Tyre Question.....

[G7 Rye]

Hi all,

Wondering what to do for the best, I have had 3 or 4 track days with my current AO48's and they have about 3-4 mm of tread left on them. I run the pressures at 26F and 28R when hot and the grip level was fine on my last outing. The thing is I understand these tyres diminish through heat cycles and I'm off the the Nurburgring for Easter. I am trailoring the car there and back, so if I waste the tyres totally it is no problem.

So I am unsure whether to replace the tyres (perhaps before necessary,) or to stick with them.

TBH I have always found less wear at the 'ring due to track knowledge and traffic etc.. so I am kinda thinking about leaving them on, how many heat cycles can you get away with??

Many thanks,

Ryan

[Cuzza]

Stick with 'em as they are.

No idea how many cycles they take but I've never noticed a drop off in grip.

[Esprit]

They'll be fine. 3/4 trackdays ain't that many heat cycles and I've found their performance doesn't drop off that badly until they get REALLY old/worn. I was still getting faster on my hard-as-bullets 048s when the nylon cords started showing through

[MTBR]

They only have 5 or 6mm when new, provided you are at least 2mm above the markers you will be fine.
These tires do go off with heat cycles, some of the quickest drivers in the Elise trophy series have said by as much as a second to a second and a half per lap, new to part worn. The thing is they are still consistent until worn to within about 1mm of the markers, so unless you are racing, it doesn't really matter.

BTW the last mm goes much faster than the rest of the tread.

[Craig!]

How often are people going through rear's compared to front's on a road / track car? Just wondering if in July I'll need new tyres all round or if it'll be just the rears.

[gdr]

For me, need to replace rears every 3k, fronts every 6k approximately.

[S Works]

If you can do 4 trackdays AND the roadmiles in between before hitting the wear markers, you're either driving on boilerplate-hard tyres (which are quite probably dangerous), or you're not driving hard enough.

[G7 Rye]

S Works said:

If you can do 4 trackdays AND the roadmiles in between before hitting the wear markers, you're either driving on boilerplate-hard tyres (which are quite probably dangerous), or you're not driving hard enough.

I agree, I sat and thought exactly what these tyres have been through and it was 1 wet trackday and 2 dry. Extremely little road use, including trackdays avg 1500miles per year,

All things considered I think I will leave them as you spend alot of time at the Nurb checking rear view mirrors or being held up, I suppose I could be more aggressive but look at what there is to lose!

[bher]

I would leave them on.
I also manage 2 rear changes for 1 front.
I do believe that when used (worn and a few heat cycle) their wet qualities (which are not bad initially) become very poor... Carefull