rithsleeper

Ive seen plenty of posts on the benifits to heat cycling a new r comp and letting them sit for a week afterwards but i dont think thats an option for me. I just aquired 2x hosier rcomps off a spec 350z racer that won them back in 2010 for $100 a piece. However since i wasnt buying from tire rack i couldnt have them heat treated.

Is there a way i can do the first heat cycle without being on the track? Im not about to drop $200 for a track day and then do one session then go home cause i have to let my tires cure... only thing i can think to do would be do a session, then switch to street tires for remainer of day, but i would rather just break them in at home prior to a track day.

JRL

If your car is still a street car, go out and put some miles on the street, let them sit 2-3 days, you'll be good to go. If it is a race car, maybe find a secluded area to put some street miles on the tires.


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John

1ED1

Go to the Hoosier site and look for heat cycle and it tells you how.

CHJ In Virginia

I have run both heat cycled and non heat cycled tires. I have never been able to tell much difference in both performance and longevity between the two. I do not spend any $ or time on the heat cycling process. Mount them, remove the stickers and drive. First lap or two slow to get some heat in the tires and scrup off mold release chemicals, then drive the snot out of them. They are as good as they are ever going to be right then !

AU N EGL

some times it is just to get the mold release off the tire not really heat cycle.

rithsleeper

Looked for it on Hoosier Website, not seeing it...

If I try head cycling them on road should I just weave down a road for 5 min? I live in the country, no traffic. I don't think I could get heat into them by just driving around in mostly straight lines... or will it still warm them up?

0philstireservice

If you can't get them up to operating temp (180-200) on the street for at least 15 min, which I know you can't legally , and then let them sit for at least 24 hours, don't bother.

Heat cycling on the track is the best method, second would be our method which very similar to Tire Rack with one added, very important step. By the way we only charge $10 per tire to heat cycle.

Bill Dearborn

Not on the street. I tried this a couple of years ago on a nice sunny summer day with temps in the low 80s. I installed the tires and ran the car about 40 miles on state highways and back roads where I could corner hard, hit the brakes hard and get the speed up to about 100 in short bursts. I would stop every now and then and check my tire temps. Never got over 130. The tires were Kumho 710s and their normal track operating temp is in the 190+ range thus I couldn't get them not enough to do a good job of heat cycling. To get them into the 190 range I would have had to do some really dangerous driving and it just wasn't worth it.

Bill

rithsleeper

Well unless you live in sumter sc... i doubt shipping two tires and 20 bucks would be worth it... thanks for the offer, i think weaving, braking, and driving like a drunk on a secluded road in southern heat in summer would yield 200*. Ill wait till say june to use them so i can have the right conditions.

JeremyGSU

Here's what I did recently. I had them mounted and installed. I drove 130 miles to the track and drove the first 3/4 lap a tad slower, then I went ***** out. This is on Nitto NT-555RII's. That was break-in.

MarkDFW

I've talked with several HPDE instructors who say they stopped heat cycling as they have noticed no difference in performance or tire life. They peel off the stickers, get a lap or two to warm them up, then beat them like a red headed step child.

Kubs

Nope. Street use will not get much heat in them at all, like Bill said. I even tried doing figure 8s in an empty parking lot and that did get them very hot either. Just bolt them on and go.

rithsleeper

sorry bill, you must have posted when I was writing my reply post. Didn't mean it to sound like "I don't believe you!!"

I guess I best option is to just go to track and session the new ones, then street tire them, or if I feel like it I will just run them as is. I doubt I will ever have another set of brand new Rcomps cause I'm so poor, so wanted to get the most life out of these and live like a king for a few track days...

autoxer6

The first time the tire gets hot (heat cycled) it initiates additional bonds between the rubber molecule, this take a couple of days to occure after it is heated. If you go do a track day, then you will initiate the additionals bonds. The only down side is that you have run one day with a little less strength. All of the other days of use, you will be at optimum strength.

Bottom line, heat cycling improves tire life very little and just isn't worth it. The exception would be if you were using up all the rubber in one session like an endurance race. Then heat cycling can be more important.

Gary2KC5

Ever see what actually happens when you pay to have tires heat cycled?

they put it on a machine for a while, stamp "heat cycled" on it and charge you $20/tire

It's not rocket science...get them warmed up let them sit for a day.

This machine does nothing other than heat the tires up to operating temp.

I agree that I don't see a lot of value in the process either.

rithsleeper

So why dont they stick them in an oven and get them to 200*? I think if i was using alot of race tires i could make that machine out of bicycle rollers and some welding

Aardwolf

Dyno really gets em hot!

Gary2KC5

Let's just say baking is not their forte...

out of 10,000 tires sold how many get heat cycled? probably none...that machine probably sits idle for 11 months out of the year.

Z06 AXer

I have always been curious as to why during the vulcanizing process at 300+ degrees when the tire is built that some moleculer bonds can be left unformed and that can be cured by only raising the temp 150-190.

wtb-z

2-3 (or more) year old Hoosiers are probably not that good any more, so it doesn't seem like a big issue in this case.