I asked TDK repair about suggestions with regards to the tire stretching, here was their response:

”We have also experienced this with our tires and our drivers tires, especially the fronts. It is not that the sauce is breaking down only the foam but like you said it is “stretching” the rubber by softening it significantly.

We have found a few ways to help slow down this process.

The preferred saucing method currently is to apply to the full tire on the rear with the dauber cap. For the front apply only a thin stripe in the center with the dauber cap and then spread evenly with a brush. This will apply a thinner layer to the tire so it won’t attack it as aggressively and make them last longer.

Also our drivers and myself are having good success mixing about 50/50 of our Odorless and High Grip Sauces and then applying as I described above.

Finally the other option is to break in the tire with High Grip and put a couple heat cycles in it and then sauce with only odorless. This will net the softest tire possible without stretching the tire prematurely.

Hopefully this helps you and the community out!”

Don’t use Simple Green- Some people use Simple Green, but what they don’t know is that Simple Green actually dries out your tires. It’s like leaving a set of real car tires out in the sun in California for a year and then expecting good traction, even wear, and life out of them when you mount them on your car and go 80mph on a highway. It draws out the chemical compounds in the rubber and makes the tires very inconsistent, on top of drying them out. They may seem sticky after you apply it, and they may feel grippier in the first 30 secs to a minute on the track, but then it’s all gone. (Not the tire tread- the grip.) It can be helpful when cleaning dirty tires/wheels after an outdoor race on clay, but only when diluted in water and rinsed off asap. There are special rc tire cleaners made for this. WD-40 works well if you apply it a few times on your tires days before the race. (Not for outdoor. Everything will stick to the tires if you do this for outdoor off-road clay.) I personally don’t like to use tire sauce. I’ve experimented with all kinds and I don’t really need it on carpet. Indoor blue groove clay? Sure. Carpet is the most high-traction surface you can race on. Being that I primarily race outdoor, I like to set up my car to be able to rotate around corners easier on carpet. Tire sauce fights against rotation around corners. If you’re a budget racer, especially, don’t bother with tire sauce. Try some different ones at some point on practice days to see how you like it and see how your car handles. It’ll help you dial in cars and make better setup changes when you understand how it feels to have more bite. Try applying it on the inside half of your tires, the outside halves, front, rear, and gain knowledge of how it affects your car. Try it on bald tires and try it on new ones. Just know that: Tire sauce + application weight x times applied = tire wear^3. The softer the tire compound, the softer the inserts, the hotter the climate, the more aggressive the sauce, the heavier you apply it, the more times you apply it, the harder the brush is you apply it with, the longer time you let it soak in between applications, the harder you drive... the faster your tires will go, go, go, and then be gone. The more you do this, the more your wallet hates you lol. Hope this helps!

-E