C4 WRX

I did a track evening at Snetterton today, very enjoyable circuit!
At the end of the session I noticed that my front passenger tyre took a horrendous beating compared to the other tyres. The outside edge has peeled away to the belt.

I know the front passenger tyre would take more abuse with Snetterton being a clockwise circuit with mostly right hand bends, but is it normal for the tread to peel away to the belt?!

The tyres are only 4 months old with no other previous track use, so they are almost like new. They are Toyo T1-R's and the fronts were pumped to 2.3 bar (about 33psi) and the back to 1.9 bar (27.5psi).
Are the pressures correct for track use?
Has anyone else come away from a track day with their tyres looking in a similar state to my one?

essexboy30

iTrader: (1)

Looks like you rubbed the tyre on the wing. Wing may need rolling to allow more clearance.
For road tyres like Toyo's i would run around 40psi on track and also make a point of only doing 10 mins at a time. They won't stand up to the heat of continued abuse.

MikeWood

In basic terms, the outside edge of the tyre has overheated. You really need to run higher pressures to keep the temperature down, particularly on circuits with long fast corners like Snetterton. Don't be tempted into driving with too much understeer either, once the front has run out of grip, more lock won't get you round the corner it'll just wreck the tyre. All you can do is lift off slightly until the grip comes back.

Mike

Tazz Kill Er

I agree with essex boy, that looks more like the tyre has been rubbing on the inside of the arch, you will see the signs on the arch trim if you look close. it could be that ur alignment is off, had a similar problem with mine, it only showed under abnormal loading.

MikeWood

The tyre won't have been catching the arch unless the car is fitted with wheel spacers as it's got OE 16" wheels fitted. Will have lots of clearance.

Another point to remember is that new tyres will do this on a track as they have too much rubber on and suffer localised overheating. If the tyres had been nearly worn out to start with, strangely enough they would have lasted longer!

Mike

dynamix

iTrader: (3)

The tyres pressures were way too low for the Toyo soft sidewalls.

These would have been folding under the car with pressures as low as you quote and getting very very hot - worth picking up a tyre pyrometer if you can (or borrow one) to measure the temps and keep checking the tyre pressures during the day.

I would run about 40 psi in those tyres or get a spare set of wheels and tyres for track that have stiffer sidewalls.

I would also get the geometry done to dial out some of that understeer.

Which corner was giving you the most understeer?

(snetterton regular )

C4 WRX

Thanks for the replies.
I will have a closer inspection of the wheel arch to see if theres any evidence of rubbing.
But from the sounds of it I probably overcooked the tyre, because I did eventually reach the stage where I'd apply more lock and still the car wouldn't turn in.

I found that Sear corner had quite alot of understeer, I suppose that's why they got that extra bit of tarmac to run off on!
My favourite bit was coram curve, such a high speed bend!