Are tire warmers necc. for trackdays ?

Well hell i don,t know what to say.I ride with experts in the advanced class that have won many races and they would not do a trackday without them.Chad clifton,David Brown,Jeff reed,Derek Leslie.Should i tell them its a wast of time.Just don,t feel it,s smart to try and keep up with people like that with cold tires.Call it smart i guess but hey i,m just a flunky trackday wanna be racer i don,t know shit. PS I did not mean to say i can run with these guys just an example.Well i can keep david in sight for about a lap.

 

Well I'll throw my $.02 in as well...

Most of the things we have and activities we participate in are not necessary, tire warmers are one of them. But just like indoor plumbing and air conditioning I will never be without them again. For a few hundred bucks I leave pit lane KNOWING my tires are ready to go whether I am or not. I think thats a bargain!

 

yeah, obviously they aren't absolutely necessary but they do a hell of a lotta good. I'd say if you can get them without sacrificing much else (especially actual track time) to afford them, go for it. If nothing else you get a few extra decent laps a day just not worrying so much about your tires being cold. Also, people make mistakes. I've done it before. Semi cold day after a few decent sessions, I was pumped ready to try for some decent laps. In my hurry to get back up to pace I went into T5 @ barber at full pace on chilly day with cold tires. Did I crash because I didn't have tire warmers? hell no, I crashed because I screwed up, but had I been using tire warmers I probably would have gotten away with it. Everybody makes mistakes...

 

WOW! What the hell are you smoking??? How many street go down because their tires aren't up to temp. Whether they're race dots or street tires, you need them up to temp for them to provide good grip. Next trackday, whack that throttle open on the out lap and let me know how well it works for you.

Do you need tire warmers for trackdays? No. Are they a really good idea? Yes.

Besides increasing your margin of error on the first several laps of a session, tire warmers WILL make your tires last longer. Most guys pulling fast times will toss their tires way before they are worn down because of excessive heat cycles. The more heat cycles will reduce grip so minimizing them will help. If you can reduce the number of tire sets by 1 ($400) you already recouped the cost of a good set of warmers.

Adjustable warmers are nice but any will work (not a big fan of tire sox though)

 

It's nice to go out there hard on the very first lap without having to wait for the tires to warm up. Less heat cycles so rubber would last little bit longer perhaps.

 

I'm neither a street guy or a trackday guy, I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can tell me about racing.

As far as street guys crashing because of cold tires, they crash from over exuberance and stupidity. Any one of these trackday crashers would crash whether their tires are hot or not.

 

Lots of people do not look at the tire closely enough to tell the difference between "cold tearing" and tearing from the energy flow through the tire when the suspenson is set up wrong. The difference is visible, but I'm having a hard time thinking of how to describe it in words.


If you want to experience sliding, ride in the rain. You can slide all you want, and not damage the tire.

 

as for street tires, he's not COMPLETELY wrong. They DO require heat to grip, street tires aren't that radically different. The difference is (one of several) that most street tires have a much lower optimum temp than race tires. I would imagine overheating a street tire would be a much bigger concern than not getting them warm enough. The sacrifice of a lower optimum temp is that they won't have the maximum grip as a race tire so what many would call a cold tire crash on street tires can often be more contributed to simply demanding more grip than the tires are capable of.

I'm not a tire expert though, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here

 

Do you really think nobody who has responded to this thread has a white plate or won races?

 

BS! So you've never been to a trackday where someone crashed on the out lap going at an easy pace? I'm guessing you only crash during a race right? :up: We all make mistakes even guys who aren't over exuberant or stupid.

If you can afford tire warmers, get them because they WILL increase your margin of error (operating temp = maximum grip) regardless if they're street, trackday or race tires. That's how they're designed. If you can't afford them, then take it easy for a lap or 2 to get them up to temp.

 

Gee wiz i,m not sure but i don,t know any experts who are doing a trackday or racing that are not using warmers.its better to use warmers plain and simple. You can,t dispute that fact.You can get a nice set for under $300.00 theres no reason to go with out them.If your gonna spend $400 on N tecs you can spend $300 on warmers.

 

now you know one,me
20 years without them

 

Nice to meet you.

 

Thanks everybody for all your advice and responses.

I like the theory suggested - they are like indoor plumbing and air conditioning, you dont need them but they are sure nice to have. I am on a tight budget, this is why I originally posted, the cost of a set of warmers could be 1 or more trackdays that I could afford to do.

As i mentioned, I am not real worried about having them up to temp first few laps, I dont have much track time and it usually takes me a lap or 2 to get comfortable and start getting on it anyways. My real concern was increasing tire life, this is a return on investment, and the method, using all day, thermostat controlled, etc. and my questions have been answered, so thanks guys.

TWF2, I am just guessing but at your level I would think you are throwing new tires on so often that you arent really concerned with using warmers to get more life, i.e. you guys wouldn't run 2 weekends on same tire, where a trackday rider might.

By the way cool pics, the TWF train - lotta yellow up front there !



Nice ...





More yellow ....



and some yellow sweetness .....




THANKS Again everybody ..

 

obviously you don't know me.if I have to buy more than one set per season I am pissed
set that is on my sv has done 4 race weekends so far this year.I may put new rear for Miller which should do rest of season.

 

And the argument goes on forever. IMO if you have a budget then sling your money at more tires, more track time. Then suspension. At the point where you're about to hire an umbrella girl, then look at tire warmers. They're just about the farthest thing from "necessary."

I can't keep count of how many riders have junk suspension, junk takeoff tires, gear held together by duct tape...and snazzy tire warmers. Prioritize people, lol

 

Buy some used Chickenhawks and never look back.

 

+1

Do i need them? Probably not.

Do i like them, yes. If nothing else, they instill confidence. Whether the confidence is warranted or not is a debate that can go on forever. Regardless, i like leaving the pits knowing my tires are warm.

Yes - i have seen many riders go without them and have done fine. But my granddad went without A/C in his truck for years and he did fine also.

I also agree that it depends on your budget. If you are scrounging up change to manage a track day, then no. If you throw change in a big bucket because it isn't worth keeping, then yes.

 

FMF,

You don't need warmers. That is a fact. You don't need to ride on the track, either. So, the question is, "do warmers make sense for a track day rider?" Each rider has to answer that himself, but I think using the argument that you can use the money for more track time is convoluted.

Let's say, for example, you get 10 laps per session on a track day. If you use 2 laps to warm the tires every session, you spend 20% of the track time you paid for just tooling around. For every five days you pay for, you give up an entire day's worth of laps. How much is track time, and how much do warmers cost?

Getting the proper temperature for maximum grip from the rubber is only part of the equation. There are many other factors involved. One example is that tires are part of the suspension, and work differently when hot and cold. Or, how about taking evasive action during the first lap or two?

The argument that you aren't ready to go for a few laps doesn't make sense either. If you aren't ready to go, then get ready before you go out. You said that you don't have much track time. If you aren't quite fast, good street tires may be better for you at your experience level. Pilot Powers or Corsas (or the like) are very good, don't require the attention race tires do, and are much cheaper. Their operating temperature range is larger and lower, so they work better at ambient temps. They also work better than race DOTs in the wet!

You have to make your own decision; this is some information for you to consider as you do.

 

good readin' I suppose.

http://chickenhawkracing.com/page/7vc/Facts_Info/FAQs.html

http://chickenhawkracing.com/content/00/00/31/78/74/uploaded.files/chickenhawkarticle.pdf