Bag those Tires

Started by 1HOTACR, January 12, 2016, 09:14:00 AM

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1HOTACR

This Article first appeared in the September 2015 Edition of Sports Car Magazine

"Few things get better with age, tires especially. In fact, from the moment a tire is produced, it has begun aging. That's not to say you have to get a tire fresh from the mold to see the best level of performance, but there are steps you can take to maximize a tire's life.

"There is a difference between race tires and street tires," explains Tim Gilvin of Hoosier Tires. "Race tires do not have a lot of preservatives in them – it's pretty much all natural rubber products all the way through it. From the day it's made, the clock starts ticking."

Manufacturers like Hoosier Tires go to great lengths to preserve tires as they are produced. "When we store them in our warehouse, everything is climate controlled," says Gilvin. "It's pretty much around 65-70 degrees F year-round."

From the moment you receive a shipment of new tires, there are steps you can take to ensure they will be at their best when you need them. "They can get too hot, and they can get too cold," says Gilvin, noting that Hoosier recommends storing tires between 40 and 90 degrees F at home. "A tire can freeze; that, by itself, is not an issue, but the way it's handled is. If it's roughed up or if you drop it, [a frozen tire] can crack. If it freezes in your garage and it's allowed to slowly come back up to temperature, it will be fine."

Another protective measure is bagging new tires in something as simple as garbage bags. "Its not a bad habit to be in," says Gilvin. "The dark bags help shield from the UV."

Apart from bagging them, you also want to keep the tires in a warm, dry, and dark place. "When properly stored [stable ambient at room temperature, no direct UV exposure, and no ozone exposure – meaning away from items like generators] new tires age very slowly," says Woody Rogers, Product Information Specialist at the Tire Rack, who also explains that "all racers want tires that were made yesterday, but production date seems to have little effect in the first few years."

A used tire, however, does not have as much resilience as a new one. "Once you use a tire and put it through its first heat cycles, the clock really starts to tick," says Rogers. "Those R-compound tires you run at the Solo Nationals or Runoffs and then put in the corner of the garage over the winter will not perform at the same level next spring. Anecdotally, 200-tread wear and other true street tires seem to evolve much less over winter storage."

While there's only so much you can do to minimize the aging of your tires, the things you can do are simple and easy, and will help protect your investment. So, after this year's championship events, toss those competition tires in bags and stack them neatly in your living room. Well, maybe not that last part."
Glenn
1HOTV10 - 2014 GTS Striker Green
1HOTACR - 2017 ACR-E

PCH VIPER

Great info !  Thanks for sharing this.
www.kouchicentral.com  for more viper pictures

Speedtactics

Does anyone have about 15 trash bags I can borrow?  ::)
Scott Hirko
2016 Viper GT with TA 2.0 package and APR carbon aero package.
2014 GTS track pack with TA 1.0 carbon aero package.
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