michaelkrelina

Does anyone have experience with methods of heat conservation in tires between runs of autocross? I have Toyo R888 tires and would like to maximize their performance before switching to A6. I have seen thermal tire covers used in illustrations but not locally at our club events.

Bill Dearborn

One of our club members uses light colored towels to hold the heat in and to protect the tires from the sun so the sun's heat doesn't cause pressure problems from one side of the car to the other.

Bill

Solofast

Don't know if I invented them or not, but I went to the UPS store in Salina in 85 when it was 45 degrees and got some bubble wrap and tape and made a set... Ended up second that year and my competitiors saw what I was doing and wrapped their tires with their jackets.......

They work just fine, you can even drag your brakes on your way to the grid and get some heat in the tires prior to a run. Often we use them on the first run and once the tires get up to temp take them off. It depends on how many drivers you have as to how long you need them on. Easy to overheat your tires if you have two drivers and use them for more than a couple of runs.

Keeping heat in the tires or cooling them down between runs is just tire temperature management. Tire temperature managment is just part of the game.

You can get a silver plastic bubble material from Lowes that is better than simple bubble wrap. You can cut out half circle shaped covers and put velcro tabs on your fender to keep them in place when the wind blows.

autox_vette

One of my sponsors is MLS Motor Racing. Their specialty is a tire blanket that he developed. They work very good for the early and late season events when the ambient temp is below 50 degrees (for those of us more northern folks..) They also stay on the tires very well even when the wind is blowing.

For more info, you can check them out at (or just google MLS tire blankets): http://www.mlsmotorracing.com/MLS%20...0Blankets.html

Kenton

autoxer6

I have the MLS blankets and love them. They work a lot better than the water heater materials and stay on the tires very well. The material is very nice and well worth the $.

Get the large for Z06 sizes.

http://www.mlsmotorracing.com/MLS%20...0Blankets.html

66IISS

+1 for the MLS tire blankets. They've worked very well for us this year, we use them anytime the temp is below 65 or so.

michaelkrelina

Many thanks for the helpful input!
I will try the MLS tire warmers as well as experiment with bubble wrap
Mike

steve40th

I thought tire warmers were illegal at autocross?

Solofast

Steve,

"Passive" warmers or wrapping your tires to keep the heat that that is generated by running the car (both from the brakes and from tire heat) are legal. Powered warmers (anything that isn't natural heat from the car) are illegal.

gunluvS14

I apologize for bringing a super old thread back to life.
Last I heard MLS is out of business now. Is there any equivalent product out there?
Any pointer/tips if I have to make my own?

Xian

I've seen plenty of folks make their own out of this stuff and tape:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflectix...6025/100012574