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Tyre Pressures for Trackdays

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Tyre Pressures for Trackdays

Postby presa900 » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:43 pm

Anyone got any recomendations/advice for tyre pressure management during trackdays :?

Found this on scoobynet..........

How do you set your tyre pressures when driving on track?

When setting your tyre pressures for your road car during your weekly car checks (you do this don’t you!) you should always set these when cold to give a static state of reference. As you drive your tyre pressures will always increase due to the heat generated as explained above.

When it comes to setting tyre pressures for the track this method has to be thrown out of the window. Due to the fact that all four tyres run at different temperatures on a racetrack you have to set each corner independently. Also it is advisable to run the tyres at a higher pressure than you would on the road, this is mainly to help the tyre to maintain its shape under hard cornering and support the sidewall. I usually suggest you run 4-6 PSI higher than you would on the road.


Set your tyre pressures evenly before you go on track for the first time 4PSI higher than your normal cold pressures. Go out on track and do one slow lap, one fast lap then one slow lap and come back into the pits. Check your tyre pressures again, you will find that they are all now different to each other with the front left being the highest. Reset your tyre pressures and this time go out and do one slow lap, 5 fast laps then one slow lap and come back into the pits. All four tyres will again have risen with the front left the highest again. Reset all the tyres to be 6PSI higher than you would use on the road and repeat the last exercise. You should now start to see all four tyres stabilising the pressures; you may have to drop the front left a little to even out the pressures. You should now be in a position to drive the car at will without much change in pressures being seen for the rest of the day. It is always a good idea to check your pressures after each run (not just before) to ensure you are not seeing a sudden drop off of pressure in one tyre as this is a good sign you are heading for a tyre failure on track.


Finally remember that if you are intending to drive home on these same tyres check the tread is still legal and check your tyre pressures after 10 miles of normal driving, they will be all over the place and will need resetting. Reset them again in the following morning as per your normal weekly checks.


A word of warning on using road tyres on track. Make sure you know the speed rating of the tyres fitted to your car and never exceed this speed whilst driving on track. As an example I never drive above 85MPH on the public road and yet I often drive faster than 150MPH on a racetrack. If you are going to drive this quickly make sure the tyres are rated for this speed, you do not want a tread failure at 150MPH, it would not be fun.
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Postby dynamix » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:39 am

Take tyre pressures/temperatures as soon as you come into the pits and try and level the pressures on each axle.

Pressures that you run depend on the tyres.

on Toyo T1S and T1R and Goodyear F1 (or most 'road' tyres) put them up to 36-38PSI cold because of the soft sidewalls but keep an eye on them during the day.

Track Tyres (and Bridgestone RE070's) are a different ball game and they should be tweaked depending on the heat that they are at across the tread. (You will need a heat gun or probe for this.) Aim to get an even temperature across the tread.

You will probably find that the outer edge of the fronts are hotter in which case more pressure will be needed.(the proper cure would be more negative camber but you are unlikely to be able to do this at the track)

You can also use tyre pressures to help reduce understeer by increasing pressure in the fronts and reducing in the rears. (and vica versa)
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Postby presa900 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:29 am

Will be running standard road tyres Pirelli P-Zeros so will bump up the pressures to start with and monitor them for the first hour.

Will no doubt put more pressure in the fronts to try and counteract some of the oversteer :roll:

What about wet conditions, I assume pressures should be dropped back slightly :?
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Postby dynamix » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:30 am

Pressures should be raised slightly in the wet. This is because the tyres will not get as hot and therefore the pressure in them will not rise as much.

The idea is to get to the same tyre pressures dry or wet.
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Postby presa900 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:32 am

That's what I meant :oops:

Thanks for the advice Duncan, we'll see if it makes a difference to the last few outings :wink:
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Postby WR1 Bro » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:43 am

Great thread there Pressa. Enjoy this evening.
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Postby dynamix » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:48 am

Also remember that increasing pressures (to a point) will give you more grip at that end.

=> slight understeer can be cured by adding more pressure in front than rear

=> slight oversteer can be cured by adding more pressure in rears than fronts

If you have adjustable suspension this can do the same but on the opposite basis. ie:

=> slight understeer can be cured by stiffening the rear (either ARB or shocks or both)

=> slight oversteer can be cured by stiffening the front (either ARB or shocks or both)
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Postby presa900 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:24 am

WR1 Bro wrote:Great thread there Pressa. Enjoy this evening.



Cheers Bro, should be good, looking forward to the full GP circuit.

Hope the rain holds off, not a big fan of the wet, it won't help that the tread on my rear tyres is getting low either :o
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Postby RobinSherwood » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:27 am

It is important to remember that trackdays are about having fun and the most important thing aside from having fun is safety.

So it is definitely advisable to check your tyres and tyre pressures before heading out on track but IMHO I would question whether taking a lot of time on adjusting individual tyre pressures is not really taking it all a bit seriously :?:

Referring to that info from Scoobynet; To be honest that is as much or more fannying about than we do with tyre pressures on a race weekend! IF Tom chooses to bring the car into the pits during testing or free practice then the tyre pressure may well get checked but we certainly wouldn't get him to bring the car in just to check tyre pressures. The tyre pressures will be checked at the end of every session where possible and we will make adjustments for the next session based on that. They will also be checked after quali and after Race 1 (again where possible it isn't always possible to get to the car in time).

For a trackday in the Scooby we tend to check the tyres have even pressure all round and that is it to be honest. When we were at Bedford last year this chap in a GT3 came up and started talking as he wanted to know how he had been lapped by a Scooby :lol: after convincing him it was relatively standard (this was pre the twin scroll turbo etc) he started asking about tyre pressures and how Tom was getting temperature in the tyres. He was even more confused when he got the reply 'I just checked all the pressures were the same at the start and I get heat in them by driving fast'.

At Scooby Shoot Out we actually never even got round to checking the tyre pressures (we had intended to but forgot to bring a gauge) and in terms of the handling it didn't seem to really effect us did it? :wink:

Make sure the tyres are safe and go out and enjoy the track, that is the most important thing.
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Postby danr55 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:22 pm

RobinSherwood wrote:It is important to remember that trackdays are about having fun and the most important thing aside from having fun is safety.

So it is definitely advisable to check your tyres and tyre pressures before heading out on track but IMHO I would question whether taking a lot of time on adjusting individual tyre pressures is not really taking it all a bit seriously :?:

Referring to that info from Scoobynet; To be honest that is as much or more fannying about than we do with tyre pressures on a race weekend! IF Tom chooses to bring the car into the pits during testing or free practice then the tyre pressure may well get checked but we certainly wouldn't get him to bring the car in just to check tyre pressures. The tyre pressures will be checked at the end of every session where possible and we will make adjustments for the next session based on that. They will also be checked after quali and after Race 1 (again where possible it isn't always possible to get to the car in time).

For a trackday in the Scooby we tend to check the tyres have even pressure all round and that is it to be honest. When we were at Bedford last year this chap in a GT3 came up and started talking as he wanted to know how he had been lapped by a Scooby :lol: after convincing him it was relatively standard (this was pre the twin scroll turbo etc) he started asking about tyre pressures and how Tom was getting temperature in the tyres. He was even more confused when he got the reply 'I just checked all the pressures were the same at the start and I get heat in them by driving fast'.

At Scooby Shoot Out we actually never even got round to checking the tyre pressures (we had intended to but forgot to bring a gauge) and in terms of the handling it didn't seem to really effect us did it? :wink:

Make sure the tyres are safe and go out and enjoy the track, that is the most important thing.


Very good post.

I'm keeping mine at 32 all round which is what they were set to when the new tyres were recently fitted and going to have some fun. I've never bothered changing pressures in the past, so why start now :lol: :lol:
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Postby WR1 Bro » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:24 pm

danr55 wrote:so why start now


... err, because previously you had a lazy 2.5...

Now you have a sexually frustrated devil under the bonnet...

I'd be pouring super glue over my tyres!!
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Postby WR 1mposter » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:34 pm

WR1 Bro wrote:
danr55 wrote:so why start now


... err, because previously you had a lazy 2.5...

Now you have a sexually frustrated devil under the bonnet...

I'd be pouring super glue over my tyres!!


Surley you mean subaglu :lol: :lol: :lol:

the stuff thats sicks to the road....
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Postby WR 1mposter » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:37 pm

As Robin says drive within your limits and have fun, and with the few trackdayss I've done I checked them at 33 front 31 rear and never checked them for the rest of the day, it's not as if I carry a pump in my pocket :roll: :lol:
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Postby dynamix » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:41 am

I would still check them and keep checking them during the day to remain safe. A slow puncture could easily put you where you dont want to be. :o

or incorrect pressures could cause a lot of wear on your tyres that is 100% avoidable.
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