Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

I have noticed that some tracks are putting on hard tire races. Must have at least 400 tread wear rating. Anyone have any experience with this type of racing? Ideas?

Some people think you need to reduce the torque, but the key is to flatten out the torque curve. It's not the amount of torque that gets you in trouble, it's the sudden increase in torque, as the RPM's increase, off the corner. This is assuming the driver doesn't think the throttle, is an on-off switch, and the chassis isn't junk.

What are the other tire rules? Can you shave them? Soak them?

If there's no rule against it, shave half the tread off and hit them in a mix of half xylene and half toluene using a tray and a paint roller.

If there's a no soaking rule, shave half the tread off.

And every time you buy new ones, take your durometer and buy the newest, softest tires available.

A good bit of heat, a lot of weight transfer and a bunch of anti-squat. Play with tire pressures, usually around 20-25 psi. Use a very soft start and don't shock the tires.

I was pulling 1.7 60 foots with 2.73 gears in a '98 Trans Am with a Trailblazer torque converter. The tires were regular old super cheap Tire Rack specials. Foot brake it to 2K, then ease the throttle down.

Oh, and if you break traction, you're done. No way to pedal them back unless the other guy is trying to find traction too.

The go kart world is full of tire preps that work well, one particular favorite of mine that keeps them hazing over is goat pee. It comes from a guy in Indiana that specializes in tire preps. You can also put the treatment inside the tire so it continuously soaks. Age has a lot to do with durometer reading, you can test same brand etc tires that were made maybe 6 months apart by date code and get different reading. There is an article somewhere on a dirt track site where the author goes to some tire shops with a durometer comparing tires of different tread wear ratings etc and the results were interesting.

If we could still easily/cheaply buy it, would methylene chloride work??

I think it is still used in aircraft paint stripper.

pdq67