Bias ply slicks question

Is there such a thing as too much tire?

Challenge car should weigh 2400lbs with driver. Looking at running 27.5×10.0×15 circle track slicks on all 4 corners.

I know slicks need heat in them. Is this too big to be effective?

do you know how to Juice them,the heat makes them softer ,so does Juice, tire softener. OR a shop Jet Heater,I've even seen trans and rear end heaters during Qualifying,

I couldn't get enough heat in four 20x9.5x13's on my 1450lb (with driver) Super 7.

Do you have a pyrometer? It's the only way to find out.

In reply to GTXVette:

We can juice them. Been a long time since I messed with that though, so id definitely need a refresher course.

In reply to SkinnyG:

Problem is, if i do this, body will need cut for clearance. Which means im stuck with them at that point. So, yes i have a pyrometer. Testing may not be realistic though

we use what amounted to burlap Coffee bean Bags wrapped a couple times around the tire You'll need a few as you should do all at the same time and Only on the road surface area not sidewalls, and do it the the night Before the show. jet type heaters work well but you need to set them in a corner and encompass them to a point that they heat up all around, get them - Got to use GLOVES Hot. (150 if poss.) and Install just before the run. Yes that is Hot But you won't really get them that hot, Caution!!!! Not responsible for Dumb stuff. and one or the other not both.

Jet heater? Like put plywood walls around the car, hook up the torpedo heater, and run it at wfo to heat the tires????

Big tires are heavier too... (Unsprung, rotating, at the biggest lever arm from the center of rotation - literally the worst weight you can add to a car).

Grm a few years back did a 265 vs 245 on an rx8 I think. The 245s were faster.

The problem we have been running into is tire selection. Theres just no readily available inexpensive 26 inch tall slicks to fit 15x7

Now that we scored 15x10 wheels, we can use readily available, cheap used Circle track slicks. Only other option is spec miata, which are frankly too small to be safe in the event of an agricultural excursion, 17 inch wheels, which are rough on the budget and have more expensive usex tires, or shipping in discontinued slicks from across the country.

Circle track slicks seem to be the middle ground.

In reply to GTXVette:

On juicing: will the juicing last the whole autocross event, or is it only good for one lap? I dont remember the longevity and long term effects of it.

I used 50% Xylene and 50% Toluene to soak mine. I already have my kids, so I'm not worries about genetic mutation.

Apparently that mix is fast-acting and can be sprayed at the event, but I did them the night before, and wrapped the tires in Saran Wrap until they went on the car.

Later I switched to 7" bias slicks, and went no faster and no slower.

We ran Hoosier A2500 road racing slicks at the Challenge in 2015. Placed 2nd (beaten by a car with significantly more power and seat time).

These are a bias ply non-DOT tire. We ran R25B compound (Hoosier's stickiest compound). They were takeoffs, with about 80% tread left.

Our tires were 22x10x13's on a 1900 lb Miata (2050 with driver). These tires are designed for Formula cars (significantly lighter).

We did nothing to try to heat them. In fact, we kept towels over them to give shade (so the left side of the car was not significantly hotter than the right). The load range difference plus the smaller diameter seemed to do the trick to keep them warm. We also stepped up the compound by 1 level (we would have run the R35A on asphalt), to make up for the existing wear on the tire. We also adjusted our suspension tune and tire pressures for the bias ply tires.

Car ran like it was on rails.

A super late model will generally need to weigh 2600 pounds, or a bit more. Two laps of a 1/4 mile oval will have them sticking about as well as they ever will. The fastest lap you will ever see out of a set will be the lap 5 or 6 from new, then they will slow down at tenth or two and be pretty stable from there til cords. All this is a bit dependant on the brand and compound, of course.

They weigh nothing, so all things considered, I think they are almost ideal for your application.

You should be able to find 26.5 pretty easy. Thats the typical left size. 27 right hand.

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

Can you link me to a tire? Im not sure exactly what a super late model is....

Just a FYI-a 10" bias ply looks amusingly pinched on a 10" wheel.

http://www.americanraceronline.com/tires/late-model-stock-car-asphalt/

http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=49863&c=1622

If you have a paved short track anywhere near you, there will be small mountains of discards available. I used to throw at least 4 away every race, and they were often not bad.

Those are pretty much the takeoffs we found at our local Circle track. Sweet!!!

Only apparently this area runs hoosier and goodyear.

If there are Goodyears around, they are either old or big league Nascar tires. They quit building smalltime tires a few years ago.

Hoosier has tons of different compounds, from superglue to last half a season.

Now im getting excited. Dallas picked up the wheels when he was dropping the kids off at the ex wife. 50 bucks for basset 15x10 with 3.75 backspacing and the correct bolt pattern. I grabbed a set of 27x10 hoosier slicks from the circle track tire pile out back of the track.

Time to see how this works.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Jet heater? Like put plywood walls around the car, hook up the torpedo heater, and run it at wfo to heat the tires????

Well no, stack the tires in a corner and put a sheet of 4'x 4' plywood over them Put the heater about 7-10 ft. away, tires should be a foot away from walls for circulation, this is with an enclosed trailer not the Hotel room and thats why you'll need gloves to mount them, Juice is safer and should last all day,Glad you other guys piped in Now it's not Cheating....Heat cycled tires respond well to juice.

there is a tool to check for softness and juice isn't too expensive but you can get them too soft, go to some asphalt short track races this summer to get a feel for what their doing Tech's don't like juice and will look at the sidewalls for Dribbles and if not legal no one will Fess up to it so don't ask. just watch the fast guy's and don't get Involved It is an Expensive Sport. Bring your Pyrometer to the Challenge, I can tell a lot from temp readings. Castor, camber, tire pressure and spring pressure can All be seen. BUT If your faster than me I ain't telling you Nutin'

GTXVette wrote:

Dusterbd13 wrote: Jet heater? Like put plywood walls around the car, hook up the torpedo heater, and run it at wfo to heat the tires????

Well no, stack the tires in a corner and put a sheet of 4'x 4' plywood over them Put the heater about 7-10 ft. away, tires should be a foot away from walls for circulation, this is with an enclosed trailer not the Hotel room and thats why you'll need gloves to mount them, Juice is safer and should last all day,Glad you other guys piped in Now it's not Cheating....Heat cycled tires respond well to juice.

This sounds like a really bad idea. Enclosed trailers are usually lined with plywood. Plywood burns at about 400F. The output temperature of even a small torpedo heater can be well over 500F.

Not to mention the risk of asphyxiation...

These units need about 10 SF of ventilation opening area per 100,000 BTU's.

Barbecue anyone?

Talk about Worst Case Scenerio. just juice.

There is no such thing as too much tire, just not enough power.

GTXVette wrote: there is a tool to check for softness and juice isn't too expensive but you can get them too soft, go to some asphalt short track races this summer to get a feel for what their doing Tech's don't like juice and will look at the sidewalls for Dribbles and if not legal no one will Fess up to it so don't ask. just watch the fast guy's and don't get Involved It is an Expensive Sport. Bring your Pyrometer to the Challenge, I can tell a lot from temp readings. Castor, camber, tire pressure and spring pressure can All be seen. BUT If your faster than me I ain't telling you Nutin'

Ill have to do this. Also, if im faster, its purely accidentally. You are building a monster with the vette.

Were just building an old imsa race car.