Jeff_Jeske

iTrader: (66)

So..... we live in a pretty modern world where tires have years of science designed in to them. Yet I still hear some people strongly recommending an initial heat cycle with 48 hour cool down period for some kind of molecular bonding process.

I'm of the opinion that that process has to be old school and no longer necessary. I understand the need to scrub the tires to remove the thin layer of crap that is stuck to them from the molding process but in this day and age I have to think that simply getting a tire to 160* isn't going to make magic happen. I could be wrong.

I'm interested in hearing your actual experience with simply running stickers and if you feel you lost endurance by doing so.

I'm sure the people that do heat cycle will chime in as well but honestly I'm really looking to hear if any has run into abnormal issues by not heat cycling prior to tracking.

Balrok

iTrader: (15)

The heat "treatment" is simply for longevity, and that's very dependent on lots of situations at best. I've done a cycle on R6's, then "cool" for a week and run them again, they fell off just as fast, and lasted just as long as they would have normally. I would say I wasted more money and time doing it that way then just running them. I would agree however that, yes, heat cycling a tire in a perfect environment, meaning with a machine, would yield SLIGHTLY longer wear, but the bottom line is it won't give you any more grip - and better yet none of us have this "machine." Besides when you start to get into a 40 treadwear tire, you honestly wont' notice the difference because lost time on a lap is lost time period. With a 100+ tire like a toyo or a NT01....maybe.

4cdndctn

iTrader: (8)

Great question, not such a simple answer... There's a difference between bias ply and radial requirements for optimization. If you heat cycle, you reduce a lot of risk of first initial use. You can kind of compare the concept to green fade --- you don't just jump on track before proper pad bedding, not because pads won't 'work,' but because in the first few situations where you work'em hard and heat'em up, you want consistency and to know how they will respond.
Some guys I know heat cycle simply so they reduce the risk of tires going out of balance early on. Others do it to skim surface imperfections or reduce tread depth and some do it mitigate the risk of a dud.

racer145

iTrader: (1)

Great discussion topic. I've always bought them heat cycled whenever possible but would like to hear what other drivers on a competitve level are doing. I know that many of the pro teams will heat cycle several sets of tires themselves at the track on a testing day and set them aside for competition use later on, but maybe some of that is done just to get them scrubbed in and remove any mold release used that would be left on the surface of the tire.

boomn29

iTrader: (47)

I don't heat cycle R6's or A6's. I sure as hell try NOT to slide them the first time out. But I'll run stickers at 9/10's the first session I have them. That's when they're the fastest...

fwiw, I don't spend much time bedding in brakes either. Hell, I don't even bleed them when I pop pads in and out if there's been no signs of fading. As long as the same pads are going back in. Now I wouldn't go out and run 9/10's on fresh front pads... But I'm not going to be running 20 seconds off pace either.

Probably all benefits of running the same car on track since 2006... Kinda used to nuances.