Hi Everyone,
I thought some of you might find this interesting.
I've been out of action, except for a couple of cold weather events, since
the Petersburg Pro Solo in May 2002.
Yesterday I ran my first event since May 2002 where the pavement, air temp,
and tires were all "up to temp" so the tires could get hot and sticky.
These tires now have about 40 runs with the first 6 being on 9/11/2001 at
Nationals (two drivers, first heat, not much tire heat), followed by about
20 runs in warm/hot weather in May 2002 at the Petersburg Pro (class runs
and Bonus Challenge win). about ten runs on the set in cold weather and
then 4 runs yesterday. For the two years since May 2002 the tires were on
the car in my garage (temps between about 35 and 80) without bagging. No
sun exposure except at events and during local trailering to/from events.
Even though I am very RUSTY the tires felt great yesterday and they did all
the normal "hot and sticky" stuff that good fresh tires do. They still are
very "fingernail" soft, pick up trash/gravel/other people's rubber, and do
the normal rubber buildup on the edges, etc. They even "stick" to my garage
floor after sitting overnight. I should note that the event surface was
very grippy asphalt.
Balance was still "normal" even though the rears had the most abuse due to
the Pro Solo runs.
Durometer seems a little high (55 to 60 at 80 degrees in my garage) but a
never used tire bought in May 2002 duros about the same.
So much for my "theory" that "calendar time" after a tire is used will kill
them even if they aren't used. Maybe a little but not a lot.
However, for a major event later this summer I'll run the unused "New Old
Stock" set I bought in May 2002 even though one of the fronts has a
production code from 2001:-)
Dick Rasmussen
CM 85
85 Van Diemen FF
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