I'm going to give the A048 a try.

Any suggestions on break in?

 

Mount on car, drive.

 

That was my theory. But i have heard a few procedures.

One was to slowly bring them up to operating temp then let the compound rest for 24h off the car.

 

What I've been doing with all my brand new non-heat-cycled, non-shaved R-comps in the past (I'm not running R-comps these days) were to mount them and have a trip of some 8/10th spirited driving plus some G-circles that would bring up the tire temperature quite a bit (but not too hot) and then drive straight back home and let them sit off of the car and off the cold garage floor for a week (or at least 48 hours) before racing them. This way I've never had any chunking, premature wear, or unpredictable grip issue with them on the track or autoX. And I also get to see the scrub pattern so that I know if my tire pressure and wheel alignment are out of whack.

 

You'll need an elderberry bush, 12 chicken feet and a length of rope.

 

I dont want to know what that is

 

I think I'll just drive home from the shop on them and store until the first event.

Thanks for the input.

 

Generally the best way to heat cycle the tires is to put them through one heat cycle. You would want to gradually heat up the tires so if you're on the track doing shake-down, go out there at 20% pace on your first lap then step it up lap after lap until you almost hit race speeds. Return back to the paddock and take the tires/wheels off and let them rest on their side for atleast 24-48 hours.

Basically you're breaking the weaker rubber bonds during the manufacturing process and allowing stronger ones to form when you let the tire rest. If you run at 100% on the 1st heat cycle, you may break some of the already strong bonds in the tires.

Heat cycling is helpful if you're racing because it allows the rubber and the cords to settle together more uniformly so you get the most wear and grip out of them.

For track junkies like me....I just drive on the street a day before the track event and rest the tires without taking the wheel/tire off.

 

Do you think a trip to work and back (aprox 23miles each way) would be a good idea?

 

The distance of the trip is not a big factor. I would take a somewhat spirited driving trip (don't push too hard) to scrub in all across the tread that would be used in tracking/autoXing. If you just drive normally to work and back, the outermost tread may be untouched and you may get unpredictable behavior on your first run/session. Also, not just for scrubbing in the tires but you want to build up temperature as well and then slowly cool them down out of the cold pavement.