Tire Temps Tell a Story
Tech Article From Our Friends at Longacre®
For optimum performance (and hopefully a trip to Victory Lane) you need to maximize tire grip.
To do so, you will need to run the right camber and air pressure.
Purchase a good probe type pyrometer to check tire temps and you are half way to the front.
To get accurate tire temps, it will be necessary to check each tire before the car returns to the pits. You need to do the test quickly, after a full speed practice run before the heat has the opportunity to dissipate.
For speed, you might want to consider having one crew person quickly check for temperatures, while a second crew member records the results. Another option would be to purchase the Longacre Memory Pyrometer and the unit will do both functions (reading temps and recording them) at the same time. You will want to read the temps in 3 places across the tire face, including; the outside, center and inside area. For best results, always read the tires in the same order (RF, followed by the RR, LR, LF) and each of the 3 readings in the same order.
If the middle of the tread face is hotter than both shoulders, you will want to consider lowering the air pressure. You will want to think about increasing the pressure if the center reading is cooler than both shoulders.
If the inside area of the right front tire is cooler than the outside area, you should look at increasing negative camber. Conversely, you would want to decrease negative camber if the inside area of the tread face is hotter than the outside area.
If the inside area of the left front tire is running cooler than the outside area, you should look at decreasing the positive camber. Conversely, you would increase positive camber if the inside area of the tire is running hotter than the outside tread area.
When racing on a paved oval, the goal would be to make pressure and camber changes that would keep the variance in temps across the face of the tire within 10%.
