Looking at ordering a set of Hoosier R7 compound tires for upcoming season and just a bit concerned about the cold affecting the tires permanently. Just worried about the tires sitting on a loading dock all night for instance in 10 degree weather that we probably will be getting in the next week or two. Located in Beautiful Brooklyn, Mi. Anything to be concerned about?
I will tell you that my Hoosier tire guy won't ship them in the cold. Apparently the cold temps can crack the side walls. The tire guy I use supports a couple of pro series so I take their word for it.
I can tell you that r compounds are slower than snow tires on a 15 degree track day.
No real experience with Hoosiers and cold weather damage.
I drove my Miata to a track day in 25F weather on R888s. First session it was still around 32. Just took an extra lap to get some decent grip.
No cracks. No damage. YMMV
NEVER FREEZE THEM!!!
As soon as they freeze once, they change for the worse. I don't know why, but if you freeze R-compound tires, they lose a lot of goodness. I learned that the hard way. take em off, put them in bags in the basement for the winter and you will be happy.
The strange thing about Hoosiers freezing is that when the are new, they shred up and leave bits of rubber on the fenders and the pavement. After they freeze, the don't do that anymore, they turn to dust, they polish the pavement instead of leaving rubber on it.
Matt said:NEVER FREEZE THEM!!!
As soon as they freeze once, they change for the worse. I don't know why, but if you freeze R-compound tires, they lose a lot of goodness. I learned that the hard way. take em off, put them in bags in the basement for the winter and you will be happy.
The strange thing about Hoosiers freezing is that when the are new, they shred up and leave bits of rubber on the fenders and the pavement. After they freeze, the don't do that anymore, they turn to dust, they polish the pavement instead of leaving rubber on it.
think about what you are saying. that cold will somehow permanently change the physical or chemical properties of a tire. i understand that when cold they can become easier to damage, but when they warm up, how are they changed?? I think it may just be in your head.
both racetires.com and tirerack.com warn of damage to cold tires, but not permanent damage just by being cold.
https://www.racetires.com/warnings.cfm
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=220
Rusnak_322 said:think about what you are saying. that cold will somehow permanently change the physical or chemical properties of a tire. i understand that when cold they can become easier to damage, but when they warm up, how are they changed?? I think it may just be in your head.
No, it's possible. If you freeze natural rubber to -30 degrees Celsius, for example, it will reach its point of embrittlement and the rubber will start to separate from itself. If the temperature drops quickly, it will crack under its own weight. If you lower the temperature slowly enough, the surface will actually turn dusty.
You don't see this in street car tyres because they contain high amounts of silicon (amongst other things) which lower this embrittlement point to insanely low temperatures. But I wouldn't be surprised if the compound in Hoosier R7s were so temperature sensitive that the surface could be permanently affected by sub-zero temps. Especially if they are stored outside, mounted on wheels (a great conductor of heat), and aired up (generates forces on the rubber even when there is no load on the tyre).
Tom1200 said:I will tell you that my Hoosier tire guy won't ship them in the cold. Apparently the cold temps can crack the side walls. The tire guy I use supports a couple of pro series so I take their word for it.
It might also be because people try to mount tyres as soon as they arrive. Having mounted and un-mounted a number of Hoosiers in a poorly heated garage, I can confirm that it becomes exponentially easier to tear or chunk the sidewalls when it's below freezing.
I've seen an article somewhere that explained what was called glassification pretty well. I was left with the impression that it was a permanent change. Sorry I can't reference or link the article.
In reply to M2Pilot :
By any chance, was it this article?
BTW, "glass transition temperature," "embrittlement temperature," and "glassification point" all refer to the same thing when it comes to rubber. The difference is in whether it's a chemist, an engineer, or a physicist that's talking about it.
I can't imagine the tire manufacturers ship them out in heated trucks (or in heated cargo holds if they come from overseas), so you'd think they probably get exposed to cold weather at some point.
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