Spent some time on Infineon over the weekend and wanted to get some insight as to what my tires are trying to tell me.

Do they look like they should after several sessions on a warm day? Is my tire pressure too high or low? Is the chunking evident of sloppy driving or is this how street tires should look after a day at the track?

I was running at about 39psi cold (i was aiming for 35 cold but as i recently discovered, my guage reads about 4 psi lower) before my parking-neighbor advised a much cooler psi and it did make a huge difference in a good way.

cold pressures were at about 34 front, 30 rear - hot pressures were at about 39 front and 35 rear.

advice would be much appreciated!

Pics are in this order - FL, FR, RL, RR.

 

what the? -- looks like if you ran over tar.

 

That is normal pick up on your tires from race rubber on the track . Tires look good but can't tell you what pressures to run. All I can tell you is that the rear works less than the front so you need more pressure in the back than the rear.
On ra1 in race condition we are aiming for 34 hot front and rear so sometimes we have to start as low as 25 front and 27 rear.

 

the last pic looks like more camber needed

 

What lwnslw said.

I was at 26/29 cold on r888s recently to get the pressures I wanted.

Are you sure each tire was hot 39/35? Normally you have some variance depending on the track by a psi or 2...more lefts than rights for example .

 

Cold tire psi means nothing. Pay attention to psi when they are At operating temp. "pick up" as mentioned above are pieces of rubber laying on track. As the day goes by you will see more of it, it will be bouncing off you windshield, hood, and stuck to your wheels. It might feel like you have a nail or something in you tire going to/from the pits. That is pick up

 

Your street tires are whispering to you.. inaudable ghostly voice...( get some r comps for the track).
They look fine, since your new to this its natural to feel a bit concerned.
Play with your pressures and remember you wont get the same grip as a softer compound tire.
If you are chunking which i dont see any really, its probably that you are exceeding the tires limits.
You'd see much bigger chunks in the edges if they were doing that.
Google image chunking tires so you can see what it looks like.

 

That.


And, depending on your experience, maybe not this.

 

Thanks for the info guys, lots of useful insight.

My next time out I think i'll start here vvvv and make adjustments.

How do you know when your pressures are too low?

Camber is -1.75 in front and -1 in the rear. The car's a dailey so I don't want to be too aggressive with camber. I've set a personal goal not to get R-comps until I break two minutes on street tires... Plus I'll need another set of rims as I'd rather not daily on R's

 

adjust when you are hot and don't worry about how low you start. On street tires I would probably run them a little bit higher, since and correct me if I'm wrong, the side walls on R compounds are made stiffer than street tires so you are going to have more roll on a street tire compared to a R compound at the same pressure.
Maybe try 36 to 38 hot and adjust from there.
If your car is a daily then leave your cambers but maybe a 2 in the back won't be bad.

 

And don't forget that different tires respond differently to pressures. For example, a Toyo R1R likes significantly lower pressures than a Bridgestone RE-11. So what one person says they run on an RA1 or R888 might not be right for whatever street tire this is.

The excessive wear on the shoulder of the RR is a little concerning to me. Was that there before the track day? I would think there is something screwy with your alignment if you did that in one track day on a rear tire.

 

You are exactly right. It was worn there before the last track day due to screwy alignment setting i.e. positive camber... i know, shame on me... everything is more or less dialed in now though.

 

You know when the pressures are too low when you are rolling the tire over to where the tire is contacting the surface beyond the tread... There are usually little triangle/arrows in the side of the tread pointing to the point where they should be... if you have any scuffing beyond that, then you need to raise the pressures. Really you should run as low as you can within that threshold on street tires....because more often than not you will be bumping them up to keep them off the sidewall. Pics - what everyone said^^ don't look bad just 'worked'.

 

I've been messing w/ tire pressures during track days with my car on street tires (currently running RE011's). Here's a general run down of how I've been doing mine. Also, I'm still fairly new to all of this myself, so please if anyone has critiques or suggestions please speak up (I'm trying to learn all I can).

1) Slightly overfill tires the day before the event. Keep in mind that the pressure the next morning when it's cold may be lower than what you're filling them to the day before.

2) Once at the track, take pressures on all 4 corners and even them out. You can start with the same on all 4 corners or if you know you want more pressure in the front or rear you can just make the fronts match and the rears match.

3) Run your first session and take pressure readings at ALL corners immediately after exiting the car. Don't go too slow on your cool down lap or your readings won't be as accurate.

4) Take note of the amount each tire went up. This will help you know what your cold pressures should be in order to hit the hot pressures you want.

5) Take note of higher pressures on one side due to the direction your running or other track/day/car specific variables.

6) Use those factors to decide what to set your cold pressures to before the next session. Then repeat the process after your next session so you can further fine tune things.


I've been starting my pressures a little on the high side in the morning and usually during my 1st or 2nd session I'll notice the tires losing grip due to higher pressures/temps. Once that happens I have my "ceiling" for high high my pressures can be and from then on keep them below that mark. If you're new to this it can take awhile till you figure out what pressures you want to be at, but it's worth spending the time to learn. I keep a notebook in my toolbox and write everything down so that I have records to look at for the next event. Also, remember that you'll need to check your pressures before each session. If the ambient temp in the morning is significantly lower than during the afternoon you'll need to bleed the pressures off as the day goes on. I forgot to do this once and during my 2nd or 3rd session ended up with some REALLY high pressures and a car that was not very fun to drive.

 

yo man. still remember me with the white integra? the only tires that came up from my mind is federal rsr. its cheap and hella grip. try it.

anyway. will u go infineon on june?

 

I remember. How's your tranny? I would absolutely be there if i wasn't going to be in Miami. You missed a good event over the weekend. I think it's going to be crowded at the nasa event because everyone i talk to at any event has already marked it on their calender.

Have fun though. i wish I could go!

 

already replace a brand new transmission. hope to see u in june. also if u need any tires i can get it for u for cheap since i work at the rims and tires shop.

 

Sorry not really the right way of doing it. Read from the top. You don't even all the tires , take the pressures once they are hot then set your target preassure . When they cool down you will see that the rear is higher than the front and even side to side might be different . Depending on the track.
I don't see why you have to overfill the night before.
Also do you drive to the track or trailer the car? .
Just start at the track with a baseline and adjust from there. Don't make tire inflation a black art. All you need is a gauge.

 

you are loosing traction is how I would interpret your tires...its not bad.
r compound time maybe?

 

The car is driven to the track. I overfill because once I filled the tires to what I was using at the previous track day but due to ambient temps being lower the next morning I didn't have enough air pressure when I got to the track (I don't have a compressor at the track).

The reason I take cold temps and hot readings is so that I know how much the pressures increase from cold to hot. That way I can set the cold temps in order to get the correct hot temps. Or are you saying that I should take my hot temps immediately when I get in, then adjust the pressure right then (up or down) based on how they felt on track? If so, then how do I set my cold pressures before my first session unless I have a general idea of how much they will increase when hot? I'm aware that I'll see different pressures at different corners based on track characteristics. I pay attention to those differences and make adjustments accordingly after seeing what they are.

(not arguing here, just trying to learn something)

 

The increase of pressure at the track is going to be completely different compared to the increase of normal driving to the track.
Depending of how much you push your car on the track will dictate how much your pressures will increase.
Now if you drive your car to the track then you can't get an accurate "cold" tire reading once you get there.
Depending on your driving you can see increases of 5 to 9 or more pounds in the tire.
So check before you go in the track and adjust before, you should by now have a good idea of how much your tires will go up, if you don't then you have not done your homework, and check right after the first session.
You will have to keep adjusting every session since temperature changes will dictate if you get more or less pressure.
I can't tell you what target pressure , that you will have to determine with testing and see how the car feels.
Last event I tried 3 different gauges and all 3 gave me different readings. I varied as much as 3 pounds on one gauge. And I'm not talking about $20 gauges. This pieces are over $100 a piece so also I suggest you use only one gauge and stick to it.
Go to any parts store or sears and get yourself one of those tire inflation compressors you can hook to your cigarret lighter. That way you can adjust even after you finish your track day and go home.

 

Yes, soon as you come in or even have a buddy check pressure during your session and then go back out. The sooner you can check the temps and pressures when exiting the track the better. Like Marcel said though the most important is use one gauge and stick with it since they all read a little differently.

Often you can just swing by the tire shop in the morning if you need air, and after your sessions to pump up for the drive home. I used to use a bike pump to add a few psi for the drive home when I drove to the track back in the day.

I will try and work with you on tires(and brakes) at Big Willow for the HFF

 

invest in an air tank to take with you to the track. $45 maybe? Just fill it up prior, done and done.

 

I've got a decent gauge, and always use the same one. I don't have a compressor at home either, so I have to air up at the gas station the day before an event. Once I get to the track the car sits for 1-2hrs before my 1st session. Because I always check my cold and hot temps I now have an idea of how much my pressures will increase from cold. Right before my first session I check the cold pressures, and make any adjustments needed in an attempt to get my hot pressures where I want them. After that first session I take my hot temps to see how close they are to what I wanted and think about how they might be better based on how the car felt on track. Then I make adjustments before the next session, after that session take the pressures again and adjust again if needed.

 

I've definitely been thinking about this...