Tire life?

[MikeS]

Had a fresh set of unshaved tires for this past weekend's races.

Fronts are now fairly trashed; may get another couple of races out of them but certainly not another full weekend. Wear indicates that I may need to adjust front setup somewhat.

Next time I will rotate fronts to rear after the first day (didn't do that this time).

What kind of life are SN95 AI guys getting out of tires?

[BryanL]

Don't run tires that are unshaved unless they are for rain. If the setup isn't eating tires for some reason and you rotate them I think you should get over 3 events out of a set.

[Suck fumes]

I wouldn't run anything thicker than 5/32. If you do you'll destroy the tread in a day maybe two at most. These cars are way to heavy to get away with running a fat tire.

[edrock96GT]

I got 3 seasons out of my first set of tires. My rear tires were recently replaced, but my fronts are the same ones I've had since 2008.

But, my car weighs about 2850 with me in it.

[Suck fumes]

How many races do u run a year?

[edrock96GT]

Those were full seasons, never missing more than one event.

[Suck fumes]

Full tread or shaved?

[cobra132]

It depends on the track, driving, setup and how you rotate and flip the tires. At 3200lbs I get about 6 hours at TWS with rotations. 8 to 10 hours at the other tracks.

[AllZWay]

I shave my tires to either 4/32 or 5/32, but tires last about 1-1/2 weekends. Before the compound changed I used to get 3-4 weekends out of a set.

[michaelmosty]

I have found that rotating wheels on the car during the event and flipping the tires between events will help me get a full event more out of my tires.
I usually get them shaved to a "thick 4/32" or "thin 5/32" and can get 3 events out of a set.

Like mentioned, each track will tear the tires up differently. TWS does chew up quite a bit more than normal.
I ran Houston and Cresson on this current set and 1 tire just turned bald and the other 3 still have a fair amount left. I think I'm going to run a new set at TWS and save this set for NOLA. We saw last year that NOLA chews up brand new tires but "thin-to-win" tires last. I remember James showed up w/ new tires and they were almost gone after the event where my tires were virtually bald and they still made it through the event.

On a side note, I personally can't tell a difference in speed from a brand new tire vs a 2 event old tire. I feel the tires will wear out before the heat cycle out.

[marshall_mosty]

The carcas on the RA1 is pretty thick, so a slick tire can still last pretty long (one weekend for sure). The full treads just build up so much heat they start to chunk badly and that then overheats the carcass and the grip goes down, steering input goes up, and these tires don't like a bunch of slip angle. That's why AI cars, albeit a bit lighter, will see longer life than CMC guys, as they really have to slip the tire to get around the crappy OEM suspension (except the FOX's, as they have a superior suspension direct from Ford...).

[HoustonNW]

Before the compound changed I used to get 3-4 weekends out of a set.

This is the 900lb gorilla in the corner of the room. The spec Miata guys saw higher tire wear immediately after the change yet NASA/Toyo ignore it like it isn't there. And now they are talking about a new "faster" tire. You think that will last longer?

I've said before and will say it again, who cares how fast the tire is in a spec tire series? Give me some shaved, speed rated, all-season tires that last an entire season!