similar temperature, or is it not comparable since one is a street tire and the other a R-comp?

Thanks,

Brian

 

You want the RT-215s to be as cold as possible. Some of us spray them with ice water. I'd say they're pretty much done around 130-135 degrees. Anything you can do to keep them cold will make them work better. You can look at the grid area after most ST* cars run in warm weather and tell who's running what tire by looking at the ground. The Azenis and Hankook shod-cars will have puddles underneath them from the owners frantically hosing tires down between runs.

 

If mine "felt" warm at all, I spray them. The 615s are less sensitive but still get sprayed down at least after the 2nd run. At nationals, there were puddles between the end of the course and my grid spot on both days. Driving slowly though those puddles seemed to be more than enough to keep them cool.

 

this is a noob question, but why is it bad for the tires to be hot? wouldnt they grip better if they were?

 

They're just made out of a different kind of compound. This particular compound grips best when cold.

 

Back when I did my pyrometer testing I found anything above 115 they got really greasy. So the 215s love to be cold.

Philly region would actually change the PAX for their winter series events because the top 20 would be all ST cars

 

i <3 toyo ra1's

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WRXRacer111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The Azenis and Hankook shod-cars will have puddles underneath them from the owners frantically hosing tires down between runs.</TD></TR></TABLE>


sigh...i miss summer

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boyer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i &lt;3 toyo ra1's</TD></TR></TABLE>

so does all them world challenge guys

 

Yep, I can't count how many times I've drained water out of people's coolers (after asking of course), to fill up my sprayer bottle

 

Good to know. I'll be sure to start spraying almost immediately next season. My 4th run has typically been the quickest as well, so hopefully it'll be even quicker now.

 

I'd say about 130-140 degrees after a couple friends shot mine with their pyrometers at a couple different events. After an awesome auto-x run, all four tires were at an even 120 degrees. During a track session at Pocono they get greasy after a few hot laps. On my 4th hot lap I was losing grip and had a huge oversteer moment coming out of the infield onto the banking. It felt like I was going up the hill backwards. I floored it in 3rd and managed to save it, did a cool down lap and pulled in. A friend shot my left font, 140 and my left rear, 149. After the cooldown lap.