Heat Cycling </A> & <A HREF="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/competition/shaving.html" TARGET="_blank"> Shaving are services available at tire rack for r-compound. Are these services necessary?

Here is a posting related to this https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=170383

Just want to get more opinion. btw, I've got my RA1 already, where can I get these services done?

TIA.
CS




[Modified by CS, 6:05 PM 5/13/2002]

 

You don't need to shave R compounds unless you are a racer. The tires themselves will scrub in after one track event or so. Although mine still feel a bit greasy after two events on them. The RA1 are essentially a rain tire that gets better (i.e. more traction) the more worn they become.

You can heat cycle a tire yourself by just driving around on them for a few hours on a nice warm/hot day. Bring them up to temperature and then let them cool down to cold before you use them again. Heat cycling is supposed to allow the compound to take in/dissipate heat better so that they don't blister etc. Keeping track of your tire pressures at the track is your safest bet. RA-1s just tend to get noisy and squirmy as they overheat. I would say that they are a lot more predictable than a true slick like a Hoosier.

I say just throw them on and drive