Odd track tire wear?

Do you heat cycle your tires before taking them on track?  I have had horrible wear characteristics from new tires if I don't heat cycle them first.

I did drive them on the street for a while (1+ hour drive to the track too), as well as took it easy during my first session as I was also bedding my brake pads.

xeonoex said:

I was about to resurrect this myself actually. My next setup I tried was 245 Conti ECF (before I had the 265 V730s) on my 9" wheels. These pics are after one day. The top tire is my outside front. One below is inside front. The top of each tire is the outside edge.

....

In other news, I have a 2019 Miata Club on the way. I'm keeping the RS3, but I need something cheaper to run. I have everything else on the RS3 sorted except this tire wear issue.

That wear is nuts, especially at those tire pressures....even at MSRH.

Looks like you are making the appropriate move ("always the answer").

Do check out the Triple Threat ND project car series here for the mods you'll likely want to be making.  ND2's require very little to be quick, reliable and easy on consumables.

Andy Hollis said:

Looks like you are making the appropriate move ("always the answer").

Do check out the Triple Threat ND project car series here for the mods you'll likely want to be making.  ND2's require very little to be quick, reliable and easy on consumables.

Yeah, I was disappointed to see the tire wear. I feel like I have everything else on the car dialed in. It drives great. Kicks out the rear slightly and throttle steers around the carousel. Tons of g-force. It will never be as easy on consumables as a Miata though.

I test drove a 2023 Club and loved it. Ended finding a good deal on a CPO 2019 club. It honestly did not feel slow to me after coming out of my RS3. I know it was slower, but it certainly doesn't feel sluggish in any way.

I've already consumed every piece of ND Miata content available, haha. I have all the mods ordered. Karcepts sway bars, Xidas Coilovers, Fabworx rollbar, 6UL wheels, SuperStreet exhaust. Debating whether to add bucket seats and a harness still. I do want to keep it street legal with a decent drive to and from the track.

I do want to go to Harris Hill sometime soon, so maybe you can show me how to actually drive it if you're there. :)

xeonoex said:

I do want to go to Harris Hill sometime soon, so maybe you can show me how to actually drive it if you're there. :)

Just hit me up...happy to show you around.  I'm there a lot.  In fact...headed there in 20 minutes for a tire scrub session and will be testing tomorrow.  R-comps.

In reply to xeonoex :

Hey we're track neighbors! What a coincidence. I've driven this track for years and this is the only tire + car combo I've had this problem with, but I'm quite a bit faster than I used to be so maybe it is just the pace. One thing I noticed - you're driving over the rumble strips between 16-17 and 4-5. I used to do that in my Mkvii GTI and my RS4s would get torn edges just like your Contis. At the time another driver suggested the rumble strips were sharp enough to do that damage. I try to stay off them as much as possible now. Otherwise, I suspect coilovers are probably the ultimate solution for both of us.

Resurrecting this thread once again.

FatBabyDriver said:

In reply to xeonoex :

Hey we're track neighbors! What a coincidence. I've driven this track for years and this is the only tire + car combo I've had this problem with, but I'm quite a bit faster than I used to be so maybe it is just the pace. One thing I noticed - you're driving over the rumble strips between 16-17 and 4-5. I used to do that in my Mkvii GTI and my RS4s would get torn edges just like your Contis. At the time another driver suggested the rumble strips were sharp enough to do that damage. I try to stay off them as much as possible now. Otherwise, I suspect coilovers are probably the ultimate solution for both of us.

Thanks for the tip. Makes sense. I'll test that out.

I drove my Miata and RS3 back to back some this past weekend. I noticed my wheels seem to be skidding under braking quite a bit before I would hit ABS. Kinda like the tire is wobbling during hard braking. I'm starting to think more and more that this might be bushing deflection. The track conditions (not smooth) might be part of it, but it does seem like 200 tw tires are too much for the stock bushings. I don't notice this with my street tires when I do take them on track. They are Pilot Sport 4S's. They actually look pretty new other than the outer edge roughness.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any company that makes bushings for the front yet. I do also think that I was overheating my tires a bit. I did some longer sessions and the tires don't fall off much when hot. I think they just started chunking. I'll probably take it easy in the RS3 until I can get some bushings, or maybe a suspension upgrade. Luckily the Miata is a ton of fun.

This sounds a lot like a problem that Lexus ISFs have which is fixed by harder front suspension bushings.