UK Karting - Notice Board (2-Stroke Karting) : Phil/Softer TKM Tyres

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Phil/Softer TKM Tyres
Posted by 'MrvanEs' on 23 Sep 2013 @ 21:52

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MrvanEsJoined: December 2006
Total Posts: 1
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A very interesting thread.

Firstly, I'm very sad to hear of your retirement from karting (hopefully just for now) Phil. It's always great to race against Lee and I will miss doing so.

Secondly, the issue with tyres most definitely exists. There are of course hundreds of different parameters that one can analyse to argue for or against something, but as Phil points out in his first message, the underlying issues hold the true evidence.

Taking a data set that covers almost 4 seasons of racing (since the tyres were introduced in 2010), I will consider my own experiences.

In 2010 we competed in Junior TKM at Super 1 level on a Tony Kart Viper and bought 8 sets of tyres to do 21 race meetings. In 2013 we have competed in Senior TKM at Super 1 level on a Tony Kart Viper and will end up purchasing around 15 sets of tyres to do about 18 race meetings.

Gearing at tracks has fallen substantially (4-5 teeth at some tracks, excluding the 1 tooth or so difference between Junior and Senior). Tyres pressures have fallen at most tracks by 1psi or so. Lap records are being consistently broken (I have beaten the Kimbolton lap record a number of times this year, and this weekend at PFI Super 1 we beat the lap record by around 7 tenths of a second).

The most important fact, however, is one that Dean points to: in 2010 we used our tyres for around 350 laps per set, and never wore the tread out. At the 2013 TKM Festival, we had to swap our tyres on the rims before the Pre-Final because we'd almost worn out the front left tyre.

Without wanting to offend anyone, I believe the issue does indeed lie with drivers near the front of the grid. A tyre's life depends on many factors, but the main one is how close it is pushed to the limit when used. Obviously, the faster the kart is going, the harder the tyre is being pushed. That's basic physics.

In response to Paul Garner, the issue could simply be that you've been out of the kart for 18 months! I'm well aware of your ability and I would say that, if anything, you were slightly further back at the Festival than I would've expected you to be. It is understandable, however, seeing as you've been out of a kart for 18 months. I believe that in order to exploit the extra lap time that is possible from the current batches of TKM tyres, one has to be in the seat and use a set of each new batch that comes out, hence getting used to the progression of the tyres towards becoming softer and softer.

Whilst I understand your argument regarding the pace of the Festival remaining similar from Qualifying all the way until the Grand Final, my Qualifying lap was 2-4 tenths slower than it could have been owing to having to overtake a driver in Dan Wheldon Corner on my flying lap.

In reality, the newer tyres are only very fast for 3-4 laps, before tailing off to be as slow as older sets. Evidence? PFI Super 1 Qualifying: 58.8s. 1st Heat: 59.5 (I think. It may have been even slower...)

To add further to the point, we tested on a new set of 2012 week 49 tyres on the Saturday morning before Qualifying at PFI. The fastest on those was a 59.39s. New tyres found us half a second for the first few laps. We used the same 2012 week 49s for Sunday 10 minute practice, and managed a lap time that was faster than in either of the two finals.

Oh, and I bet the 2012 set last longer...

Message Thread:

TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'philharrison' (05 Sep 2013 @ 23:07)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'bt3962' (06 Sep 2013 @ 1:12)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'MaxRacewear' (06 Sep 2013 @ 8:51)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 9:20)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'deangwigan' (06 Sep 2013 @ 9:58)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 10:29)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'deangwigan' (06 Sep 2013 @ 11:35)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 12:03)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'deangwigan' (06 Sep 2013 @ 13:31)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'deangwigan' (06 Sep 2013 @ 13:39)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 14:06)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'deangwigan' (06 Sep 2013 @ 14:26)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 15:05)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'deangwigan' (06 Sep 2013 @ 15:52)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 16:11)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'philharrison' (06 Sep 2013 @ 18:40)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (06 Sep 2013 @ 19:40)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'richpudd2003' (06 Sep 2013 @ 19:59)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'bt3962' (06 Sep 2013 @ 21:24)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Liam' (06 Sep 2013 @ 21:25)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'buzzinrussell' (07 Sep 2013 @ 14:04)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Liam' (07 Sep 2013 @ 21:18)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'buzzinrussell' (08 Sep 2013 @ 15:19)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'philharrison' (08 Sep 2013 @ 18:38)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'EvoRacer' (08 Sep 2013 @ 22:06)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Liam' (09 Sep 2013 @ 1:47)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'PaulGarnerTKM' (09 Sep 2013 @ 14:58)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Venom' (09 Sep 2013 @ 8:54)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Liam' (09 Sep 2013 @ 2:01)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'TKM177' (09 Sep 2013 @ 21:54)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'PaulGarnerTKM' (10 Sep 2013 @ 16:29)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'EvoRacer' (10 Sep 2013 @ 20:34)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'PaulGarnerTKM' (12 Sep 2013 @ 14:43)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'EvoRacer' (12 Sep 2013 @ 16:08)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'PaulGarnerTKM' (12 Sep 2013 @ 20:13)

Re: TKM Slicks Softer Compound ? by 'Liam' (13 Sep 2013 @ 21:28)

Phil/Softer TKM Tyres by 'MrvanEs' << You are here!

Re: Phil/Softer TKM Tyres by 'Liam' (26 Sep 2013 @ 21:53)

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