Cold trackday mornings + your rubber: How much do you care?

[jfritz27]

Early spring track days in NE can see morning temps of 30-40 F. Obviously 200TW-and-stickier tires aren't supposed to be exposed to these kinds of temps for prolonged periods. Do you guys worry about this, or take any mitigation steps? I generally haul the track tires in back seat to/from events (and they're kept in my garage which usually is no lower than 40), and in past I haven't given much thought to this and have used NT01's for example in those cold early morning temps and nothing has seemed to explode prematurely, so... Just curious if I should take this more seriously than I currently am. (I'm not talking about managing grip in cold, but about not damaging/reducing lifespan of the tire). Thx

[Suds]

I ran NT01’s in February when it was in the 30’s.
Then, RE71’s in March when the car was showing 31-32F on the way to the track.
Grip was good once the day warmed up into the 50’s and above.
Nothing abnormal happened to the tires, they wore out like normal.

[SYT_Shadow]

It's a good question to ask ourselves. I have zero concerns about 200TW tires because they do fine in mild freezing temps, but when it comes to Hoosiers or real slicks it gets dicier.

I try to remember to pump my tires up after the event so the car doesn't sit on deflated tires in the cold. In the first session I take it extra easy for the warmup and so far it's all good

[D_SheerDrivingPleasure]

For this reason I chose to start the season with Yoko A052's. They can handle the cold and are great in the wet. They warm up fast too.

This reminds me, last November I arrived at Lime Rock early one morning. Temps were in the mid 20's and there was ice in the paddock. I was panicked about my rubber cracking (Nankang CRS) but nothing bad happened. In fact, it turned out to be a glorious day with my turbos gulping up that cold air.

[NYG]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

It's a good question to ask ourselves. I have zero concerns about 200TW tires because they do fine in mild freezing temps, but when it comes to Hoosiers or real slicks it gets dicier.

I try to remember to pump my tires up after the event so the car doesn't sit on deflated tires in the cold. In the first session I take it extra easy for the warmup and so far it's all good

This.

Typically most road tires won't suffer from gradual temperature decreases.

[Fosil Racer]

Having run Bridgestone RE71s for 4 previous seasons and Yokos [200 tw] this season in the occasional 30-40 F degree days, I have found that if I drive to the track for at least 15 minutes they typically warm to 50-60 F. On Colder days I let the car run between sessions to aid in maintaining tire temp. Luckily my M4 gives me realtime temps. I autocross not track race. In our short, but busy, scurry [typically 1 minute or less per run.] I stay 10+30 F above the air temp on the Yokos. On a road track with longer runs and more laps I believe the temps will be higher and fine. Wear has been noteworthy but not overly detrimental. I measure tread depth after each race.

[coolmody]

I care and think about this. I try my best to keep my track tires (NT-01, AR1, A052) in above freezing temps in a heated garage or in the back of my car while heading to the track. If I find myself at the track and the temps are cold, I don't really have a choice and will throw the track tires on anyways. I remind myself I'm not there to win races, but to have fun.

[GasBurnlife(landapanda)]

I ran a weekend at VIR on slicks with temps in the low 30s Saturday morning. I didn't notice this on Saturday, but when I was packing the tires on Sunday, the sidewall exhibited small cracks. I will not run those tires anymore and the lesson learned is that we should wait until the temps are at least in the low 40s before putting any load on the tires. Mine survived the weekend, but I would not have run them had I noticed the cracks on Saturday.

[GasBurnlife(landapanda)]

I should add these were Michelin Mediums (S9M). Supposedly the Pirelli (slicks) handle cooler (30s) temps better than the Michelins - in terms of potential sidewalk damage you are exposing the tires to in above freezing temps.

[NYG]

S9M grip > Pirelli DH tho