Setting up 710's for Topeka

[rumatt]

Ok folks, it looks like we'll be using 245/45/17 Kumho 710's for Topeka. This thread (http://sccaforums.com/forums/150630/ShowPost.aspx) helped convince me. I can't imagine the idea of showing up in Topeka and running on hoosiers that I've NEVER driven on before. I'm not registered for the warmup event, and there isn't enough time to order them and experiment now.

Now the question is: how do I prepare them? I know you want to bring them up to temp a few before you race on them, but I'm wondering if we should actually use them for an event or two. Having 10 or so runs on them has the following advantages:

1) I have poor camber, so using them a few times will wear some camber into the tires.
2) wearing off some of the tire reduces the radius. They're SUPER tall tires for my car

Of course, if you wear them to the point that you lose grip, that's bad. But if 710's maintain their grip for 20 runs, then why not?

What would you do in my case?

[bren]

Do to my past experience I would drive around to heat cycle them and then put them away.

[clyde]

Get them mounted and heat cycle them. If you can run them up to 60-70 mph for a few minutes, that should be enough to bring them up to a high enough temp (it's not perfect, but there are limits to what you can do). Make a few turns in each direction in a parking lot while you're at it to wear off all the mold release compound. Go home and get the tires off the car. It's best to let them sit for 24-48 on their sides after heat cycling so the molecular chains can reform with the strongest bonds.

You can also do the heat cycling by doing a few hardish launches and a few hardish stops. The speed bumps in your nieghborhood might be enough :p Or you can just run them on the street for a little bit the day before and hope that works. :eeps:

You may never have driven Hoosiers before, but you've also never driven 710s on grippy, bumpy concrete like at Forbes Field either. The difference may not be as dramatic as driving on smooth asphalt with street tires and generic r comps, but there's a noticeable difference.

Supposedly, the 710s are fastest when brand new, falling off slowly but surely over a long time and then rapidly lose what's left near the end. Truth is, though, that you're unlikely to notice a drop in performance from the seat of your pants or in run times until the tires are nearly dead.

[rumatt]

Interesting. Novotes for doing anything more than a simple heat cycle. What about the "camber-challenged" aspect? In the beginning, you're riding on a smaller fraction of the tire width.

My codriver's said what he does is sacrifice the first half of an event (remember, we get 6-8 runs). He does three runs on the tires at partial speed, something like the following:

50%
60%
70%

Take tires off car, run on other tires.

[clyde]

the 710s have some camber built into them