Alignment & tire breakin questions
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 899
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From: Louisville KY
Alignment & tire breakin questions
I took Spins advice and widened a set of 18" front rims to 11" to replace the stock 19" rear rims. I bought a set of 305/35/18 Nitto 555 R2's for the widened rims. It was my understanding from his posts concerning the 555 r's that they have to be heat cycled before they will deliver optimum traction. Does this require repeated burnouts or just driving the car fairly hard on back roads to heat the tires and then let them cool down? When I install the new rims and tires I want to have a front and rear alignment done on my 08 Z-51 car. Are the stock alignment specs the best way to go for a street car. This car is not a track car but it is making just under 500 RWHP using Spins C6 LS3 engine mod suggestions.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Austin, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Houston, Dallas, Hong Kong, Elgin, etc.. Texas
I find new tires a little slippy for a hundred miles or so until the mold release (or whatever is on the surface of new tires) wears off.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2005
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http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=66
Alignment is more dependent on driving style. The factory alignment specs may result in excessive wear on the inside of the tire for a conservative driver driving mostly highway miles while an agressive driver may wear out the outside of the tire with combo of track/street miles. If your last set of tires wore evenly across, I'd stick with that alignment. Take it to a good alignment shop that understands performance alignments and listens to you for feedback to tweak the adjustments.
Alignment is more dependent on driving style. The factory alignment specs may result in excessive wear on the inside of the tire for a conservative driver driving mostly highway miles while an agressive driver may wear out the outside of the tire with combo of track/street miles. If your last set of tires wore evenly across, I'd stick with that alignment. Take it to a good alignment shop that understands performance alignments and listens to you for feedback to tweak the adjustments.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,570
Likes: 3
From: Austin, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Houston, Dallas, Hong Kong, Elgin, etc.. Texas
Here is information published by the Tire Rack:
Breaking In Your Tires
Tires are comprised of many layers of rubber, steel and fabric. Due to these different components, your new tires require a break-in period to ensure that they deliver their normal ride quality and maximum performance. As tires are cured, a release lubricant is applied to prevent them from sticking in their mold. Some of the lubricant stays on the surface of your tires, reducing traction until it is worn away. Five hundred miles of easy acceleration, cornering and braking will allow the mold release lubricant to wear off, allowing the other tire components to begin working together. It is also important to note that your old tires probably had very little tread depth remaining when you felt it was time to replace them. As any autocrosser or racer who has tread rubber shaved off of his tires will tell you, low tread depth tires respond quicker."Don't be surprised if your new tires are a little slower to respond (even if you use the exact same tire as before). Their new, full depth brings with it a little more tread squirm until they wear down.
NOTE: Be careful whenever you explore the capabilities of your new tires. Remember that every tire requires a break-in period for optimum performance.
Breaking In Your Tires
Tires are comprised of many layers of rubber, steel and fabric. Due to these different components, your new tires require a break-in period to ensure that they deliver their normal ride quality and maximum performance. As tires are cured, a release lubricant is applied to prevent them from sticking in their mold. Some of the lubricant stays on the surface of your tires, reducing traction until it is worn away. Five hundred miles of easy acceleration, cornering and braking will allow the mold release lubricant to wear off, allowing the other tire components to begin working together. It is also important to note that your old tires probably had very little tread depth remaining when you felt it was time to replace them. As any autocrosser or racer who has tread rubber shaved off of his tires will tell you, low tread depth tires respond quicker."Don't be surprised if your new tires are a little slower to respond (even if you use the exact same tire as before). Their new, full depth brings with it a little more tread squirm until they wear down.
NOTE: Be careful whenever you explore the capabilities of your new tires. Remember that every tire requires a break-in period for optimum performance.
