Tire wear/ degradation

[Smudger92]

Hey, from what I've heard is that all the racing compound last the same amount of time. But is there say a drop off of performance, says on softs you can do 4 laps of 1.30 then do 12 laps of 1.34s?

 

[jjaisli]

Something like that...yes.

 

[abaxas]

Dont forget the 'come good' fudge factor.

Nail a few corners and magically grip is increased.

 

[vrooom]

Dont forget the 'come good' fudge factor.

Nail a few corners and magically grip is increased.

What do you mean?

 

[dark_ruffo]

I did some 25 laps online on Fuji on softs on a Takata NSX against other Super GT.

I pushed very hard on the first stint of 13 laps, did like 6 laps on 1:35, and then they slowly degraded to 1:36 and 1:37. Lap 12 was a slow 1:38.5 with the tires worn out.

Then on the second stint I just managed the lead, doing 1:37-1:38 laps and took it easily on softs, lap wear after 12 laps was very, very low. I could go on like 5-6 laps easily.

It's a matter of how you push the tires.

 

[Smudger92]

Ok thanks, got a 40 lap race Saturday, and was trying to deduce a strategy. I can get the hards to within 1-1.5 secs of mediums. So suppose just going to have to test.

 

[dark_ruffo]

If you can do 20 laps on softs, stick to soft, is a no brainer, since tire wear, as you said is almost identical on every compound, hard tires will also "die", and you'll end up bleeding time.

 

[FilletOfSpam]

I'm level 27 A-Spec and haven't had time to do endurance races but my B-Spec drivers are level 37 and have been grinding endurance races for a while.
I just did my first endurance race. Grand Valley 300k. I have lots of cars that should be able to win this but opted for a 4wd car so I could tune it fast without a lot of oversteer. I set my center differential and sway bars to produce understeer. I chose my Skyline GT-R and Racing Hard tires. I didn't know how long my fuel and tires would last; for all I new they might both go 300km. I was in the lead by lap 2 and creating a gap but I noticed my front tires were wearing at an alarming rate. I decided to shoot for 15 laps to make it 3 stop race but my lap 8 my tires were already going off and I was caught and passed by an NSX race car. By lap 12 my fronts were so shot that I dropped to 5th place. I made my first pit and decided to make it a 4 stop race. Since my rears were fine I opted for hard front, soft rear. The pit stop took forever because pouring all that gasoline in was slow I figured that if I'm stopping 4 times I don't need as much fuel each time. The soft rears let me inprove my lap times a few seconds and they still lasted longer than my fronts. I tried to save my tires a bit by lifting on the throttle before my braking point so I wouldn't have to brake as much and I more gently accelerated. I made it back up to 2nd place. For stop number 2 I only took on 20l but it still took twice as long for the fuel as for the tires but I only lost a few places and got back in 2nd without too much trouble. Third stop I only took on 10l and the tires and fuel took about the same amount of time and I got back on without loosing any places. I also only took 10l for my last pit and after a few hot laps found myself only 14 seconds behind the race leading NSX. The NSX's tires were going off and I was able to pass him. By lap 60 I had an insurmountable 40 second lead and thought I was going to win this darned thing! Then I noticed I only had a sliver of fuel left on the gauge. I was so busy managing my tires I didn't manage the fuel except taking less for quicker pit stops. Surely I could squeeze out 1 more lap! Sadly no. I always wondered what happened if you run out of fuel; your car doesn't stop; it just limps in at top speed of 49 MPH. Cars were flying by me but they were all cars I lapped. Still in first at 49 MPH with the finish line in sight I thought I might still win but the NSX caught me before the line. At least I learned a lot and know better what to do next time. Just one more liter of fuel and I would have been gold.
Next time I'll send more torque and brake bias to the rear wheels to try to even the wear out and hopefully make it 15 laps for a 3 stopper.