Tire Warmer Usage

[catman]

Hey - i believe that excessive baking is like leaving them stored out on your asphalt driveway in the sun- gonna let a longer term racer post up any difference in opinion at 51 i can be "fixed"in my ways- when i listen carefully i usually find the error of my ways- -

[Super Dave]

I believe earlier I talked about that.

Yes, you can put the tire through a heat cycle by leaving them on too long.

If that's what you want to do, then it's a tool to do it.  If not, well...

If they are left on too long with out control, the tire and the internal air can be brought above a temperature that is reasonable.  Then, your first laps aren't going to have the best traction until everything cools a bit.

On cold days, sometimes, you can leave the warmers on all day and never get them up to temperature.  They are certainly better.

How long is too long varies by tire manufacturer and model.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Not that I really know what I'm talking about here, but I have a set of PD warmers (Company is out of business now, and that's a damn shame!) with thermostats.  I don't really know how hot they get the tires, but judging by touch it's not quite as hot as when I come fresh off the track.  On days when I'm riding 40 minutes out of every hour, I leave the warmers on for the other 20.  This method has kept one set of slicks wicked sticky all day.  Now if only they'd invent warmers that could grow the worn rubber back between sessions....

[Monkey_Star]

You ridn a 2-stoke or sumpin?

Yeah! What of it? Kevin, you should definately come to Road America this July so you can watch me whoop your ass in LWGP and then watch me get my ass kicked in in USGPRU 250GP. :)

[Super_KC124]

Yeah! What of it? Kevin, you should definately come to Road America this July so you can watch me whoop your ass in LWGP and then watch me get my ass kicked in in USGPRU 250GP. :)

Sorry. I've been slacking. I'm planning on Road Am. (Hopefully)

[mq105]

It has been briefly mentioned, but the time/money you can "save" (not waste is more accurate) using warmers at a practice session or track day is worth it to me, not even considering all the other factors discussed. Let's say you get eight laps in a session, and you run two of those to warm up your tires. You are spending 25 percent of your laps warming up tires. So, you are effectively getting 75 percent of the track time you paid for at full speed. At 25 percent of the cost of a day of track time, you can pay for warmers in, what, 10-12 track days?

[ipscer]

Every one you talk to will give you a different answer. So I will put in my 2 cents.
1st. When it comes to the digital temp gauge warmers. If you are at a regional level, I find them to be a waste of time and money. What temp are there measuring? The air, the outer tire or the carcass, and witch one of those should be at 170 deg.. That’s the first thing you have to find out. But really who cares what exact number your tires are at when you leave the pit. The reason I say that is because how many times have you used tire warmers and got the temp at the right spot just in time to wait on the grid. So you have now warmed your tire up in the pit, cooled your tire down a little on the way to the track, warmed them up again on the warm up lap, just for them to loose a couple of deg. Waiting for the flag to drop. That seams like a lot of run around.
2nd. Witch tire warmers cover and heat the best. If you look at the edge of a chine’s made warmer like Chicken Hawks ect…. They have no consistent heating pattern all the way around the edge of the tire. The coils are in a v shape witch at first will give you hot then cold spots. If you look at a set of Tyresox, the heater cords cover every spot of the tire so you get a good consistent hot spot pattern. They have one setting, just plug them in and let them warm for 45 min. There are pros and cons to every tire warmer out there. Warmers like chicken hawks and BRG are great warmers. They are very easy to use, just unplug them and pull them off and go. The Tyresox are a little more finicky. When you take them off you have to hang them so that they will not burn together.
I Have raced with and with out tire warmers, and have used both Tyresox and Chicken Hawks. The reality is who really needs them at our level. Now I am not speaking for the Brian Halls, Andy F or the Tommy G. out there. Ect…, I am speaking as the weekend worrier like myself who knows they have no plan/chance going for the #1 board.

No matter what traditional tire warmer you have (for the exception to the fast heating warmers), this is what you do (in my opinion).
Racing. Plug them in at the recommended time that they say from the factory  before the race. When you are done racing, put the warmers back on but do not plug them in unless you have another race coming right up. You want to rap them so that the tire does not go from hot to cold in such a short amount of time. By rapping them they will lose heat at a slower pace and you should get better tire life.

If for some reason you think you need Tire warmers for track days: Most track days go 20 min on 40 min off. (3 groups) Plug them in 45 Min. (or factory recommended time) before your first session. When you get off the track put the warmers on but do not plug them in for the first 20 min. Then the next 20min. before your next session plug them back in. The reason for that is, you don’t want to have your tires baking for 7 to 8 hours straight. By having you warmers on but not plugged in gives your tires a break from the heat yet won’t let them cool all the way off and go through a entire heat cycle.

Now every tire warmer is different and every ones situation is different so that may not apply for you. But I hope it gives you a better idea of what to look for or do.   

Great advise. Thanks!!!

[matt80]

agree with Dave

[suza1000]

I use them and have better results

[Super Dave]

Changing names?

[surftheasphalt]

now Yes

[Super Dave]

Welcome back.