Dylan Code
New Member
This is taken from another forum which is a post from the National Race Tire Distributor for Dunlop:
"Yes, tire warmers put heat into the tire, so you don't have to on the first couple of laps. Other than that there is nothing magical about them. They don't change the rubber compound from bad to good.
Now lets tackle the issue of HEAT CYCLES.
Heat cycling of the tire is a very confusing and misunderstood area. I will say that I have heard that other brands are well known for "going off" or "heat cycling" and I will leave that conversation to another thread another day.
For now I'm going to stick with Dunlop's, as that is what I know.
Do tires heat cycle? Yes
Is this the most important factor in tires? NO! in fact it is not very significant, and very over emphasized.
Certainly making a tire go from 250 deg to negative 10 deg over and over is not the best thing you can do to a tire, but consider that placing it on a warmer, at 190 deg, for 8 hours is not any better. Both extremes are not the best for the tire.
We all hear about "Heat Cycle", but almost never do we hear talk about the thickness of the tire, or tread depth/wear. Fact: The thicker the tread rubber, the more grip. The thinner the tread rubber, the less grip. So as you ride on the tire, session after session, the rubber is getting thinner and there is less and less grip. Often this is mistaken for "heat cycle", and the rider now places his attention on his warmers and not on the real important factor of how much tread rubber is left on his tire.
Odd rituals start to crop up regarding tire warmers: Riders come back to the pits and RUSH to put their warmers on and crank them up to full, all in an attempt to "stop the heat cycle!". When buying used tires, riders rate the tire by how many heat cycles it has, not the tread depth.
It is a mistake to emphasize heat cycling over tread depth, with Dunlops.
So lets get real, which tire would you want to buy:
1) A tire with 10 laps and never had warmers?
2) A tire with 8 sessions and was on the warmers all day (8 hours) and never cooled down?
3) A new tire that was on a warmer for 8 hours only and never used?
I personally would pick #3 because it has the thickest tread, and #1 would be my second pick because it has less laps and probably more tread than #2. Notice how the heat cycles does not play into my personal choice in this matter, but the tread thickness does.
You can use a D211GPA or any other Dunlop tire without warmers and have no problems. ( Make sure you do heat the tire up for the first couple laps before you get with it.)
You might have a very small decrease in grip or life, but that would be very small and most likely not noticeable over the 1-5 track days you will get out of the tires. You would be spliting hairs on the performance level and tire life with/without warmers. Even if you were to do back to back tests, you would find that if in just 1 session in the life of the tire, you went 5 seconds faster, that would make more of a difference than heat cycling because you used more tread rubber in that session.
Heat cycles are not a total myth, but they do not make as big a difference as the internet would lead you to believe.
Tire warmers are good thing to have if you want to get going right out of the pits. They are not a requirement. Note that our recommendation for track day warmers has you putting the warmers on after a session and not plugging them in right away. This is so you don't needlessly force heat into the tire continuously for no reason. http://www.dunloprac...com/Warmers.pdf
Ever notice that the chatter about heat cycles started about the time tire warmers became cheaper and more readily available? Do you think there could be an urban legend that started because of this increased supply?"
Steve Brubaker
Dunlop/Race Tire Service Inc.
US National Distributor for Dunlop racing tires
"Yes, tire warmers put heat into the tire, so you don't have to on the first couple of laps. Other than that there is nothing magical about them. They don't change the rubber compound from bad to good.
Now lets tackle the issue of HEAT CYCLES.
Heat cycling of the tire is a very confusing and misunderstood area. I will say that I have heard that other brands are well known for "going off" or "heat cycling" and I will leave that conversation to another thread another day.
For now I'm going to stick with Dunlop's, as that is what I know.
Do tires heat cycle? Yes
Is this the most important factor in tires? NO! in fact it is not very significant, and very over emphasized.
Certainly making a tire go from 250 deg to negative 10 deg over and over is not the best thing you can do to a tire, but consider that placing it on a warmer, at 190 deg, for 8 hours is not any better. Both extremes are not the best for the tire.
We all hear about "Heat Cycle", but almost never do we hear talk about the thickness of the tire, or tread depth/wear. Fact: The thicker the tread rubber, the more grip. The thinner the tread rubber, the less grip. So as you ride on the tire, session after session, the rubber is getting thinner and there is less and less grip. Often this is mistaken for "heat cycle", and the rider now places his attention on his warmers and not on the real important factor of how much tread rubber is left on his tire.
Odd rituals start to crop up regarding tire warmers: Riders come back to the pits and RUSH to put their warmers on and crank them up to full, all in an attempt to "stop the heat cycle!". When buying used tires, riders rate the tire by how many heat cycles it has, not the tread depth.
It is a mistake to emphasize heat cycling over tread depth, with Dunlops.
So lets get real, which tire would you want to buy:
1) A tire with 10 laps and never had warmers?
2) A tire with 8 sessions and was on the warmers all day (8 hours) and never cooled down?
3) A new tire that was on a warmer for 8 hours only and never used?
I personally would pick #3 because it has the thickest tread, and #1 would be my second pick because it has less laps and probably more tread than #2. Notice how the heat cycles does not play into my personal choice in this matter, but the tread thickness does.
You can use a D211GPA or any other Dunlop tire without warmers and have no problems. ( Make sure you do heat the tire up for the first couple laps before you get with it.)
You might have a very small decrease in grip or life, but that would be very small and most likely not noticeable over the 1-5 track days you will get out of the tires. You would be spliting hairs on the performance level and tire life with/without warmers. Even if you were to do back to back tests, you would find that if in just 1 session in the life of the tire, you went 5 seconds faster, that would make more of a difference than heat cycling because you used more tread rubber in that session.
Heat cycles are not a total myth, but they do not make as big a difference as the internet would lead you to believe.
Tire warmers are good thing to have if you want to get going right out of the pits. They are not a requirement. Note that our recommendation for track day warmers has you putting the warmers on after a session and not plugging them in right away. This is so you don't needlessly force heat into the tire continuously for no reason. http://www.dunloprac...com/Warmers.pdf
Ever notice that the chatter about heat cycles started about the time tire warmers became cheaper and more readily available? Do you think there could be an urban legend that started because of this increased supply?"
Steve Brubaker
Dunlop/Race Tire Service Inc.
US National Distributor for Dunlop racing tires
