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Could my street tires be ruined?

Discussion in 'Tracking & Driver Education' started by Alcav5, Jul 22, 2013.

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  1. Alcav5

    Alcav5 F1 Rookie
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    Jul 28, 2012
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    Al
    #1 Alcav5, Jul 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    OMG what a blast I had at Lime Rock w/ my California. I went to see the Ferrari Challenge which was a blast to watch, first time ever for me.
    During a break in the races the group I went up with got to drive the track in a "parade". We were warned that we would pick up tire debri which would cause our cars to drive bumpy however it would clear off. I don't know, after driving home (2hours) the tires look ruined.
    Could I have ruined them? There were a few laps that we ran that were pretty spirited.
    The car seemed to run fine when I got home but after I put it a way I noticed the treads.
    Here a couple of pics.
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  2. racerx3317

    racerx3317 F1 Veteran

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    Luis
    #2 racerx3317, Jul 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  3. Crawler

    Crawler F1 Veteran

    Jul 2, 2006
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    #3 Crawler, Jul 22, 2013
    That's a lot of "klag", as David Hobbs would say. I'm surprised that there's that much left after a two hour drive home, but I think they'll be fine. If you have a favorite twisty road that you can run at about "six tenths" or so for a few miles, that should put some heat into them and clear up the treads.
     
  4. apex97

    apex97 Formula Junior
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    #4 apex97, Jul 22, 2013
    At least you got some heat in the tires!

    They are not ruined at all, but they have lots of "pick up" on them. When the tires are hot, they will pick up any bits of rubber they happen to roll over on the side of the track.

    To get that much off, you will need to again do some spirited driving, safely on a very hot day. Find a place to "scrub" the tires back and forth like you see drivers doing under yellow flag laps....be careful to do this in a safe place and don't spin the car!

    After they are good and hot and they seem clean...try to drive "quietly" for awhile on a clear road without getting them dirty or gravelly.

    Even on race cars, we sometimes have to use a hot knife to scrape off that much "klag".
     
  5. Entropy

    Entropy Formula 3
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    #5 Entropy, Jul 22, 2013
    On Saturday, the track temperature before Race 1 was 135 degrees, it was 140 before race 2. It was hotter on Friday.

    Plus, after Friday (6 practice sessions), there was a much, much heavier amount of marbles on the track than I have ever seen at LRP. My observation was that most of the parade drivers were offline enough to pick up loads on their tires.

    Your tires are fine; good news is you'll need to literally scrub them off with some heavy driving. Good advice above
     
  6. henryr

    henryr Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #6 henryr, Jul 23, 2013
    just look at it as bonus tread wear
     
  7. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
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    #7 ProCoach, Jul 24, 2013
    I think it is a mistake to think you can just "drive it off," much less in a few miles or a few laps. It's uncomfortable, does not inspire confidence and time not well spent.

    There are tire tread scrapers that clamp on to a heat gun for this purpose expressly. There are also tire scrapers (small toothed "rakes" with a handle) that could be used after warming them up on-track. Look what pro teams do.
     
  8. apex97

    apex97 Formula Junior
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    #8 apex97, Aug 12, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I took a shot of one of our Level 5 tire techs cleaning a Michelin slick this weekend at Road America. Peter is right, sometimes you just can't scrub it off..
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