UnderPSI Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Hi NASA, I've been reading all the threads I can in preparation for my first HPDE, and I see where folks buy shaved tires and I wondered what that's about. What does shaving do for performance? What exactly gets shaved? Sorry for being such a n00blar. I'm sure I could find something via google but I thought I would just ask the source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 What exactly gets shaved? The tread. Say you buy a set of tires, and the tread depth is 8/32, you can have them 'shaved' down to 4/32's or whatever you want. On some tires they actually GRIP better with less tread on them (such as RA1's). This also helps prevent the deeper/taller tread blocks from 'chunking' or ripping off the tire surface. Basically they put the wheel/tire in a lathe and start cutting the tread off. Not something you really need to worry about at this point, as you progress in HPDE you will learn all about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriverGT5 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 +1 Most tires have deep tread for water evacuation. When you shave the tire, you do a few things. 1. Remove some of the tread pattern allowing more physical contact to the road. 2. Reduce the hight of the tread blocks, reducing tire squirm. 3. Increase the tires ability to withstand heat 4. Improve traction by getting down to the stickier compounds 5. Reduce or eliminate the tires ability to shed water 6. Reduce the likely hood of a tire "chunking" from the forces and heat involved. All of these are items you will not need to worry about in an HPDE setting, provided you have a high performance tire such as an MX or similar. If you have a cheap set of tires, they may not be able to handle the heat generated on a track day. My advice would be to get a set of good high performance tires for anyone that doesn't already have them. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rook Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Can the same effect be had by just wearing the tires down naturally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderPSI Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 Thank you for the excellent responses. I knew I had no need to do this myself but it sure made me wonder what is being gained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc-integra111 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Can the same effect be had by just wearing the tires down naturally? Yes. Although unless the car you are using to "shave" the tires is perfectly setup, you will not be able to naturally shave the tires as even as having it done on a tire lathe machine. I actually do this with RA1's. Shaving half the tread off my tire doesn't sit well with my wallet. Plus, I keep them for rain, and wear them in during practice sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will F. Posted February 8, 2007 Members Share Posted February 8, 2007 Can the same effect be had by just wearing the tires down naturally? No. The solvents in the tire that keep the rubber soft go away after X amount of heat cycles. A tire lathed down to 4/32 will be much more useful than a tire driven down to 4/32. The durometer reading for the lathed tire will be much softer than the driven tire. The quality in the tire is not determined by how much rubber is left on it, but by how many sessions a tire has on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XAIX Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Actually this reminds me of a conversation I had with a barber few years ago. H e was shutting down his business because all of his former customers that used to bring their tires to him to be shaved were now doing it themselves with caned shaving cream and those new fangled disposable razors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 oh yeah. that one gets post of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 I say get them waxed. Shaving will cause too much irritation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstreit911 Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 I've heard that if you shave the tread it'll only grow back thicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderPSI Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 I think I'm going to dread my treads when it gets long enough then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 as counter-intitive as it sounds, I've gotten better life out of shaved (to 4/32nds) RA1s than I have full tread.... probably due to much less feathering and better heat capacity not to mention they've seemed to stay faster over that entire lifespan too other tires, your setup, etc., YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 .... I've gotten better life out of shaved (to 4/32nds) RA1s than I have full tread.... This is true and many of us that have to run on 'Spec' toyos keep a shaved set and a full tread set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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