Ask me anything about tire, I am a former tire engineer
Discussion
Hey guys,
I used to work as a tire engineer for one of the top 4 premium tire manufacturers.
Anyways, since I am bored and its the weekday, I would take questions related to tires.
Feel free to ask any questions in regards to tires and I will try to answer as good as I can.
Thanks!
I used to work as a tire engineer for one of the top 4 premium tire manufacturers.
Anyways, since I am bored and its the weekday, I would take questions related to tires.
Feel free to ask any questions in regards to tires and I will try to answer as good as I can.
Thanks!
Moderator edit: no website links please
pocketspring said:
Do they really need to be that expensive? A lot of companies go on about silica compound, is it as great as they say?
Silica compounds are what makes the tires much better in terms of wet braking while still being able to maintain a high level of mileage performance.It was a moon shot event that happened in the 90's.
Tires are expensive right now due to a variety reasons & it is mainly driven by the raw material prices
Edited by miller31 on Thursday 5th January 09:17
Scrump said:
Are US tires different to UK tyres even when branded as the same tyre?
US specific tires are predominantly all season favored as they have a big country. However their all season tires are mostly designed for wear optimization rather than snow performancesI would say depending on the manufacturer, tires tend to have different construction (even with the same product) due to the robustness expectation between the 2 countries are different.
tapkaJohnD said:
Thank you, miller!
Tread temperature.
1/ I have an infrared 'gun'. Would a tread thermometer with a needle probe give me better results? At 1-20x the cost!
2/ When tuning suspension should I aim at an even temp across the tread, or should I expect higher on the inside shoulder?
John
I would say a gun works well as infrared works best when the surface is black. Tread temperature.
1/ I have an infrared 'gun'. Would a tread thermometer with a needle probe give me better results? At 1-20x the cost!
2/ When tuning suspension should I aim at an even temp across the tread, or should I expect higher on the inside shoulder?
John
you should expect a much higher temperature across the tread. The stress on the sidewall aka flexing zone is the highest among all parts of the tires.
QJumper said:
I have Michelin CrossClimates and most tyre shops say they're not supposed to be repaired. Why is that, what's so different about them compared to other tyres?
They're talking poop.Big question.....where does all the rubber go ? Why is the world not covered in old rubber ? lol
QJumper said:
I have Michelin CrossClimates and most tyre shops say they're not supposed to be repaired. Why is that, what's so different about them compared to other tyres?
Sounds like BS to me. There is nothing different when it comes to repairing but it is certainly an excellent tire 
neverlifted said:
Thank you for this.
Can you get graining on road tyres e.g. Cup 2 or Corsa?
For semi slicks, based on the test results. I have seen Cup 2 performing quite well. On the other hand Corsa is relatively old tire with the last press test I found was in 2014.Can you get graining on road tyres e.g. Cup 2 or Corsa?
ETA
sorry not allowed.Edited by Big Al. on Friday 6th January 16:51
GreenV8S said:
Do the manufacturers vary the compound in different layers of the tread to optimise grip/flex, or is it all just a lump of the same rubber?
Interesting question. Pirelli & Michelin has done this in varies ultra ultra high performance tires just to get ahead of the competition. This however comes at a big cost during manufacturing Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff