How's driving down the 401 for heat cycling ?

[Me-262]

I just purchased a set of A032R's and I'll be driving down from Ottawa to Miss on the tires for an event this weekend. I've read plenty on the Yok's that they don't necessarily need to be heat cycled for Solo II use but I'm just curious if they will get properly heat cycled after say 3.5 hours @ 120km's per hour. I won't quite be able to give them a 24 hour cool down period, more like 18 or so.

[ice/solo racer]

After 3.5 hours @120 k you'll won't give a shit if they heat cycled or not!
Your not going to hear a thing at the drivers meeting,ok maybe a constant humming/buzzing kinda sound-but thats about it:)

[roooo]

To properly heat cycle them you need to do a skidpad type thing so that they get even heat across the whole tread.

Simple highway driving won't do that for you.

[LateApex]

Simple highway driving won't do that for you.

Not true. Unless you're running a wild alignment up front (e.g. tons of negative camber) you will definitely realize some benefits from the extended highway drive. Better than no heat cycling at all.

[craig]

get properly heat cycled after say 3.5 hours @ 120km's per hour. I won't quite be able to give them a 24 hour cool down period, more like 18 or so.

I would say they would not be "properly" given an initial heat-cycle. The time (3.5 hours) is way too long, and every factory race tire guy I've talked to (admittedly a small sample, but covering Hoosier, Kumho, Yoke, and Michelin), has said 24 hours is the bare minimum, 48 hours is strongly recommended, and a week is best. It is also good to get the weight off the tires (remove them or put the car on stands) during the "curing" time. Supposedly you have to let the rubber molecules "re-form" or some such, and they do this at a fixed rate.

That being said, I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like the tires are going to get driven on the street, and aren't shaved.

As an aside, Michelin states heat-cycling of Pilot Sport Cups can be worth .1 to .2 seconds on a 38-40 second autox course, depending on the car. Compare that to shaving combined with heat-cycling, which Michelin says is worth .5 to .6 seconds on a 35-38 second autox course.

[Kreutz73]

Originally posted by LateApex
Not true. Unless you're running a wild alignment up front (e.g. tons of negative camber) you will definitely realize some benefits from the extended highway drive. Better than no heat cycling at all.

My experiences...a good heat cycle helps a lot. I've always heat cycled my r's but some I did just highway driving (constant speed for an hour or so) and others I did by doing figure 8's & lots of launching and stopping carefull not to spin or flat spot the rubber (for about 30-45 mins). This by far seems to work best.
Letting them cure for a day or two off the car is also important.

Cheers,