Calling all my track junkies.....

So, I bought a set of 285 A6's around October of last year and have stored them in my basement all winter/spring. I put them on finally in July last month and they felt pretty good, but not nearly as "grippy" as I thought. I only put two heat cycles on them. I ran them again this past weekend and they just don't have the lateral grip I was expecting. They feel like they have about 15-20 heat cycles on them instead of 2. I run them on 10.5 wheels by the way on all four corners. I was thinking somehow I got a bad batch or I messed them up somehow by not storing them correctly. So I put on an old set of 255 A6's (the cheater tire) that have close to 20 heat cycles and they feel about the same and I ran 2/10's faster lap time (later in the day when it's hotter) at Mid Ohio. In my experience with the A6's, a set with less than 8 cycles is about 1 to 1.5 seconds faster at Mid Ohio for me than a heat cycled out set with 15-20 heat cycles. I had pretty clear track when I ran this test too. Regardless of lap times, the lateral grip was about the same between the two.

Now I talked to a fellow track guy and he asked if I bagged the tires when I stored them in the basement. I told him I did not and he said that could be why they are behaving the way they are.

Does anyone else agree with this? Should I have bagged the tires when storing them for that long? I also checked the date codes on the tires and they are from the 36th week of 2012.

 

i dont know about if they should been bagged... but i heard that tires should be not stored in a dry place..little Humidity will be good for tires.

 

All I know is that sunlight degrades the compounds in the tire. I never see stacks of tires being bagged, so I don't believe you need to do it.

Here's an article: http://www.michelinman.com/tires-101...e-storage.page

 

I think I stored them correctly then. They were in my basement completely out of sunlight and I have a big moving blanket on top of them. It is dark and cool in my basement so I thought that was ok.

 

then u better take them to a vocation in Europe for little relaxation.

then try them out..

:P

 

LOL That sounds like a plan.

 

Another factor to be considered is the actual build date on the A6s. If they are more than two years old, proper storage will only count for so much. BTW- I have a "rubber room" or storage space for used and new race tires in my basement. I don't bother bagging the unmounted tires there either, but they do make up impressive looking stacks.

 

They were 36-12 coded so that's the 36th week of 2012 which was right before I bought them.

 

I've never bagged my tires, but they are stored in a climate controlled storage unit (no sunlight). I don't think you are going to dry rot an A6 in 6 months. I've never had an issue.

 

I wonder why they felt the way they did then. I know they are heavier and mounted on bigger wheels, but I would think the gain in grip would offset that.

 

Anyone ever get a "dud" tire. One of these 285's was actually way worse than the others. I had it on the RF and the car would just understeer like crazy on left hand corners. I swapped it with the RR and the problem followed the tire. Left hand turns now the rear wanted to come around and I had a ton more grip in the front.

 

Nope.

 

I've probably gone through 15 sets of them on the Z....at least.

 

If its gets cold in your basement, could damage the compound.

 

Have to get sub 35 to really do much IMO. I doubt it gets that cold in his basement.

 

It never gets lower than 60 I would say.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

What degrades the tires most is Ozone. Electrical motors, welding, heaters, water heaters, etc. all generate ozone and that will harden a tire over time. Double bagging the tires if you're in a high ozone area (SoCal, welding shop...) helps extend the life of the tires.