Interesting take from JP43 regarding warming tires.... How to Warm Up Your Tires How to get heat into cold tires, and keep it there. Everyone has heard of cold-tire crashes - many of us have even had the misfortune! It's a cool morning, you're on your first lap of your first session, and then suddenly you're on your head. What happened? Most people know you need heat in your tires for them to work properly, but what's the best way to put heat in them? Sport Tires Sport tires, such as the Dunlop Q3+, are designed to be all-around performers. They have great grip, are safe in the rain, warm up quickly, and can be ridden for thousands of miles before they need to be replaced. Sport tires are also designed to be used without tire warmers, and have a very broad range of operating temperatures where they will generate grip. This makes it easy to get them up to operating temperature, and keep them there. On your first lap, focus on strong straight-up-and-down braking and acceleration. This will build temperature into the tires by causing the carcass to flex, creating friction, and generating heat. Avoid trail braking or adding throttle with lean, especially in the first part of your out lap. Be respectful of your lean angle, and smooth with your control inputs. Begin gradually adding lean angle, while remaining light on the controls and feeling for grip. By the end of your second lap, your tires should be getting up to operating temperature. On especially cold days, it might take a bit longer. The key with warming up sport tires is to be progressive. Flex the tire carcasses with little lean angle to build heat, and then gradually add lean angle and load. Imagine the heat spreading from the center of your tires out towards the edge. You want to work that temperature gradually out towards the edge of the tire. Race Tires and Slicks Race tires are designed for one thing: maximum grip. Usually only available from trackside vendors, race tires and slicks have a significantly-reduced lifetime, are downright scary in the rain, and are like riding algae-covered rocks when they're cold (read: sketchy). Race tires, such as the Dunlop GPA-Pro or the Dunlop KR448/449 slicks, are designed to be used with tire warmers due to their narrow operating-temperature window. However, for racers and experienced track day riders searching for lap times, the grip of a brand-new and piping-hot slick straight off the warmers is otherworldly, and well worth the extra effort needed to make them work. Because race tires are used with warmers, they are at, or very close to, their operating temperature the second you pull off the warmers. From this moment forward, they are starting to cool until you put heat back into them through your riding. This doesn't mean you need to go for your superpole run on your out lap, but you need to be mindful about getting on to the race track and up to pace expeditiously, without an excess of waiting in the hot pit, futzing with your gear, and cruising your first few laps. Race tires need to be ridden hard to work. One point to keep in mind is there are other components that need time to warm up, such as your engine, your suspension, and yourself, so especially on the first session of the day, give yourself some extra margin for error. Jason Pridmore 43
A question I have related to tires and temperature is whether heat cycling is as much of an issue these days? I use the pirelli supercorsa SP2 street tires for spirited street riding and was wondering if that takes away a significant amount of tire life and grip?
Good advice. Ed Bargy taught the acceleration and braking technique. I try to tell my friends and they think I'm crazy.
I've known that one too. What was counterintuitive to me (that makes total sense when you think about it) is that you pretty much run heated tires hard right out of the gate in order to keep them warm if you haven't been sitting around long enough for them to cool off...