Tires - Shaved, Heat Cycled?

[North Coast Cab]

Not really sure which route to go. I need to replace the tires on my race wheels with the best grip and life for the buck. Narrowing the search to the Victoracers, AO32's and Pilot Sport Cups, but that's not the real issue. Is it worth the extra money for the heat cycling? Do I need to buy them shaved? I'm a novice DE'er and I want to get the best bang for the buck.

John

[rennch]

Throw the Kumho 700's on (The 710's just got recalled) and *definitely* get them heat cycled. They'll last much longer.

[North Coast Cab]

It recommend shaving for dry track or autocross use as well. Is that really necessary? I don't want to shave half the tread off if I don't need to.

John

[Tim L]

If you’re a novice DEer than you can probably get away with running the victoracers full tread, but if you push them hard before you get 3 or 4 days in them they will blister on a dry track. The sport cups last a long time although I have never tried them. Getting them heat cycled doesn’t get them hot enough you need to heat cycle them on the track.

Tim

[rennch]

I should note...you shouldn't really need to heat cycle the street (A032 or Pilot) tires...only the DOT race tires. But, if it were me, I would look into the Falken Azenis or Kumho MX if I were looking at street tires. They are what most of the SCCA "street" classes use, and they are in the habit of using the grippiest street tires on the market. I have a set of Azeni on my early 911, and they rock.

[304065]

Get the A032s and save your money, skip the heat cycle and shaving.

As a novice DE'r you want good tread life, feedback and grip, in that order. I used A032s for my first 2 seasons of DE (and I still use them as rain tires for Club Racing). They grip pretty well, are kind of heavy, but when they break away you generally get some warning. Not so Hoosiers, which will grip grip grip right up until you spin.

Good luck!

[IROC]

If you're a novice DE'r, I submit that you don't even need to be worrying about R-compound tires anyway. R-compound tires don't allow you to learn nearly as well as street tires. Are you blistering or chunking street tires? If not, then you don't really *need* R-compound tires. I would buy some cheap street tires and wear 'em out.

Mike

[addictionMS]

I agree with IROC put your money onto DEs not tires, and if you MUST get tires look at Toyo RA1s

Jim

[Jack Olsen]

I agree with John and Mike. In your position, I would get (full tread) BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KD's or the Yoko A032R hard compounds. The Kumhos are very sticky, but they're not good to learn on, and you'll likely flatspot them before their 4-5 day lifespan is up.

[Bill Verburg]

The MPSC don't need shaving or heat cycling. There are quite a few folks around here the uses them for dual purpose. If they had the right sizes I would as well.

If you only do an ocassional DE thet type of tire does seem undesireable though. And a day like the snow day you posted would not be a good one.