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Cold tires & autocross

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98
143
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Olsburg, KS
Tomorrow our local autocross season starts with a test and tune. My dilemma is whether to put my RT660s on it, as the temperature when I'll be leaving the house is supposed to be in the upper 20s and won't be past the 40s until noon. It's supposed to be significantly warmer on Sunday, so I'll definitely run them during competition. I've never pushed the envelope on running 200TW tires when it's that cold, so I'm looking for a little advice. Thanks for any thoughts. BTW, my regular street tires are BFG Comp-2 AS Plus, which I have actually used for autocrossing once. They actually didn't do too bad for what they are.

Bill - the plan is to head to Lincoln next weekend.
 
Tomorrow our local autocross season starts with a test and tune. My dilemma is whether to put my RT660s on it, as the temperature when I'll be leaving the house is supposed to be in the upper 20s and won't be past the 40s until noon. It's supposed to be significantly warmer on Sunday, so I'll definitely run them during competition. I've never pushed the envelope on running 200TW tires when it's that cold, so I'm looking for a little advice. Thanks for any thoughts. BTW, my regular street tires are BFG Comp-2 AS Plus, which I have actually used for autocrossing once. They actually didn't do too bad for what they are.

Bill - the plan is to head to Lincoln next weekend.
Are you worried about tires themselves or just how they're going to behave ? I've done it many time - drove the car to the (local) event on 200TW tires in subfreezing temps. They were fine. Then just get some heat in them and blankets on to keep it, if possible.
 
98
143
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Olsburg, KS
Are you worried about tires themselves or just how they're going to behave ? I've done it many time - drove the car to the (local) event on 200TW tires in subfreezing temps. They were fine. Then just get some heat in them and blankets on to keep it, if possible.
A bit of both, but mostly I don't want to crack the tires because they're too cold. I'm guessing most of the time you can get away with it, but they have to put a CYA disclaimer because they may have had some cracking under certain conditions. I'm sure some tires are more susceptible to that, and I think for tomorrow I'll end up just using my street tires. One plus for that is a friend of mine is bringing his 2010 Camaro and will be out playing with it for the first time. We have virtually identical tires (same tires, width and rim size, just different aspect ratio), so it'll be a little easier to gauge differences of driver and car. It's just a test and tune, so nothing is at stake. I'll put the good tires on for Sunday. Amazingly enough, it looks like CAM-C is the biggest class for the day, however it's looking like it will be probably 4 cars. I don't know that anyone else has anything other than street tires if it's anything like the past. I know if I head to Lincoln next week then I better have my good tires or I'll get smoked.
 
You will be screwed on RT660 at those temps if anyone has Yok's....ask me how I know (Spring Nats 21 Massacre)

Anyway, will the car be parked outside in the cold overnight? I worry more about them cracking when they sit in place frozen and then you move. The risk is (IMO) way less when they sit in a garage at 40 degrees overnight and then get heat as they move versus a true cold soak at 20 degrees.

All that said, it dropped to 26 overnight in Dixie....err...Red Hills tour last weekend in Georgia on Saturday night and my yok's seemed to have survived, but I didn't have to move the car until it was above freezing.

DaveW
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,424
8,350
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Steve are you running down in Salina , or over at Ft. Riley by any chance? Frankly it just depends , but it would not hurt to run the BFGs in the cold and switch to your RT660s on Sunday, but ................

DaveW is correct but you have to run what you have and many there will not have as good of a tire as the RT660.
 
98
143
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Olsburg, KS
You will be screwed on RT660 at those temps if anyone has Yok's....ask me how I know (Spring Nats 21 Massacre)

Anyway, will the car be parked outside in the cold overnight? I worry more about them cracking when they sit in place frozen and then you move. The risk is (IMO) way less when they sit in a garage at 40 degrees overnight and then get heat as they move versus a true cold soak at 20 degrees.

All that said, it dropped to 26 overnight in Dixie....err...Red Hills tour last weekend in Georgia on Saturday night and my yok's seemed to have survived, but I didn't have to move the car until it was above freezing.

DaveW
I highly doubt anyone will have Yoks. Funny thing, a friend of mine was running her Miata in NE OK last weekend in relatively cool temperatures - around 50 degrees. People looked at her husband a little funny when he was spraying her tires (Yoks) down between rounds. My car is parked inside, so it won't get too cold. I'll get them out of the upstairs closet tomorrow afternoon after I get home and put them on for Sunday. I doubt they'll ever actually see under 40 degrees with the way I've decided to do it.
Steve are you running down in Salina , or over at Ft. Riley by any chance? Frankly it just depends , but it would not hurt to run the BFGs in the cold and switch to your RT660s on Sunday, but ................

DaveW is correct but you have to run what you have and many there will not have as good of a tire as the RT660.
Yes, it's in Salina. I have decided to run the BFGs tomorrow and the RT660s on Sunday.

Thanks everyone for the words of advice.
 
I highly doubt anyone will have Yoks. Funny thing, a friend of mine was running her Miata in NE OK last weekend in relatively cool temperatures - around 50 degrees. People looked at her husband a little funny when he was spraying her tires (Yoks) down between rounds. My car is parked inside, so it won't get too cold. I'll get them out of the upstairs closet tomorrow afternoon after I get home and put them on for Sunday. I doubt they'll ever actually see under 40 degrees with the way I've decided to do it.

Yes, it's in Salina. I have decided to run the BFGs tomorrow and the RT660s on Sunday.

Thanks everyone for the words of advice.
Yep on both counts. We borderline needed to spray the Yok's last Sunday (the day that started at 26). It was ~59 when we ran. I think if my co-driver was more aggressive (she doesn't slide the car as much as I do) we would have had to.

Good plan on the tires.

DaveW
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,424
8,350
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Dang, it is going to be interesting to see what the Yo-mama's are like this year in the Summer??!!

DaveW is a wealth of information on 200 TWR tires since he attends almost all the Pro Solo and National Solo Events with his company SPS ( solo performance.com ). He also changes tires , sells tires, and ends up testing a lot of brands, so his experience is real life. Plus in being at so many events, along with changing tires for participants, he ends up really being able to gauge wear, course life and more. He also supports some Road Races so again he gets real World wear and capabilities so like Blacksheep 1, his knowledge on tires , is exceptional!! His Store/Shop carries some cool stuff and I always seem to need something when he is at the track --- which is good as his trailer is a little portable store itself!
 
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As much as anyone "knows" anything about tires, I am sure the Yok's are better on cool days or on slick surfaces. On the flip side, the Falkens were just fine at Grissom last year in the summer (actually needed to be cooled too) But Grissom concrete is not Lincoln concrete.

Depending on my schedule (and spring nats weather) I would like to test Falkens against the Yok's at Lincoln in warm weather and see how they do and see if the PITA Yok's are worth it there. I also have a set of Nankags to test.

DaveW
 
98
143
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Olsburg, KS
This is why I asked this question here. A wealth of knowledge and experience. Today's test and tune was fun. I'm pretty sure we hooked another one on autocross, even if he does drive a Camaro. Before we got there he wasn't sure if he was coming back tomorrow, and by the time we left he was asking what time he's supposed to be there. We both ran on the BFG Comp 2 AS Plus today. I must say I was really impressed with how they performed for considering they were an all season. I honestly think they work better than the Continental Sports that came on the car.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,424
8,350
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Nankangs.........Yo-mamas, Hoosiermama, Bridgerocks, Fallcoons, etc., Big Dave W will be testing them all for us. Stay tuned TMO TrackRats, your 200 TWR test results from a bona fide legitimate racing tester is coming right to your home from this killer Forum!!
 
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98
143
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Olsburg, KS
Well, cold RT660s and 750hp don't mix as well as I had liked. Got a little too greedy on my first run and got closer to the dog park fence than I would have liked. I ended up cooling my heels the rest of the day and ran some very lazy times. Ended up about .8 seconds behind the leader in class, but without looking at pax, I'd say mid pack overall would be optimistic. The car was fully capable of 2 seconds faster. Oh well. I have hopes of getting back after it in Lincoln next week.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,424
8,350
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Cmon , Stevie Cougar you never mentioned to anyone that the damn course started the day in the 20s and the high only got to too damn cold!! Those RT660s never had a chance and the pavement was later used for Hockey practice, so do give yourself a break. Hope to see you at the next event , look for me in the Silver EVO9 with the silver goatee ( me , not the EVO has the goatee ).
 
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98
143
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Olsburg, KS
Cmon , Stevie Cougar you never mentioned to anyone the damn track started the day in the 20s and the high only got to damn cold!! Those RT660s never had a chance and the pavement was later used for Hockey practice so do give yourself a break. Hope to see you at the next event , look for me in the Silver EVO9 with the silver goatee ( me , not the EVO has the goatee ).
Lincoln was even colder! I saw a couple of snow flakes, even. I threw out my hesitancy to run RT660s when it was that cold and hit the "send it" button. I did enough consecutive laps on Saturday during the TNT that it was hooking up pretty well. I never did get it to hook up very well on Sunday, though. Somehow Brian got his GT350 to hook up in FS and ran about 4 seconds faster than me on a 60+ second course (well, 59+ for him). One other thing I got to see was a low mileage GT350R swap ends on course. John got on it just a little too much during an early run and it gave him a ride. In CAM-C I was able to come in 2nd out of 6, and only 2 of us were solo drivers. I think the extra heat from dual drivers was a significant help. My tires slowly got better, but they never did get up to what I'm used to. Brian made his impressive run as a solo driver. Next up I'll head to Topeka, which is the same weekend as the next Lincoln event (as well as Salina). I'll definitely try to make it back to Lincoln when there's not a local conflict.
 

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