Question on Heat Cycling Tires

[cmchopeful]

I have 4 brand new unshaved Hankook z214 C71 tires. I need to heat cycle them. My first time on track this year will be Bluegrass in June. I'm not sure about how to go about this. I have read many different options on the internet from street heat cycling to doing it on the track. Running in TT I don't want to create a possible situation on the track by running slow and fast during morning practice. Any advice?

[King Matt]

It's going to be hard to do with only one set of tires. Ideally, you would heat cycle the new set the first session out on Sat. then switch to a second set for the rest of the day and let the new tires sit overnight.

[ST#97]

I have 4 brand new unshaved Hankook z214 C71 tires. I need to heat cycle them. My first time on track this year will be Bluegrass in June. I'm not sure about how to go about this. I have read many different options on the internet from street heat cycling to doing it on the track. Running in TT I don't want to create a possible situation on the track by running slow and fast during morning practice. Any advice?

 

Call the Hankook tech line for a suggestion....I would be interested to hear what they have to say!

[cmchopeful]

I'll call Hankook and see what they say. I can let the tires sit for 24 hours as I'm used to running street tires (see I'm trying to get faster).

[Keith]

Last Thursday, I heat cycled a set of C70's in anticipation of a Time Trial that I ran this past weekend in my Firebird.

 

Here's what I did:

 

1) I put the pads, rotors and tires on the car and drove to work.

2) After work, I headed out to the country side and followed the bedding process described on the Hawk pad box. I did this once there was no other traffic to worry about.

3) I stopped at a tollbooth to make sure that the rotors and tires were hot. I then wait about 30 minutes for everything to cool down (somewhat).

4) Drove home and parked the car until Saturday morning.

 

I have no idea if this helped the tires but I am sure I helped the brakes.

[cmchopeful]

I talked to Dave Martin at Hankook. He said the only real way was to get them on the track. Trying to heat cycle them on the street does not bend the sidewalls enough. Warning for all TT drivers at Bluegrass, the first session is a heat cycle session. I'll be slow so what else is new.

 

The process is to run 3 laps at 50-60% and then one hot lap follwowed by a cool down lap. Come in, take the tires off until they reach a temp where they are cool to the touch. It does not need to be 24 hours.

 

Thanks to all who replied. I posted here because of the big fat heavy pig I drive.

[Keith]

I am not necessarily debating the Hankook tech.

 

However, 8 moderate almost-stops followed by 8 hard almost-stops (The Hawk DTC bedding procedure) does indeed deform the sidewalls quite a bit.

 

Won't be as good as the track but it is likely better than nothing.

 

It sounds like you have this solved anyway.

[eMINI]

I have 4 brand new unshaved Hankook z214 C71 tires. I need to heat cycle them. My first time on track this year will be Bluegrass in June. I'm not sure about how to go about this. I have read many different options on the internet from street heat cycling to doing it on the track. Running in TT I don't want to create a possible situation on the track by running slow and fast during morning practice. Any advice?

There are a lot of possible answers to this question:

 

1. It's not necessary. My take: Proper heat cycling won't make the tires any faster, but it can improve the tires' wear and consistency qualities. Of course car setup problems and/or a punishing driving style can erase the improvement.

 

2. You can do it on the street or in a parking lot. My take: It didn't work for me. Then again, my car used to push like a pig, too.

 

3. You can use a heat cycling service (eg. Tire Rack). My take: As I understand it, this approach should get the tires up to temperature and should work. I don't trust it, but I bet it's better than nothing.

 

4. It has to be done on the track. My take: This is the time-honored approach used by pro teams. It's your best bet.

 

So let's say you take option #4... I've had pretty good results using the first session on Saturday to bed brakes and heat cycle tires, sometimes doing both in a single session. You will need to go out at the tail end of the field, build up slowly over 4-6 laps to a single hot lap, then run a cool down lap. It will require good situational awareness. It will also help if the group grids up and goes out together.

 

As soon as you come off the track you need to get the car in the air so the tires can cool evenly. After they've cooled to ambient:

 

1. Per Hankook, they're ready to rock. My take: The Z214 was grippy and fast using this process. The wear was good as well, but the tires did fall off some even though they still looked good.

 

2. Pull the tires/wheels off the car, deflate to 10-15 psi, cover or bag, and store in a cool, dry environment away from generators, compressors and electric motors. Allow the tires to rest (it's quite literally a chemistry thing!) for a minimum of 24 hours with 48-72 hours being ideal. My take: This is the best way to optimize the tires for wear and consistency. It also requires an extra set of wheels or a special trip to the track. I feel pretty good when I can meet the 24 hour minimum. For me it's usually either 24 hours or 3-4 weeks. 24 hours may not be better, but it feels better.