Touring Car Rubber Tire Prep
As we know, most racing sites have a spec tire traction compound, some even have a spec tire and nearly all big onroad race events will have both to eliminate the need to try potentially hundreds of combinations of wheel/insert/tire that could be tried at an event. I support this, but tire is the only part of your car that should touch the racing surface and as a result, spec tire leads to interesting 'tricks' in tire prep… and I would like a more seasoned TC racer to explain a few:
1: Glue
Superglue on the tire/rim increases the sidewall stiffness and prevents the tire from rolling over under high cornering forces. It also allows the car to slide on the sidewall when it just begins to traction roll, preventing the rollover. My question is how much glue do you need? Cover the rubber all way to the contact patch? Half way? Do you need a paper-thin layer or make several coats? Besides traction roll prevention, what changes in performance characteristics could you expect from glue stiffening the sidewall?
2: Rim Cutting:
Another trick I have seen but have not used or understand is the cutting of the inner ribbing of the rim to allow more flex in the wheel. How does this change the performance of the tire?
3: New Tire Prep
I have never done a special prep of new tires, my usual method is just running the tires in a long practice before racing them, adjusting sauce times according to how the car feels. I have seen several other methods of new tire prep from putting the tires on a truer and sanding off the mold parting line to saucing the tires and putting them in a plastic bag overnight. What suggestions for new tire prep do you have?
4: Tire Life
How long should you run a set of tires, and are there any tricks to keeping tires consistent over their life?