Narita Dogfight

Autos

I received an overwhelming amount of messages last weekend about what Suzuki was doing with his tires on the FD, and why he was doing it. I didn't have time to answer them all, so I thought I'd explain a little - you can see this a lot in our paddock walk videos on YouTube as it is very common in racing here. Please subscribe!

.

Tire shaving is a way to improve the overall performance of tires quickly in a few ways, and it is rather simple in practice. New, higher treads, t...end to have more flex (squirm), and break up the contact patch of the tire. A shaved tire's tread profile will usually result in a slight increase in the width of the tire's contact patch and the shallower tread depths reduce the tire's slip angle, increasing its responsiveness and cornering power by minimizing tread block squirm. This also helps reduce heat buildup and the risk of making the tire fall off by overheating it's tread compound. For tires that are used, the heat caused the bonding agents in the rubber to harden while it cools; shaving assists in rejuvenating some of the tires performance after this happens.