What Does Tire Temps play in your chassis Role of getting around the Race Track?
temperature averages have more meaning when camber, tire pressure, stagger, toe in and basic set up are correct. The Biggest rule in racing is to have all four of your wheels pointed straight ahead in order to consistently win races.
An important factor in obtaining the proper pressures and temps is the type of air you put in the tires for a race, typically compressed air from an air compressor has 500 parts per million of water in, where as bottled nitrogen has 10 parts per million of water. The nitrogen can be purchased from your local welding supplier. The decrease in water molicules in the nitrogen make pressure build up minimal, making consistant pressure and temperature more predictable.
You will see slightly higher front averages (5 to 15 degrees ) due to absorption of heat from the engine and brakes.
Hot inboard edges of rear tires can indicate too much rear tire stagger which can slightly raise temperature averages
New tires always give the best results when taking temperature averages. Maximum heat is generated with all areas on the tire when its in new condition. More detail will be shown as the edges are not ground off or over used. Camber curves are shown with more clarity. A racer should take advantage of their investment in a set of new tires and take special note of these average temperature readings. All ways break in a new set of tires to the manufacturers specs. There is a specific warm up and cool down period for each brand of tire to maximize grip and tire life...Follow it to the letter for trouble free life to your tires.
If the driver were to slow down in a turn to not slide the front tires when a car had a tendency to push then the hotter rear average would indicate a push instead of the most allways assumed loose condition. Since most drivers drive as hard as they can, they usually slide the front tires when the car has a tendency to push causing the front tires to overheat. When this condition is present the driver usually comes in for adjustments. The driver will never abuse tires lap after lap only because the car is undrivable.
It is the combination of proper inflation and chassis alignment that gives your tires optimum GRIP on the racing surface. But how do you know what pressures to run and do you set them cold or hot? And once you have the tire pressures set properly, how can you tell if the car's alignment has the proper amount of camber? These are but a few of the mysteries that can be answered by taking temps and pressures.
First, tire temperatures are more or less meaningless, , after a "cool down" lap. To obtain true data, the driver needs to complete a hot lap and come directly into the pits where the crew can immediately take the temperature of each tire in three places (outside, middle and inside). Begin with the most important side of the car -- Right side tires for a predominantly Left hand track and vice versa. Front tire first then Rear on that side then Front to Rear on the opposite side.
Use a tire temperature/pressure sheet to record the data -- Use our tire data sheet we provide in the Setup Area.
Record the cold tire pressures before you go out on the track and then after you come in off the track When your tires are hot.. Do this after you record the temperatures since the temp drops much faster than the pressures do.
The objective is to get the tire to work effectively across the entire face of the tire (all readings the same). In reality this will probably never happen, but you should shoot for no more than a 20*F spread across any one tire. If the center temperature is higher than the averate of the inside and outside temps, the tire is over inflated -- try reducing the pressure in 2 lb. increments. If the middle temp is lower than the average of the inside and outside temps, the tire is probably under inflated -- try increasing the pressure again in 2 lb. increments. Once the pressures are set correclty, then look for major differences in temperature side to side. If the inside temp is always significantly hotter than the middle or outside, the chassis may have too much static negative camber adjusted into it. Caution: This reading can also occur if you take the temps after a cool down lap when you have not worked the chassis hard enough to effectively use the full face of the tire -- in effect you have driven on only the inside edge of the tire due to the static negative camber in the chassis alignment. Don't mistake this for too much negative camber, try taking the readins immediately after several hot laps. If the outside temperature is consistently hotter (by more than 10*F) than the inside, try dialing in a bit more negative camber.
Once these pressures and camber are set optimally, then look for differences in temps of the front tires compared to the rears. Again, they will never be the same due to engine placement and drive wheels, but differences in temps can confirm your feel about how the car is handling. Does the car push (understeering) in many of the corners -- then the front tires will probably be hotter than they should be due to the excessive slip angles that generate the push. Refer to our other sections that explain corrections in loose/tight conditions.
Remember to first try to adjust the end of the car that is not handling optimally. Only then, when you are out of adjustment on that end should you try an adjustment on the other end of the car. Tire guages, pyrometers and Tire charts are only three of the important tools to help you get the most out of your car's handling.
Remember that racing is a dangerous sport. Exercise extreme caution while racing or working on your ride.
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