what is the benefit of the heat cycle for autocross tires vs. racing tires? it appears to me that there would be more benefit for the road racing tires than the autocross tire.

for road racing i can understand wanting to have a "controlled" heat cycle compared to a scuff session during a practice when you really would prefer to drive fast and stay out there!

has anyone have real life experience with heat cycling from Tire Rack for Hoosier A/X tires? it seems they really do not get a significant heat soak into the tire carcass like a race tire since we are talking about a 35-45 second event (local/regional level)?

 

Personally, I would say it is of even more benefit to pre-heat cycle an autocross only tire, seeing as the temperatures are never quite sufficient in an autocross run to set the chemical structure of the tire the way it is designed to run to peak performance.

 

I agree.

 

In the last year i have tried:
A Tire Rack heat cycle on a set of Hoosiers
A self heat cycle
(10 min drive down the road, 10 min back..a little bit of cornering, but nothing abusive..pretty much get it up to temp, and back down, get rid of release agent)
No Heat cycle.

I don't notice a difference in performance or tire life for any of the situations.

For autocross tires I actually like to break them in on a wet run. You get ride of the release agent and you don't really heat cycle them.

Jon K
http://www.seat-time.com

 

Just driving on them won't get them up to temp. You have to heat cycle them, just like bedding in a new set of brake pads. You gotta get them HOT.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MightyMouseTech &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just driving on them won't get them up to temp. You have to heat cycle them, just like bedding in a new set of brake pads. You gotta get them HOT.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Then i have had Tire Rack heat cycle them, and no heat cycle. No difference. Things still are only good for 2 dozen runs.

I have heat cycled other DOTs in the same street manner (Kumho, Toyo) and I do notice a difference in life with the Kumho. (Toyos last too long to keep track anyway)

FWIW. "hot" For a Hoosier Autocross tire is 150' run 20 min with a couple of clover leafs, and you can get them up to 140-150 pretty easy and cool them back down. Its not like having to get a roadrace compound tire to 220'

Jon K
http://www.seat-time.com

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by racerjon1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Then i have had Tire Rack heat cycle them, and no heat cycle. No difference. Things still are only good for 2 dozen runs.
Jon K
</TD></TR></TABLE>

The mech heat cycling does not get them hot enough IMHO.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by racerjon1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
FWIW. "hot" For a Hoosier Autocross tire is 150' run 20 min with a couple of clover leafs, and you can get them up to 140-150 pretty easy and cool them back down. Its not like having to get a roadrace compound tire to 220'
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but cloverleafs only turn in one direction (at least the ones in Cali do). Aren't you heating the tires unevenly if this is how you are cycling them? Unless you pull over at the call box under the overpass and rotate tires every 10 minutes....

 

yes you are correct, i have a rout that inclused two clovers and an on ramp and off ramp...so i get a pair of each turns. That combined with braking builds the temps i need, without any hard tosses or abusive stuff.

Jon K
http://www.seat-time.com

 

Back from the dead...

I'm getting R comps for my '97 ITR and was wondering the same thing.

TIA,


matt

 

I believe heat cycling is more about tire life than it is about grip. They last longer and chunk less if cycled to HOT race temps and allowed 24hours to normalize. Gets the molecules all friendly and playing nice together.

 

I've had people tell me that an autocross is basically a heat cycle itself.

 

I heat cycle mine at the first event I run them in. I can't believe how sticky my S04's were that I bought earlier this year on the first runs. I hope the S05's are the same.

Dave

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by innocenti &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I heat cycle mine at the first event I run them in. I can't believe how sticky my S04's were that I bought earlier this year on the first runs. I hope the S05's are the same.

Dave</TD></TR></TABLE>

On a gritty surface (old airports), how much stickier are they that Azenis?

I've been autocrossing Azenis for 2.5 years and can't wait to use my Hoosiers at my next event.

-matt

 

Hoosiers are much more sticky than Azenis.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MightyMouseTech &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The mech heat cycling does not get them hot enough IMHO.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Most places like Tire Rack that heat cycle the tires for you do it by friction not artificial heat.

Also people say that if you drive at highway speeds for roughtly a half an hour that is sufficent to warm up the tires then just take them off and let them sit for at elast 24-48 hours but if you can handle the down time a week is best.