Used street tires

[jeepinbanditrider]

I've heard that running almost worn out street tires is a good way to get some good gripping tire when driving aggressively. Is there any truth to this? If I could find a set of tires just to the wear bars in a local tireshop's junk pile would they make a good track only tire??

[jrj512]

I would think that the heat cycles would have worn them out. Many times, my tires cycle out before the tread is gone.

[jeepinbanditrider]

Hmmm good point I didn't think about heat cycling. I guess tires in the grand scheme of things aren't that expensive.

I just ordered a brand new set of Sumitomo HTR Z IIs from tirerack. Should have them in a few days or less. Cost me 345 dollars shipped. I love Tire Rack :)

I was just thinking of finding some tires that would be track only use that I could get for cheap. Since my whole operation is on a tight budget competing with my firearm and motorcycle habit lol.

[MadMerv]

There is no such thing as cheap track tires. You need good fresh rubber. Worn out tires are just that.....worn out!

[tailchaser]

Worn out tires are definitely just worn out... I had a BLAST driving on a set at an autocross a few weeks ago, but they were a COMPLETE crap shoot. Out of the 8 runs, there was about 3/4 of 1 where they offered anything resembling predictable grip. The other 7 1/4 runs it was anybody's guess exactly what was going to happen if I approached the limits entering a turn (or, god forbid, hit the brakes - they really seemed to be pissed off about that).

But you'll definitely not learn a damn thing from worn out tires other than to be wary of your car...

[trickyrix]

Waaaay back in the day I autocrossed my 5.0 Mustang on wore-out street tires. The result was a shit-ton of tire smoke and drifting before drifting was cool. Fun? You bet. Fast? Hell no!

But it was lots of fun... lots and lots of fun, and lots and lots of burnt rubber...

I'm about to auto-x the Miata on a set of wore-out T1Rs, so I'm sure it'll be like Bambi on ice... not fast, but good times!




I promise to get a proper set of track tires sooner rather than later...

[Tim the Teacher]

You need good fresh rubber.

That's what she said....

[Davidss]

I would have to disagree. I buy on used tires all the time (r-comps and street tires) and I think they are well worth the money and a great way to stretch your dollar.

[Miatamoto]

I would have to disagree. I buy on used tires all the time (r-comps and street tires) and I think they are well worth the money and a great way to stretch your dollar.

It's been hit or miss for me with used race tires. Most of them have been done in 1-2 autocrosses so unless you've got a tire mounter at home, not worth the money IMO. Plus you run the risk of getting tires that are heat cycled out with tread left (with less grip than good street tires).

[CosmosMpower]

I would have to disagree. I buy on used tires all the time (r-comps and street tires) and I think they are well worth the money and a great way to stretch your dollar.

I agree that it can be hit or miss. Each time I bought used R comps I had really good results.

1st set was a set of Yoko A032R soft compound for the M3. I think I paid 300shipped for 235/45/17 and they were still 75% tread and not heat cycled out. I probably used them for 4-5 autocrosses and got nearly all my money back on them when I sold them with the wheels they were on.

2nd set was a set of Toyo RA-1's that were basically 90% tread, they had been used for 1 track session (beginner) and 2 autocrosses and I used those probably 6-7 autocrosses and made some money on them when I dumped them with my Enkei wheels.

3rd set was a set of Hoosier A3S05's I picked up with my Rotas that are probably 60% left, rubber still feels soft but I have not run them yet.

[jrj512]

almost worn out street tires

I would have to disagree. I buy on used tires all the time (r-comps and street tires) and I think they are well worth the money and a great way to stretch your dollar.

Do you think that almost worn out street tires are a good way to stretch your dollar? I agree that buying some scrubs us a great idea, but almost worn out street tires are pretty much dead.

[apex2apex]

Since we are talking about used street tires. Does anyone know if street miles heat cycle street tires?

The Dunlop Original Z1 I have on my RX-8 still have trends left, but they lost most of their grip and became very unpredictable at the limit... I have them for about 15 months, with probably 10k street miles and 8 autocross and trackdays combined.

TIA,

Alan

[jrj512]

Since we are talking about used street tires. Does anyone know if street miles heat cycle street tires?

I would imagine so. I did not get very many AX runs on my previous set of Azenis before they died, but I did have them on the car for several months. Same with my current set of Azenis.

[Davidss]

Do you think that almost worn out street tires are a good way to stretch your dollar? I agree that buying some scrubs us a great idea, but almost worn out street tires are pretty much dead.

I agree that worn out street tires don't have great grip. But I still think they're great! If you get your tires for next to nothing you can run more events. For myself at my time time trials we can put almost 100 laps on The Goldsmobile in a day. There is NO way I could afford that on anything but old hard street tires...

I'd rather run on old tires than stay home!

And for a novice I think it's better to race on the cheapest tires and then get twice the seat time.

jrjr512- So let me know when you want to sell your old Toyos!