Heat cycling: The secret to tires that go faster and last longer?

How can you make tires last longer and run faster? How about heat cycling them before that first event?

Prior testing and experience has shown that many brands of track tires respond very positively to a proper heat cycle before hot laps.

[How to manage tire temperatures for improved on-track performance]

From Tire Rack’s website on the subject: “Putting new Track & Competition DOT tires through an easy initial heat cycle and then not running them for a minimum of 24 hours allows the rubber bonds to relink in a more uniform manner than they were originally manufactured.”

Heat cycling dynamically stretches and heats the rubber in the tires, further strengthening the molecular bonds in the tread and carcass by reorganizing the granular structure of the material. It’s a process not unlike heat treating metals.

The Falken RT660, in particular, greatly benefits from proper heat cycling: improved lap times, longer service life and reduced wear. Competitors have also found reduced instances of unusual wear patterns, like center tread rib graining or separation.

[200-treadwear tire test | Falken RT660 vs. Yokohama A052 vs. Nankang CR-1]

Two ways to heat cycle tires: on the car or off the car. In this case, before our official test, we visited The FIRM for easy sessions, running enough laps to get each set of tires up to operating temperature. We were careful to not slide the tires. Then we allowed them to cool for at least 24 hours.

We have also heat cycled tires on the highway–figure an hour on the interstate will do the trick. John Rastetter, Tire Rack’s tire information ambassador and also the person who pioneered off-the-car heat cycling, notes that the entire tread face should be worked during this process–ideally 170 to 180 degrees, shoulder to shoulder. Running a bit of negative camber? Maybe look for a few cloverleafs.

Commercial, off-the-car heat cycling is also available–usually $15 to $30 per tire–and might be a better option for those with track-only cars, no access to a test day, or excessive camber. This service uses rollers to work the tire tread and create the heat needed to break those rubber bonds.

A strong data point to the fact that, perhaps, heat cycling does help regarding tire life.

At the beginning of the 2021 season, we fit our Garage Rescue Miata with a fresh set of Falken Azenis RT660 tires. We heat cycled them as detailed here–just some highway miles before allowing them to sit.

[A Proven Combo: Kosei K1 Racing Wheels and Falken Azenis Tires | Garage Rescue Miata]

Since then, we admit, we haven’t paid too much attention to the Falkens. They’ve been rotated–maybe just once–and are used for both road and autocross. We don’t spray them at events.

As Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal would say, let’s do the numbers:

• Miles put on the tires to date: right at 4000
• Autocross events run on those tires: 19
• Sites visited: 4
• Starting tread depth: 8/32 inch
• Remaining tread depth: 6/32 inch
• Grooves appearing: 0
• Issues encountered: 0

We have some fresh, heat-cycled Falkens on hand, so soon we can see how these compared to new ones.

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Comments

APEowner GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
7/27/22 5:16 p.m.

I wonder. Do you get the same results if you heat the tires in an oven or is the stretching a critical part of the process?

wvumtnbkr GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
7/27/22 5:19 p.m.

APEowner said:
I wonder. Do you get the same results if you heat the tires in an oven or is the stretching a critical part of the process?

I'm pretty sure they need to be adiabatically heated through deformation. Just heating it up will not have it go through the structure changes that the material matrix needs to go through.

I believe tire rack pushes the spinning tires against a roller to heat cycle them.

CAinCA GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
7/27/22 5:57 p.m.

Straight from tire rack's heat cycling page: "Our heat cycling service begins by mounting the tire on an appropriate-width wheel and inflating it to the desired pressure. It is then placed in our heat cycling machine which has three rollers positioned at the corners of a triangle. The tread flexes where it comes into contact with each of the rollers, stretching the rubber compound enough to progressively bring it up to temperature all the way around the tire and across the tread."

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
7/27/22 8:38 p.m.

Hope you all appreciate the fact that those are some properly heat cycled tires in the photo. :)

buzzboy SuperDork
7/28/22 8:03 a.m.

We started buying pre heat cycled tires. It increased our tire life by 50% or more. Especially important before getting the wheel/tire package dialed in.

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
7/28/22 9:20 a.m.

For decades many race teams have "scrubbed" sets of tires during test days for this very reason. Even Crashcar teams do it. Teams I worked for would use the Thursday test day for the Daytona 24 to scuff multiple sets of tires.

Twenty years ago I was working with a special compound tire supplied to me for an important race. The tire engineers told me to scuff them before the race, and let them cool back down to air temp. In this case we had only two hours between a warm up session and the race. I'm sure many were laughing at us as we dismounted the wheels and carried them to a hose to rinse them repeatedly to get the heat out. (It was silly looking) But, all that said we won the race and set a lap record.

malibuguy GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
7/28/22 9:40 a.m.

Its probably why I have no issues with any of my Falkens. Go out and run them pretty hard and come home and park the car up on jackstands for a day

DaleCarter GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/28/22 10:29 a.m.

A fresh set of heat cycled Azeenis RT660's are going on the Miata as I type. I think paying for heat treating is the cheapest speed and durability you can buy.

Olemiss540 HalfDork
7/28/22 11:28 a.m.

What does "scrubbing" a tire in on track consist of? 6/10ths for 3 laps? One warmup and one flying lap? Curious!

My NT01's typically get heat cycled by sliding them around as much as possible on the out lap and then usually a quick spin/4 wheel off to cool them down. They never last less than 13 or 14 weekends this way and always keeps the marshall on their toes.

V2U_03 New Reader
10/11/22 11:50 a.m.

I continue to be amazed by having to do all this extra work. Every single customer will want at least 2, if not all, of the benefits (improved lap times, longer service life, reduced wear). Do it before it leaves the factory, add $20 to the price and let's be done with it. Do an "easy session" you say? Is that why I put all this time and money into this car and this track day (and into bribing the moderately jilted wife)...so I can do an easy session and then put the tires away?

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