{"id":40826,"date":"2022-05-24T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/?p=40826"},"modified":"2024-03-23T08:11:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T15:11:12","slug":"q-why-are-new-race-track-surfaces-faster-why-do-old-tires-have-more-grip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/q-why-are-new-race-track-surfaces-faster-why-do-old-tires-have-more-grip\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: Why are new race track surfaces faster? Why do old tires have more grip?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A<\/strong>: Great question! First, new surfaces have more grip because the aggregate in the pavement is more porous and rougher at a minute level. Think of each of those bits of stone in the asphalt, and how the edges on them are rough and even a bit sharp. Over time, with cars sliding over them constantly, those edges become polished smoother and smoother, and the porous empty areas between each stone are filled with rubber. So, with time, the track surface becomes smoother and smoother, and the tire doesn\u2019t dig into it as well.<\/p>\n

In my experience, new surfaces do not like old tires necessarily. I think it depends on the type of tire and its rubber compound. When they resurfaced Watkins Glen a few years ago, the grip went up a ton – probably the grippiest track in North America (whereas Laguna Seca is currently the least grippy track). On new race tires, it was amazing how fast you could go, but as the tires ran longer, some of the grip went away. I think it was the porous sharp, aggressive stones in the asphalt ripped up the tires quickly. And maybe – just maybe, because I\u2019m not sure – why an older tire might be better for you on new surfaces – because they\u2019re harder from the heat cycles, the ultimate grip might not be as high, but the grip level they do have lasts longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: \u201cWhy are new track surfaces faster and why do they seem to like old tires? I race regularly at two north Texas tracks (Eagles Canyon and MSR Cresson), both of which have new surfaces. Cresson just received a new top coat and immediately became over a second faster. ECR is essentially a new track. Both tracks are at least a second faster on high heat cycle tires compared to stickers. What is it that makes newer surfaces faster, and why would old tires add to the speed even more?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-ross"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40828,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40826\/revisions\/40828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}