Cutting tread on slicks?

[javajoe79]

 Does anyone do this for some extra, if any, grip on the salt? You know how the dirt track guys use tire knives to groove their tires for given conditions. We have 12" wide hoosier slicks on the back of our car and I was contemplating cutting some grooves to help with traction kind of like this....

http://image.circletrack.com/f/10690311+w750+st0/ctrp_0810_05_z+dirt_racing_tire_prep+.jpg

[jimmy six]

Personally I like some grove tread on a tire but I would be reluctant to run Hoosier slicks with 60 psi in them on the salt. If you have enough tread to put gooves in them it maybe too much tread for the speed you will be running which you didn't say. It just gives them places to chunk and come off.

[DallasV]

I think the 12" hoosiers are a bad idea right off the bat. I don't think cutting grooves will help any. This is just my opinion I have no technical data to back this up. Just what I've seen in the few years I've been attending salt events.

[javajoe79]

 We want to run over 250 eventually. I just looked at our stock of tires and not that it's much difference but the tires on there now are 11.5" and we have some 10" tires too. They are all relatively fresh tires with pretty much full tread depth left. We have been running them at 35psi at Maxton with 28" frontrunners... out front and the car was very stable. We went 205+ at Maxton with 7 total runs over and near 200 and they all felt great but grip isn't an issue there.

[Glen]

Don't even try to compare the asphalt, concrete to the salt. Two different worlds and a much greater distance. Wide tires in most cases don't work. You can ask anyone who has spun on them in sports cars and other short wheel base cars. I have seen probably close to 50K runs at the lakes and Bonneville and have many stories on things that happen at those venues.

[Freud]

Those tires will be an adventure on the Salt.

Better bring something narrower also.

FREUD

[javajoe79]

 I'm not trying to compare the two venues just adding info to the discussion. I know that wide is not good but I also know that at least one real fast car runs a 10" rear tire. Any thought on grooving tires for better grip FREUD?

[Glen]

Like JD said they will chunk at speed or split down the groove.

[Pat Kinne / Salt201]

Group 44 Guy - Do yourself a big favor and listen to Glen Barrett . JD Tone and young Volk. All three have lessons and the experience of decades to draw from.  I know it's fun to be a pace setter and try something "new" but even though it's called Speed WEEK the time goes really fast. You will be wasting time and runs trying to prove a point when proven tire combinations are available. Pat Kinne

[1212FBGS]

if ya feel like cutting tread in a tire.... Ill give ya my ex wife's address.... her life ins is paid up!...
Kent

[javajoe79]

Thanks for the info guys. That is what I wanted to know.
 
  No avatar guy. I am not trying to be a pacesetter or prove a point just wanted to know what people thought about it. There is no harm in a question. It's not like I declared that I would do it anyway in spite of what you all said. 

[bvillercr]

I have no experience with the tires your talking about, but the ones we run work great at Bonneville.  We have had many, many runs over 260mph with the 10 inch tire and quite a few runs in the 275-290 range.  It may be that we have the correct set up for our car and maybe other do not, but we have never had any problems with the tire causing us to spin.

[jl222]

Does anyone do this for some extra, if any, grip on the salt? You know how the dirt track guys use tire knives to groove their tires for given conditions. We have 12" wide hoosier slicks on the back of our car and I was contemplating cutting some grooves to help with traction kind of like this....

http://image.circletrack.com/f/10690311+w750+st0/ctrp_0810_05_z+dirt_racing_tire_prep+.jpg

   I've thought the same thing but would groove them more like a high performance street bike tire.

  I just measured the wear holes on our ''too wide'' 10'' goodyear lsr tires .117 thousand, deep enough to groove and still rated for 300mph.

   My cousin Arley drove a lakester for Les Liggett at El Mirage years ago with big agressive tires and the officials were not happy with the condition of the track afterwords

                                        JL222


   

     

[javajoe79]

Thanks for the input guys. You were who I was referring to about the 10" tires. 

 From the guys who think they will chunk or split, why do you think that? Has this been tried and that is what happened? How long ago and what tires and how fast?
 
  I would like to run a narrower rear tire but we are running out of time and money isn't abundant. We are coming to run regardless. I know we will learn alot too, and that is half the reason I like doing this stuff.

[jl222]

 javajoe... there is more to it than just wide tires we run a lot of weight in back ,soft springs and an instant center that does't shock the tires,  my last measurement was 69% on rear wheels. Also the max spoiler length allowed.
 Just got my new LSR frontrunners and the thread depth is .105 thousand.