DRUGschnorr

Otay I'd like to get ballpark end of run tire pressures.. 275 x18 front and 295 x 18 rear..
i like to shoot for 39-40 pressure when i hot pit at the white flag..

would tire temps be more accurate? I am about ready to throw down the money for a temp meter so i might just save the tires for one more weekend..

ambient in texas is ~60 in winter, 70 in spring and a bizillion in the summer..
-tomtom

C6Brain

those hot pressures are too high. shoot for 32 psi hot (start at about 28 psi cold). these figures came from one of my instructors, Norbert Watts, who is highly regarded in the corvette community. I was initially skeptical, but was pleased when I followed his advice.

CorvetteZ51Racer

One of my customers is close friends with the VP of the Hoosier Road Race tire division. Follow the guidelines on the Hoosier website.

I run mine hot at 36-37 and about 190F temps. Look for temps across the contact patch of no more than a 10-15 degree spread. Since I'm guessing your first attempt to check temps will be at TWS next weekend, allow yourself an extra 5 degree split inside to outside due to the length of straight running before you can stop and check. If you go into cold pits or the garage before checking, you'll lose temp quickly. Too much split is an indication of camber issues for that track.

Lower pressures "feel" good, but hurt the performance and life of the tire. In the temperatures we're going to see next weekend, expect about an 8 pound growth, so I'd start them at around 28. Remember the R6 is the road race compound and at that track this time of year will take 3 laps or so to come in fully, so take it easy entering Turn 1 (I still have that in car-vid from my car going by you in the grass there - I can laugh because I was there about 3 sessions earlier).

I'm going to be trying out Pirelli slicks next weekend, so we'll see how that goes

John Shiels

unless you are crawling you should gain way more than 4 pounds of pressure on just about every track.

I start at 30-32 depending on temps but they will climb to 40-42 depending on temps. Don't forget all the rotor heat is hitting the rims and heating the air and tires besides what the tire creates by itself.

Some here run the R6 starting at 21 pounds or even lower then end in the low 30's I guess For me it is not good. Try a search here and a ton will come up on this section.

BEZ06

Take a look at this Hoosier website info:

http://www.hoosiertire.com/pdfs/tctR6_A6.pdf


There are W2W racers here that run roadcourses with the A6 - especially for qualifying. They don't care about tire life and they'll run less than 20 psi!!!

But, if you're interested in getting some kind of decent longevity out of the tires, maybe the Hoosier recommendations would be good.

Bob

db2xpert

I used to start at 32F abd 28R Phoenix Racing said too high.
Now starting 28F 24R, car handles better toward end of ru.n and is quicker Gain abour 6# from cold/hot.
Get a temp probe.

It all comes down to how the tires feel to you....

AU N EGL

Hoosier is just CYA with those numbers.

CorvetteZ51Racer

Tom, I've watched you drive, you'll gain a lot more than 4 lbs. You and drive just about as hard, but you slide the car more than I do, and I gain 7-8 lbs in our Texas heat.

Bill Dearborn

The last year I was running my C5Z I ran all of those pressures at Pocono and Watkins Glen. Could never get the tires to feel right and never ran as fast with a new set of R6s as I did the year before with a well used set of Kumho 710s.

Bill

DRUGschnorr

thanks everyone.
wonder what ya'll using for pyrometers?
good source?

given the data from everyone i'm shooting to come off at 35-36

AU N EGL

I gain more then 4 psi.

I start 20 front 18 rear and gain 8f &10r PSI

DRUGschnorr

i decided to change my drifting style and attack the exits more and the apex less.. saved the tires at MSR 2 weeks ago....
did get a little greasy at 18 min into the run and came of to hot pit at 39lbs..
will try starting at 29 left and 30 right on friday ... and joe at flamingo found his pyrometer for me to play with..
Just reset the camber out to 2.0 and zero toe front and back..
will use the cross tire temps for adjustment.

harrydirty

what are your suspension settings on the front? Do you have stock suspension?

I'm taking my c6z to the track for the first time with some used Hoosier R6's next week and was thinking of using your cold pressures to start. My suspension is stock with neg. 2.5 camber and height set so the arms are flat, corner weighted.

Thanks in advance for any shared wisdom from the forum

ZoomFreakinZoom

I run 285/30/18's on all 4 corners, and get around 38 psi hot, starting 30 front and 27 rear. My car is light, around 2700 lbs and has Moton's and trick suspension components, so it will vary from a stock corvette. Tire temps are more accurate than trying to guess pressures. If the car feels good then leave it be, if you feel like a change call Hoosier and give them the specs of you're car.

GettReal

I played with a bunch of pressures and found that 26 front and 24 rear COLD were the best for me.. they would end up low to mid 30's hot.

When I ran the R6's starting around 32, by lap 3 they felt loose and squirrelly on me..

mikefili

the only way to control your hot end of session temps is your cold starting point, no way to gain only 4 or so pounds, I start 32 f 30 rear cold and find by the end of the first session the TPMS high warnings are on at 42 and the car is pushing, I then will bleed air out and look for around 38 hot for the rest of the day. I have tried very low of around 20 or 22 cold, way too soft for my C6. I use the first session or 2 to stabilize tire temps and set hot pressure.

yakisoba

Doug will be gaining quite a few PSI I expect. One trick I know some racers do is set hot pressure where you want, and let it take care of itself. In other words, set the tires too high (say, 32 all round) come in from the first run hot (no cooldown lap) and set your pressures to what you want, hot. Then leave them alone. It sounds simplistic, but it seems to work, and is pretty easy.

hamdog

Start at 30-32 and end up at no more than 40. I find below 30 there is too much play in the walls for the first couple of laps and above 40 it's getting greasy!

95jersey

Do you want to go fast or make them last? Once you answer that question see below

Go fast at all costs (26-28 cold)
Make em last as long as possible (32 cold)

Hitting 40-42 hot is not an issue.

vetteattack

I find the best hot traction at 33-35psi hot which depending on the day is a cold starting pressure of 26-28psi