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I am trying to heat cycle a new tire. I drove it around tonight in an attempt to get it hot enough. I tried a taking a few turns then took it to the highway. O.k., so I got a few looks. That felt kind of weird (Diane - now I know what you must feel like driving your race car to work).
When I got home, the tire was warm but not too hot. How hot do I need to get it? (No pyrometer to measure) I drove it about 15 - 20 minutes on the highway.
You might be able to get more temp driving in circles in some private stores parking lot.
I doubt that you could get it hot enough driving at legal speeds on the street.
Don't bother with "around the block". All that does is remove mold flash and chemicals from the tread surface.
5-6 laps in a practice session to get them hot and then park it i.e. just when you start to have fun. If you want to run longer in practice, bring a spare and change it in the pits during the session.
If they are Hoosiers, let them set for 24 hours minimum but longer is better i.e. scuff them the week before you need them.
the ideal temp should be aprox 160 deg to heat cycle them. let them sit for 24 hours.
~Jay
Just an FYI but a Toyo Tech rep was at a BMWCCA HDPE at Mid-Ohio this past weekend and I asked him during a questions session about heat cycling as I run the Toyo's on my BMW club racer. He indicated that heat cycling was not necessary for the Toyo race tires and that he does not do it on his race car. Did recommend shaving to around 3/32 for full race duty. He also gave away some hats and a set of tires. I got a hat but my girlfriend won the tires.
Michael