Doctored Tires?

[Hunter]

So I was having a conversation earlier about soaking tires in things to make them super sticky and I wondered if anyone knew anything about this.

The reason I ask is it's legal in the formula SAE competitions tires are completely free (as in run whatever you want). Seeing as how this car is always 100% traction limited, anyway we could get more traction would be great. Oh and a set of tires only has to last about 30 minutes so tire wear is of no concern.

[D_Eclipse9916]

hahah I had a link for it actually somewhere, but I cant seem to find it, but yeah certain checmicals if you spray it on right before or do it the day before they will make em really sticky.

[HAULN-SS]

bleach?

[white_2kgt]

I have actually heard, that if you pat your tires down with mineral spirits that it will make them sticker, now this is just what I have heard .

[Andy]

GRM have an ad in the back of their issues for some chemical that will soften old race rubber. Apparently it's legit and drag racers use them alot.

[Hunter]

See, now this is good information. I'm going to go check out GRM and see what I can find.

A shit ton of tiny little hoosiers arrived and apparently we can tear though all of them as quickly as we want... but that wont start for a month or two because the entire world is covered in snow.

[Andy]

http://www.discoveryparts.com/cgi-bin/st...ion&pid=99

or

use this as an excuse to "test" products

http://www.allstarperformance.com/catagory.htm?cat=15

[.RJ]

Tire coating doesnt really do much. It can bring back an old tire for a few laps, but then you're right back where you started - neither will be as fast as a new tire.

Hunter, do you have a wheel diameter/width requirement? If you are having traction issues, then put more m'fing rubber on it... or a taller tire.

[Maengelito]

i've sorta wondered about products like traction v as well. i cant imagine that a tire would be able to soak up much compared to what you would wear down in a session on track. however, i store tires in a garage during the winter and i wonder if these things would help prolong the life of the tire if i were to wrap up the tire with this stuff. anyone have any insight on this?

[BLINGMW]

the race parts place I used to work for essexparts.com sells Tire Power, does what you're looking for

not what YOU'RE looking for maeng, if you put this stuff on and left it for more than a few days, the tire would fall apart

[Maengelito]

not what YOU'RE looking for maeng, if you put this stuff on and left it for more than a few days, the tire would fall apart

awesome, who wants to see awd sparks fly from direct rim on asphalt contact?

[Feersty]

I have had tires mounted on rims stored in my basement for a year. They are still good right?

[Andy]

I have had tires mounted on rims stored in my basement for a year. They are still good right?

According to michelin, regular street tires last up to 7 years or whenever they wear out. The traction fluid that this thread is about pertains to Race compound tires.

[white_2kgt]

I have had tires mounted on rims stored in my basement for a year. They are still good right?

they are street tires, it's not like the rubber is going to fall apart. With race tires I usually bring them inside during the winter and wrap them in plastic.

[Hunter]

Tire coating doesnt really do much. It can bring back an old tire for a few laps, but then you're right back where you started - neither will be as fast as a new tire.

Hunter, do you have a wheel diameter/width requirement? If you are having traction issues, then put more m'fing rubber on it... or a taller tire.

I thought there was a limit on wheel and tire size, but after reading over there rules I found out there's only a minimum wheel diameter requirement (8 inches). Besides that the car could run with anything we can fit on there, I'm going to go find out how much tire can physically fit on this car.

[Maengelito]

see if you can get one of these wheels on:



total hawtness!

[.RJ]

I thought there was a limit on wheel and tire size, but after reading over there rules I found out there's only a minimum wheel diameter requirement (8 inches).

Do you know what the other teams are running?

What kind of traction issues are you having? Front or rear? Mid corner, entry, corner exit?

[Hunter]

Basically the car makes a shit ton of power for how small it is, so all the issues are with trying to get power to the ground. This is based on last years car seeing as this year car is still coming together, but it should be similar situation.

So basically we're looking for more traction while exiting corners. We have a few different sized sets of hoosiers in the shop right now and i think the largest width is about 9 inches for a 13 inch wheel. We can get tires up to 12" wide for a 13" wheel so I may look into experimenting with that.

Oh and I think we're making a lot more power than most of the other teams, but are running pretty much the same sized tires.

[.RJ]

Try a taller tire, if you have them. If not, then soften up rebound on the rear shocks.

[HAULN-SS]

Do you guys run some kind of ladder-bar suspension on the car? I'm guessing not, but that could be a good way to get the wheels planted if you're really having that much of a traction problem on hard launches and accels.