High speed run - Germany

High speed run - Germany

Author
Discussion

BlueEyedBoy

Original Poster:

1,918 posts

195 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Hi all,

I am taking the F10 M5 to the continent next week and going to try and see what it can do.

I have about 3mm left on the rears. My question is should I replace the rears prior to the trip. My thoughts are it should be quite dry and given it;s around 1000 miles, get them when I come back and use up the remaining rubber.

In the back of my mind is the niggle that given I will be getting up to 180+ would it better to be safe and replace?

They are Pirelli's btw, so not ditch finders.

Cheers

CarAbuser

693 posts

123 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Wet weather performance drops off quite sharply as the tread depth lowers.

I would keep the tyres on for the trip. I wouldn't want to be going for a max speed run in anything other than dry weather so they will be just as good as new ones in the dry.

theboss

6,879 posts

218 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Have you inspected the full width of the tyres in some detail with the tyre off the ground?

If I ever let my rears go <3mm the inside shoulders are usually in a surprisingly worse state than is obvious when having a casual glance/feel. Certainly not conducive to fast autobahn driving.

toddygti

93 posts

137 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
BlueEyedBoy said:
Hi all,

I am taking the F10 M5 to the continent next week and going to try and see what it can do.

I have about 3mm left on the rears. My question is should I replace the rears prior to the trip. My thoughts are it should be quite dry and given it;s around 1000 miles, get them when I come back and use up the remaining rubber.

In the back of my mind is the niggle that given I will be getting up to 180+ would it better to be safe and replace?

They are Pirelli's btw, so not ditch finders.

Cheers
Just bear in mind that the legal tread depth limit in the EU is 3mm. If you have and/or cause an accident the German Authorities will use this against you and it's unlikely to end well.

I'm there myself in 3 weeks and have just removed my fronts that are at 3mm for new ones. I kept them for use in the UK should i ever need them for track use etc.

RedWhiteMonkey

6,807 posts

181 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
You want to try and hit 180+mph and you're unsure about your tyres. Come on, you know the answer, get some new rubber, those are not speeds to be testing tyres at.

Where are you planning on attempting your high speed runs? I live just north of Stuttgart, with the amount of road works and sheer volume of traffic don't bother trying it anywhere near here. I often sit stationary on the autobahn pondering all those who have this idea that it is some sort of race track.

Stu08

696 posts

116 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Apologies, I don't want this to come across as harsh.

Are you really unsure whether or not you should replace tyres which are on the legal limit before doing a 150+ MPH run?

LordGrover

33,532 posts

211 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
While you're here, see RegLocal's recent thread and video on autobahn driving.


ETA: CLICK.

Edited by LordGrover on Monday 18th June 13:45

Robbidoo

240 posts

166 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Put new 4Ses on, as above.

What mods are you running?

DaveH23

3,230 posts

169 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
RedWhiteMonkey said:
You want to try and hit 180+mph and you're unsure about your tyres. Come on, you know the answer, get some new rubber, those are not speeds to be testing tyres at.

Where are you planning on attempting your high speed runs? I live just north of Stuttgart, with the amount of road works and sheer volume of traffic don't bother trying it anywhere near here. I often sit stationary on the autobahn pondering all those who have this idea that it is some sort of race track.
Having never done a Track day or driven in Germany my immediate thought on the title of this thread was similar to yours.

Buy some new tyres and do a track day. Don't test your car on public roads. Do it in a controlled environment.

Stridey

342 posts

106 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Don’t replace the tyres for you.

Do it for everyone else on the motorway when you are playing.

BlueEyedBoy

Original Poster:

1,918 posts

195 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
theboss said:
Have you inspected the full width of the tyres in some detail with the tyre off the ground?

If I ever let my rears go <3mm the inside shoulders are usually in a surprisingly worse state than is obvious when having a casual glance/feel. Certainly not conducive to fast autobahn driving.
The 3mm is the worse case, probably have over .6mm in the centre on the inside of the tyre.

For everyone else's benefit if I had any doubt at all these were dangerous I wouldn't have them on the car full stop. Maybe I am wrong in my thinking but I thought that the tread was more important for wet weather driving than dry conditions. I am not going to be hooning this in the wet so my question was, as long as I am not through the thread pattern anywhere, in the dry is there any reason why the tyre would be any more dangerous than one out the packet.

Also given I am comfortable with the handling of the ones I have on, better the devil I know than swap to a new tyre?

This is also not going to be my first time hitting over 160 or driving a powerful car.

BlueEyedBoy

Original Poster:

1,918 posts

195 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
Robbidoo said:
Put new 4Ses on, as above.

What mods are you running?
I was going to go with Michelin Pilot SP's , not sure if that is the same as above?

poo at Paul's

14,116 posts

174 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
BlueEyedBoy said:
theboss said:
Have you inspected the full width of the tyres in some detail with the tyre off the ground?

If I ever let my rears go <3mm the inside shoulders are usually in a surprisingly worse state than is obvious when having a casual glance/feel. Certainly not conducive to fast autobahn driving.
The 3mm is the worse case, probably have over .6mm in the centre on the inside of the tyre.

For everyone else's benefit if I had any doubt at all these were dangerous I wouldn't have them on the car full stop. Maybe I am wrong in my thinking but I thought that the tread was more important for wet weather driving than dry conditions. I am not going to be hooning this in the wet so my question was, as long as I am not through the thread pattern anywhere, in the dry is there any reason why the tyre would be any more dangerous than one out the packet.

Also given I am comfortable with the handling of the ones I have on, better the devil I know than swap to a new tyre?

This is also not going to be my first time hitting over 160 or driving a powerful car.
You'll be fine. Just make sure you make the appropriate adjustments to the pressures before and after.

unpc

2,831 posts

212 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
I worked in Germany for many years and spent an inordinate amount of time pounding autobahns but there aren't too many I know of where they're straight enough, long enough or traffic free enough for 180+. Good luck finding one but IME high speed runs like this are a little bit boring. I assume there's other reasons you have for being there rather than just this?

BlueEyedBoy

Original Poster:

1,918 posts

195 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
RedWhiteMonkey said:
You want to try and hit 180+mph and you're unsure about your tyres. Come on, you know the answer, get some new rubber, those are not speeds to be testing tyres at.

Where are you planning on attempting your high speed runs? I live just north of Stuttgart, with the amount of road works and sheer volume of traffic don't bother trying it anywhere near here. I often sit stationary on the autobahn pondering all those who have this idea that it is some sort of race track.
Between here and Dusseldorf. There for a week so will have time to try a couple of options.

theboss

6,879 posts

218 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
I would change them personally.

I’ve gone from 3mm or less to new MPSS / MPS4S on numerous occasions (I’ve accrued 90k miles in my F10 M5) and am always surprised how traction is affected even on a bone dry road. It’s certainly not just about water displacement.

I’ve also seen 170+ on countless occasions and I know which state of wear I’d prefer my tyres to be in.

BlueEyedBoy

Original Poster:

1,918 posts

195 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
unpc said:
I worked in Germany for many years and spent an inordinate amount of time pounding autobahns but there aren't too many I know of where they're straight enough, long enough or traffic free enough for 180+. Good luck finding one but IME high speed runs like this are a little bit boring. I assume there's other reasons you have for being there rather than just this?
Yes friend's wedding. The car hits 160 without much effort or distance. I know the last 20 is going to take a some time to get there but want to see if it does actually have a limiter, as not found it yet! BMW themselves might stop me achieving this. I think the limiter is said to kick in around 175.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
While you're here, see RegLocal's recent thread and video on autobahn driving.


ETA: CLICK.
Absolutely watch this, tyres get a mention...

BlueEyedBoy

Original Poster:

1,918 posts

195 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
theboss said:
I would change them personally.

I’ve gone from 3mm or less to new MPSS / MPS4S on numerous occasions (I’ve accrued 90k miles in my F10 M5) and am always surprised how traction is affected even on a bone dry road. It’s certainly not just about water displacement.

I’ve also seen 170+ on countless occasions and I know which state of wear I’d prefer my tyres to be in.
Thanks for the sensible suggestion. Think I will get the new set.

unpc

2,831 posts

212 months

Monday 18th June 2018
quotequote all
BlueEyedBoy said:
Yes friend's wedding. The car hits 160 without much effort or distance. I know the last 20 is going to take a some time to get there but want to see if it does actually have a limiter, as not found it yet! BMW themselves might stop me achieving this. I think the limiter is said to kick in around 175.
That's the thing, Travelling at 3 miles per minute, you obviously cover a lot of ground getting the last 20mph. Where in Germany are you headed for?