New RE71R's - break in?

[Ugly John]

My RE71R's are on the way, but I've never had a racing tire before. Is there anything I need to do to them before my first autocross event?

I'll be driving on them about 60 miles, with 32 of them on the highway. Will this be enough to scrub them in and get rid of any release agent from manufacture?

I've seen that TireRack has a heat cycling service. Is there any benefit to this? Does it increase the life of the tire or just maximize grip? Will running the first event do the same thing?

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[jhols]

For the first event they will need about 4 runs to be a peak grip. So make your last run count!

 

[lizardman]

Here is the Hoosier A7 tire break in procedure.
http://hoosiertire.com/images/content/files/TCTR7_A7.pdf

I put the new tires on the night before the event, drove around for a couple of miles, let the car set over night, and then drove the 45 miles to the event. I was very pleased with the results.

Hope this helps!

 

[hulk_smash]

RE71R are still street tires.

Al street tires are broken-in in the same way. You just need to scrub off the chemical layer that's on the tire, by doing about 100+ street miles of driving without any silly antics. (meaning no sliding, heavy braking or hard cornering). Then your tires will be fully broken in. If you live over 100 miles from your nearest track, putting them on and driving there will break them in. L)

If you're using an R-comp or slick, the break in procedure is far different. If you have a heat cycling source, pay to have the tires heat cycled.

If you don't what you need to do is slap them on (brand new) and do 2 full laps at 70% (on track). DO NOT complete the full session. Then exit track and then let your tires cool down for at least 2 hours. Ideally, you would want to put car on jack stands while you do the initial cool down of your tires. But most people don't. If you don't properly do the 1st heat cycle of your r comp or slick, you can ruin the tire.

Hope this helps.

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