Goodyear F1 tire pressure sweet spot

[Mark T]

Was just watching a review on the z28 and there was some conversation about having about 28 pounds in the tire cold, so when the tires warmed up to operating temps they would be at 32 pounds of pressure which is a "recommended" sweet spot for best tire performance.

Any of you cater to this mindset in regards to the oem Goodyear F1's on your 1LE's?

Would love replies from street driven as well as track driven rides.

[toehead93]

I believe those psi numbers are the same for the Goodyears. That is what I had read on here somewhere. I kept my tires at those pressures before reading that. I found it to be pretty good for me.

[Billy10mm]

What is the use? Street or track? 32PSI hot is a great pressure for the track but you will chew through your tires in no time on the street at that pressure. I experiment with tire pressures and wear quite a bit. Up until two weeks ago I was running 45PSI cold on my 1LE, but I recently dropped that back down to 40PSI (for reference, I ran 52PSI on my Accord and I have the wife's Tribeca running 50PSI).

Typically when I mention numbers like that people think I'm insane, so I'll just say that I don't think you should be running anything less than 35PSI cold as going that low just doesn't offer enough rim protection and wears on the tires unnecessarily. Higher is better for a great many things including fuel mileage, tire wear, tramlining, feedback/feel (to a certain point), and protection from impacts.

[Balue]

Just keep in mind, track temp, air temp, driving style, track conditions etc, air vs nitrogen, all will have an effect on what the ideal starting pressure is and how much will build during the session. If running auto-x you wont build nearly the heat to that sweet spot will be much higher as well.

Check pressure immediately after each run and adjust as needed right before each sessions. Keep logs of data.

[EarlyApex]

At my recent track day I set the air pressures at 28 cold and then checked them hot off the track and got 35 psi. That's a 7 psi jump.

[gajagfan]

Well I have no track time, but we have had our fun on the road. The car is one year old and has just over 14K miles on it. We have done our best to keep tire pressures at 32 during operating conditions. That being said, my cold staring pressures are high 20's to about 30, depending on the ambient temp. Living in the south east, we do not get very cold. Driving temps can get to about 35 if i have been playing hard, but usually are in the 32 to 33 range.
At this point, we need tires. Following this approach, both fronts and backs have worn fairly evenly across the tire. The backs have less tread than the fronts by a bit, and the fronts' corners are more worn / rounded than the rears. There has been no wheel damage at these pressures as mentioned above could be the result of these pressures, but I know the roads in the southeast are in much better shape than the winter ravaged roads of the north.
We bought a car for its handling, and if they recommend the best handling at 32 PSI, it was the goal, street or track. We have gotten great life out of these tires, but the main reason for that is the coastal area that we live in. Had this car been available when we lived in north Georgia, and drove 20 miles per day in the mountains, I am sure I would have made Goodyear very happy. The wet driving has been great, even this last weekend in a downpour with the very worn tires.
The decision we face now is whether to put new tires on before our trip to the north Georgia mountains, and finish this set of the right way, but risk a tough drive up and back, or put new hides on before the trip, and do immediate damage to them. I am leaning towards taking my chances on the drive. In short, I love these tires, shoot for 32, and enjoy!

[toehead93]

There is a wear indicator on the side of all tires, the tire wear should reach this line and I don't see how that line could ever be reached with 38psi or higher. I'd be curious to see the tread wear of a car tracked at 40-45psi you will likely wear the center only. If you do notit strictly for better MPG and tire life then so be it, but I prefer noticeably better traction than insignificant increase in those two areas. My lead foot will be the determining factor in my MPG.

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by toehead93

There is a wear indicator on the side of all tires, the tire wear should reach this line and I don't see how that line could ever be reached with 38psi or higher. I'd be curious to see the tread wear of a car tracked at 40-45psi you will likely wear the center only. If you do notit strictly for better MPG and tire life then so be it, but I prefer noticeably better traction than insignificant increase in those two areas. My lead foot will be the determining factor in my MPG.

As I said in my original post, 32PSI hot is a great pressure at the track. I mentioned specifically that I'm running 40PSI on the street only. Using a straight edge across the width of the tire at 45PSI, there was an ever-so-slight hump in the center of the tire, and I do mean "ever-so-slight". At 40PSI, the hump is gone and I expect even wear. My move down from 45 to 40 was not a result of the hump, but of some numbness/lack-of-feedback in the front-end at that pressure.

Its hard to pinpoint a single reason I run high pressures in the street. I do prefer the better gas mileage it brings, I do prefer the increased tread life, and I also prefer the rim protection. On Thursday of last week my wife and I were on our way into NYC through the Bronx (we live north of the city) at night and I hit a raised drainage vent at around 60MPH on the Bronx River Parkway with the left side of the car. The hit was so violent it hurt my wife's back, lifted the entire left side of the car off the ground for a brief moment, and got me to pull over immediately to inspect the damage which I assumed would be brutal. I lucked out in that I didn't bend a wheel, a suspension component, nor did I do any damage to the shock mount. The car doesn't even appear to need an alignment as everything is just as straight as it was prior to the hit. I was extremely lucky. ~30PSI in my tires would have resulted in two popped tires and 2 totaled rims.

[Mark T]

Thank you all for some great insights.

[markgws6]

Originally Posted by Balue

Just keep in mind, track temp, air temp, driving style, track conditions etc, air vs nitrogen, all will have an effect on what the ideal starting pressure is and how much will build during the session. If running auto-x you wont build nearly the heat to that sweet spot will be much higher as well.

Check pressure immediately after each run and adjust as needed right before each sessions. Keep logs of data.

I agree with this tactic. The more often you check the pressures at the track, the better but especially before and after the sessions. Also running nitrogen in them han help stabilize pressures. We typically have some "tire experts" at the track helping to read tire temps and adjust them for us accordingly at the track days I attend.

[markgws6]

Originally Posted by Billy10mm

As I said in my original post, 32PSI hot is a great pressure at the track. I mentioned specifically that I'm running 40PSI on the street only. Using a straight edge across the width of the tire at 45PSI, there was an ever-so-slight hump in the center of the tire, and I do mean "ever-so-slight". At 40PSI, the hump is gone and I expect even wear. My move down from 45 to 40 was not a result of the hump, but of some numbness/lack-of-feedback in the front-end at that pressure.

Its hard to pinpoint a single reason I run high pressures in the street. I do prefer the better gas mileage it brings, I do prefer the increased tread life, and I also prefer the rim protection. On Thursday of last week my wife and I were on our way into NYC through the Bronx (we live north of the city) at night and I hit a raised drainage vent at around 60MPH on the Bronx River Parkway with the left side of the car. The hit was so violent it hurt my wife's back, lifted the entire left side of the car off the ground for a brief moment, and got me to pull over immediately to inspect the damage which I assumed would be brutal. I lucked out in that I didn't bend a wheel, a suspension component, nor did I do any damage to the shock mount. The car doesn't even appear to need an alignment as everything is just as straight as it was prior to the hit. I was extremely lucky. ~30PSI in my tires would have resulted in two popped tires and 2 totaled rims.

I run a slightly higher pressure in the fronts off-track for these reasons (34-35 cold.) I usually keep the rears at 32-33 cold because I want better launch traction. I would be curious to know how your launches are affected using 40+ PSI in the rears.