Hi all,
I was at Rockingham yesterday, and had a pair of still legal but almost on the wear indicators tyres on the back. The plan was to get a final half day out of them and fit new rubber for the afternoon.
Tyres are Yoko AD08R 235r all round by the way.
It was bone dry, warmish, and I thought the well worn tyres would be as grippy, possibly more grippy, than new tyres in these conditions.
Wrong. New tyres in the afternoon stuck like glue. I was amazed at the difference. And that has got me to thinking about the wisdom of eeking every last mile out of tyres on the road or track, thinking that the only time new tyres help is with water displacement.
So why are new tyres more grippy? Compound hardens with repeated heat cycles is my guess. And if so; then this is more relevant for track than road tyres. Any views?
I was at Rockingham yesterday, and had a pair of still legal but almost on the wear indicators tyres on the back. The plan was to get a final half day out of them and fit new rubber for the afternoon.
Tyres are Yoko AD08R 235r all round by the way.
It was bone dry, warmish, and I thought the well worn tyres would be as grippy, possibly more grippy, than new tyres in these conditions.
Wrong. New tyres in the afternoon stuck like glue. I was amazed at the difference. And that has got me to thinking about the wisdom of eeking every last mile out of tyres on the road or track, thinking that the only time new tyres help is with water displacement.
So why are new tyres more grippy? Compound hardens with repeated heat cycles is my guess. And if so; then this is more relevant for track than road tyres. Any views?