Tires and shaving...

EliseAutoXr · Post by **EliseAutoXr** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:13 am

Hi everyone,

I bought some tires from tirerack, and immediately they called me on the phone and said that I should have the tires shaved... that would make them wear better. I was late for a meeting so I could not question what he was talking about. The tires are Kumho V700 VictoRacer... I bought full thread because I thought they would last longer, while still being better than my street tires. Any info would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks

Steven · Post by **Steven** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:34 am

They did the samething to me when I ordered my Kumho's I got them full thread as well. Only 1 autox and driving the ~40miles there and back on them, and can't really tell that much wear. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

steverife · Post by **steverife** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:17 am

I, also, recently ordered some Victoracers from TireRack. I ordered mine over the phone and they asked me several questions to make certain that I knew what I was buying. They recommended shaving for dry track use and basically recommended full tread for autocrossing with longevity in mind and for wet OT'ing.

I heat cycled mine this past weekend. I dunno if it was the bigger tire (275's vs. 245's stock) or the soft compound, but I had to pay a lot more attention than usual to keep the car pointed where I wanted to go. Steering felt much more "loose" and REALLY wanted to follow the lay of the road.

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:31 am

not cbring wrote:I dunno if it was the bigger tire (275's vs. 245's stock) or the soft compound, but I had to pay a lot more attention than usual to keep the car pointed where I wanted to go. Steering felt much more "loose" and REALLY wanted to follow the lay of the road.

That's common for the larger R compound tires. I drove my car to Wendy's from Comcast on the race tires and almost smacked the retaining wall on the bridge because the tire grabbed a rut unexpectedly.

EliseAutoXr · Post by **EliseAutoXr** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:35 pm

OK, I will not worry about the tires... Now I just have to find some OEM wheels to put them on before the next race! Thanks for the help!

EliseAutoXr · Post by **EliseAutoXr** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:41 pm

Whew, I finally found some stock wheels, they are painted gold

but I guess that's better than nothing. So do I understand correctly that I should put them on the car, take a spin to a local vacant parking lot and do a few circles... then remove them (before the next race). What's this I hear about plastic bags? I would appreciate any help, I'm new to these...

Thanks!

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:29 pm

I suggest doing figure 8's on them. You tend to abuse them less that way. The idea is to "exercise" the tire and get some heat in it. Don't run as hard on it as you would at an autocross.

Bagging them is more convenience than anything. That way you don't get all dirty handling them. Be sure not to store them near any electric motors or similar items (electric water heaters). They give off some ozone that is bad for the rubber.

steverife · Post by **steverife** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:37 pm

i was going to do figure 8's, but a cop happened to be in my vacant lot of choice. after making sure everything cleared while turning, i just ended up driving some curvy backroads for a while. be sure to brush off all the gravel they picked up when you are done.

MARKP wrote:Bagging them is more convenience than anything. That way you don't get all dirty handling them.

heh. i got all dirty trying to squeeze them in the stupid garbage bags.

EliseAutoXr · Post by **EliseAutoXr** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 6:11 pm

Cool, thanks for the info guys...

Thanks