Discussion
I suspect Doctor Dave means "Grip" tyre softener http://www.griptyresoftener.com/
The process is as follows:-
Remove wheels from the car
Clean all the crap off the tyre using a narrow wall paper scraper and a heat gun (not too hot)
Apply the liquid (which is very 'thin', ie, low viscosity) with a paint brush or foam roller to the tread
Repeat, repeat, repeat about five or six times over the course of a week.
Leave for a further week to fully penetrate
Put yer wheels back on the car
Go and race
Very messy, very smelly but very effective
The process is as follows:-
Remove wheels from the car
Clean all the crap off the tyre using a narrow wall paper scraper and a heat gun (not too hot)
Apply the liquid (which is very 'thin', ie, low viscosity) with a paint brush or foam roller to the tread
Repeat, repeat, repeat about five or six times over the course of a week.
Leave for a further week to fully penetrate
Put yer wheels back on the car
Go and race
Very messy, very smelly but very effective
Laurence7 said:
I suspect Doctor Dave means "Grip" tyre softener http://www.griptyresoftener.com/
Very messy, very smelly but very effective
Thanks D & L - this looks promising, appreciated.Very messy, very smelly but very effective
Looks like those air jacks could come in handy afterall Joe - they'll make the multi-coating over a period of days a real breeze.
doctordave said:
if hotlap the liquid is legal for sprinting use some, its not long term but it brings them back to sticky for a few runs.
Sorry to spoil your fun, but chemical tyre softeners are prohibited in the Blue Book - J 5.9.5. They have such a strong, distictive and persistent smell that their use can immediately be detected from several metres away for several months. 
LCM said:
Sorry to spoil your fun, but chemical tyre softeners are prohibited in the Blue Book - J 5.9.5. They have such a strong, distictive and persistent smell that their use can immediately be detected from several metres away for several months.
Even as I pressed "Submit", I was thinking that was more than likely the case, but I thought Oh Well, Hey Ho, Lindsay will soon put us right / correct the error of our ways .......... as you indeed have.That aside, what's the logic of that rule? Sprinting is supposed to be a (relatively) low cost & time input area of motorsport and at the moment, those of us who wish to have a safe dabble at that as well as more circuity stuff have to apparently lash out for another eight more wheels and eight more tyres that will be useless for anything else; hardly likely to encourage people to have a dabble? Does a chemically softened circuit tyre really have more cold grip than some unbelievably expensive super sticky specialist hillclimb / sprinting offering from Avon etc? I know that rules are rules, but I wonder what your personal viewpoint is? Seems to me that only untreated tyres (as sticky as one's wallet can stand) is rather counterproductive to encouraging people into the sport, people who are unlikely to win however sticky and short-lived their rubber is?
An alternative thought> a lot of circuit Radicals pong of WD40 (de-rigeur on the wishbones/bushes etc), so how about the donkey's years old extending life (as rubber gradually sheds it's natural oils) racers tip of spraying liberally with that and cling-filming - does that help maintain (or even enhance) 'softness'?
Out of interest, what do those chemical softeners/softened tyres actually smell of? Does it attract women?
Edited by splitpin on Sunday 28th March 22:38
doctordave said:
in that case why can you buy it if you can't use it?what else is it used for?
There are lots of things you can buy, but are not allowed by the MSA 
One of the arguments about "tyre softners" is that they are unregulated and could infact damage the structural integtity of the tyre....
splitpin said:
LCM said:
Sorry to spoil your fun, but chemical tyre softeners are prohibited in the Blue Book - J 5.9.5. They have such a strong, distictive and persistent smell that their use can immediately be detected from several metres away for several months.
Even as I pressed "Submit", I was thinking that was more than likely the case, but I thought Oh Well, Hey Ho, Lindsay will soon put us right / correct the error of our ways .......... as you indeed have.That aside, what's the logic of that rule? Sprinting is supposed to be a (relatively) low cost & time input area of motorsport and at the moment, those of us who wish to have a safe dabble at that as well as more circuity stuff have to apparently lash out for another eight more wheels and eight more tyres that will be useless for anything else; hardly likely to encourage people to have a dabble? Does a chemically softened circuit tyre really have more cold grip than some unbelievably expensive super sticky specialist hillclimb / sprinting offering from Avon etc? I know that rules are rules, but I wonder what your personal viewpoint is? Seems to me that only untreated tyres (as sticky as one's wallet can stand) is rather counterproductive to encouraging people into the sport, people who are unlikely to win however sticky and short-lived their rubber is?
An alternative thought> a lot of circuit Radicals pong of WD40 (de-rigeur on the wishbones/bushes etc), so how about the donkey's years old extending life (as rubber gradually sheds it's natural oils) racers tip of spraying liberally with that and cling-filming - does that help maintain (or even enhance) 'softness'?
Out of interest, what do those chemical softeners/softened tyres actually smell of? Does it attract women?
Edited by splitpin on Sunday 28th March 22:38
The words budget and motorsport are a dillusion designed as a justification to those that can't afford it. *Voice of experience*
Apparent MSA 'rant' noted/aside (shouldn't the MSA concern itself with safety, both competitor and vehicle and Angus has mentioned something that could be relevant to that), what's your take on these chemical tyre softeners?
By your, I mean both personally and BESCR/Speed?
Likewise, tyre warmers?; which (aside from spin the rears up yourself) are again always a no no on sprints and/or hillclimbs as far as I am aware.
If the Rule is there for a good reason like safety, fair enough, if not it shouldn't be / it's way past it's sell by date?
By your, I mean both personally and BESCR/Speed?
Likewise, tyre warmers?; which (aside from spin the rears up yourself) are again always a no no on sprints and/or hillclimbs as far as I am aware.
If the Rule is there for a good reason like safety, fair enough, if not it shouldn't be / it's way past it's sell by date?
SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC, but in the same room:
Not used Tyre warmers on 4 wheels but wouldn't consider track time on my bike without them.
They save a fortune or badly scrubbed and worn tyres.
Getting the full contact area up to equal and working temp means the top surface doesn't grain off and it works properly.
It nothing to do with blatting out of the pit lane and binning it in turn one. if yer the kind of nugget that would do that then a tyre warmer or not won't make any difference, so what the issue?
Given a set of two GP spec british made tyres warmers for my bike were under a hundred quid, I'd love to hear why they are banned by most clubman championships. I recon they at least double the life of my track day tyres for the cbr.
I'd love to know.
Not used Tyre warmers on 4 wheels but wouldn't consider track time on my bike without them.
They save a fortune or badly scrubbed and worn tyres.
Getting the full contact area up to equal and working temp means the top surface doesn't grain off and it works properly.
It nothing to do with blatting out of the pit lane and binning it in turn one. if yer the kind of nugget that would do that then a tyre warmer or not won't make any difference, so what the issue?
Given a set of two GP spec british made tyres warmers for my bike were under a hundred quid, I'd love to hear why they are banned by most clubman championships. I recon they at least double the life of my track day tyres for the cbr.
I'd love to know.
splitpin said:
LCM said:
Sorry to spoil your fun, but chemical tyre softeners are prohibited in the Blue Book - J 5.9.5. They have such a strong, distictive and persistent smell that their use can immediately be detected from several metres away for several months.
Even as I pressed "Submit", I was thinking that was more than likely the case, but I thought Oh Well, Hey Ho, Lindsay will soon put us right / correct the error of our ways .......... as you indeed have.That aside, what's the logic of that rule? Sprinting is supposed to be a (relatively) low cost & time input area of motorsport and at the moment, those of us who wish to have a safe dabble at that as well as more circuity stuff have to apparently lash out for another eight more wheels and eight more tyres that will be useless for anything else; hardly likely to encourage people to have a dabble? Does a chemically softened circuit tyre really have more cold grip than some unbelievably expensive super sticky specialist hillclimb / sprinting offering from Avon etc? I know that rules are rules, but I wonder what your personal viewpoint is? Seems to me that only untreated tyres (as sticky as one's wallet can stand) is rather counterproductive to encouraging people into the sport, people who are unlikely to win however sticky and short-lived their rubber is?
An alternative thought> a lot of circuit Radicals pong of WD40 (de-rigeur on the wishbones/bushes etc), so how about the donkey's years old extending life (as rubber gradually sheds it's natural oils) racers tip of spraying liberally with that and cling-filming - does that help maintain (or even enhance) 'softness'?
Out of interest, what do those chemical softeners/softened tyres actually smell of? Does it attract women?
Edited by splitpin on Sunday 28th March 22:38
All the tyre softener in the world won't turn an A70 into an A45 but it will freshen up the surface layer taking it back to something like its original softness for around 1 - 2 mins of hard use. The problem is that its ability to really penetrate the rubber is quite limited and you end up with an effect a bit like bubble gum on granite.
The Blue Book used to be a bit ambiguous on the subject of tyre softeners and cars (it was already banned for karts) but for the last few years it has clearly banned all chemical tyre softeners (even WD 40!)
The Masters in Colnbrook and club motorsport, don't make me larf!
I guess that on a (n exalted) forum like this you won't have encountered the winter drama over List 1A and/or List 1B tyres in Roadgoing classes. Had Brian Rix not retired, I would have suspected that it was the provincial preview of the latest Whitehall farce.
What does it smell like? Well, as my nose is nowdays finely tuned to the phenolic by-products of the finest fermented grapes and it's more than 40 years since I was a whizz at aromatic chemistry, I find it difficult to be precise. But, imagine concentrated creosote, Nitromoors paint stripper, ethyl-methyl ketone and Polyclens, all whipped into a fine mousse with Owbridges Cough Lintus and you're on the way....................
As for range, SWMBO says that she could smell it 400 metres away when I was treating trackday tyres for my Caterham.
Does it attract women?
Well, to quote the late great Frank Gardner "It attracts women like dingos.............. but who needs a woman like a dingo?" (actually, it was "but only a Kiwi would want a woman like a f*cking dingo" but I can't possibly post that on a family forum like this).
I'm currently having a pre-season clear out (garage as well as intestines) and think that I may have a tin lurking somewhere (for trackday purposes, you understand). If I find it, I'll be sure to share it with you.
When I bought my old bike engined FF I was given some free with it,I tried it on the ancient hard rubber on the wheels, the main effect I found was to leave an oily surface which made the tyres lethal in the damp.
As I now run proper soft rubber on my Radical, they work much better in anything but standing water.
As I now run proper soft rubber on my Radical, they work much better in anything but standing water.
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