Mobius

iTrader: (2)

If it's only used a couple times a year that means you don't have enough wheels and tires

njn63

iTrader: (4)

Eh, I think the effect of cold on tires is overstated. My r888s never left my car this winter while sitting in the attached garage. It got under 30 degrees in there at times based on the frozen water jug and the car sat outside a couple nights while I was working on other projects.

Autocross data this year looks exactly the same. Still pulling 1.3-1.4g like it was before.

That being said, if I have room I store tires inside. This is just a spare set that I paid nearly nothing for so I left them on.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

It depends on the tires.

2manyhobyz

iTrader: (4)

Then for some of us we have nothing to loose by buying this stuff and getting a little more before we invest in new rubber. I've got some old RS2's that it would be worth buying a quart of this stuff (@$30) and seeing if it makes any difference.

http://www.duragloss.com/Track-Claw-...hener--(Gallon)

-JB

Chiburbian

iTrader: (1)

So here is the plan. I have ordered Federal 595RS-Rs x4 to be mounted on the stock wheels. I will drive them until October/november, whenever the weather breaks. At which point the wheels will be removed and stored in a climate controlled environment bagged like tirerack recommends until the weather gets nice. At which point I will remove all four calipers, have them stripped and powdercoated something other than yellow, and replace discs and pads as necessary.

After my tax return comes in, I will be upgrading to XIDA Club Sports. Come next summer, I will upgrade to 6UL 15x9 and RS3s. In the meantime I will have as much fun as I can with the tires and drastically different levels of grip.

Last thing before I consider this thread closed - what do I need to know about sticky tires? I heard that once you spin them they are ruined? Literally one loss of traction or do they mean a full drift or burnout? How do I make sure that they retain the best performance both in care and in how I drive?

Also, I will be posting my review/experience with them as I go, maybe in a separate thread.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

No such thing. But once you flat spot them, be ready to drive around all vibraty and **** for a month.

Chiburbian

iTrader: (1)

Uncharted territory here, maybe I will regret it. We will see.

Chiburbian

iTrader: (1)

Damn it. RSRs are on nation wide 6-8 week back order. Thinking Comp-2s are what I will do after all... Bah!

WAM

Can someone cite a source for cold temps permanently hurting performance tire compounds? I know they don't work well cold, but assumed they'd come back after winter.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

It all depends on the tires. We know the Dunlops and the RS3s are turned into bricks by freeze cycling them. I forget if the toyos are or if they only have the issue of cracking when driven below freezing. Not enough data out on the rivals yet.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

They won't come back exactly as they were. They'll sort of come back once you heat them up on track, but for lower-temperature use they'll be much harder than before.

Toyos' tire storage recommendations (pdf)

Beyond that, every day/night temperature change is a mini heat cycle on the tires. For all-seasons that doesn't really matter, they're built to handle cold temperatures and outdoor exposure and survive. But for summer performance tires, and R comps, those mini heat cycles are aging the tires.

Basically, if you have performance tires and you want them to stay that way, you need to store them somewhere relatively stable, and have a different set of wheels/tires on the the car to drive around on.

WAM

Okay, well that's not my understanding, which is why I was looking for citations. I think loss of performance in storage is simple aging because the process of vulcanization never stops once started. Cold storage is better than hot storage, but time is time.

Hoosier's only concern appears to be rubber cracking due to flexing of frozen tires. I once called them and they prefer the tire be stored cold if an option. Just avoid freezing and if they do, thaw them out before handling:

"Freeze Crack Advisory: This advisory addresses proper storage and use of Hoosier tires in cold conditions. Hoosier Tires, especially asphalt and hard compound tires, may experience Rubber Cracking if the tires are transported, crushed, flexed or stressed when frozen. The following guidelines are provided to avoid this problem.
1. Always store Hoosier Racing Tires indoors at temperatures above 32° F.
2. If tires have been subject to 32° F or less, allow them to warm to room temperature (about 70° F)
for a minimum of 24 hrs before tire is mounted, transported or flexed.
3. Always use spare tires not intended for future competition to store vehicles for prolonged periods
of time or winter transport.
4. If below freezing temperatures are expected, please consider shipping tires once more favorable conditions exist.
Do not use tires that have evidence of Freeze Crack Damage."

vanilla.gorilla

Riken Raptors

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

Ew. God no. Riken Greasers, more like it. They run narrow, and the first time you get them hot they'll never stick again. Had them on the back of my Camaro, and they were at least an inch narrower sidewall to sidewall than Kumhos in the exact same size.

For cheap, the Federals, the Primewells, or the Hankook V2s. Put a set of the V2's on my buddie's Subaru DD. Good riding tire, have been wearing well, got 'em CHEAP.

Seefo

iTrader: (5)

nah, to flat spot them, you would need a pretty significant lock up. Drifting or burnout (unless you are a one wheel wonder...) won't flat spot tires, but it will wear them out and I am sure someone could make a case for degrading performance.

Biggest thing is to not lock up under braking for an excessive period. (assuming you are in a racing environment here)If you are in a situation where you need to scrub speed off and have just locked up, then get off the brakes, turn in a little and get back on them. Generally that bit of turn in will give you the distance you need to get back under control. If all else fails, straighten that **** out and start mowing.

People tend to make a big deal out of temps/time. its not really noticeable until you are with-in 3-5s window of spec miata times on a N/A car. I drove a good 3-4 track events earlier this year on 3 year old tires and still put in respectable laptimes for the expected grip. Honestly, if they get cycled out, it will probably teach you a few things about being smooth (just like non-performance street tires or rain...).

Advice: Enjoy your ****** tires brah.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

They mean a spin as in the car, not as in the wheel. Ruined as in flat spotted, which is "ruined" for a competitive driver. If you are not running timed events for money/fame/glory then they are not ruined. They will be harder to drive without ABS, but not ruined.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to thread jack a little but it's still in the spirit of this conversation.

I have some falken ze 912. They seemed just fine when I got them. I changed jobs, car got damaged by some hooligan neighbors, and now I've been slowly getting the car back into order. My tires can't hold traction through 4th and they don't even make fun chirpy sounds. They in my estimation have just dried out.

I have been toying with the idea of daily driving some rs3 or rivals but upon more research have kind of come back to earth and was looking at the federal rsr or nitto neogen.

I'm considering daily driving 4+ days a week as the days get cooler. Funny how most park their cars during the winter when I park mine for the summer (the miata doesn't stand a chance in keeping me cool).

I don't get a ton of rain and i'm rockin 15x8 6ul. Would that federal rsr's really last 20k miles or is that a pipe dream? I don't do any track stuff as of right now. I have some more prep and would most likely move have a dedicated 15x10 or 15x9 by the time I started tracking.

How would the neogens hold up & be somewhat sticky on a 2560r ALLOFIT miata? My audi tires are stupid expensive compared to these dinky 205x50x15. By the way the falkens were great until they got old. I'd buy again other than the fact that they only come in 195 and they are a bit of stretch on my 15x8

18psi

iTrader: (76)

just outa curiosity, what's the manuf date on those 912's? I absolutely love mine, they've been great. Got em I think a year or two ago, and they were manuf the year before that, so they are still relatively fresh.

Not sure on your question, since I don't dd on baller tires (lol), but from what I've heard 20k is not out of the question actually. It really helps that these cars are so light.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

In AZ, with how hot it is, I'd be planning my tire life around having to replace tires every 2 years, 3 on the extreme. If you only put 5k miles per year on the miata then, tires that only get like 15k miles before the wear bars are fine.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

The manufacture date is 2008 and they probably have 10k on them lol. So all the tread is there they are just hard as ****. Like I said great tire. The 195 size is just kind of small.

To be honest 20k doesn't seem that bad @ $300 for a set of rsr. I'm just considering the neogens because I read hustler DD's them and he's pretty picky about things. Also If I'm not tracking the car I'm going to try and keep it a little more tame on the streets.

In the event I do get rained on which is unlikely. I would like some form of traction. Even if it's just enough nurse home. It doesn't rain a lot here but when it does it can get kinda crazy. It rains hard for short bursts and the streets can't handle it so they'll get water locked.

Edit: I recently drove home in some decent rain and just making slow right hand turns even got me a little loose headed towards a median and that was not very pleasant.