Tire Softener
 

Anyone had any experience with tire softeners such as 'Grip' or 'Octopus Grip'? My AO50s have been through several dozen heat cycles now (hillclimb) and I feel they've got harder. I thought I might try the stuff instead of binning them.

probably going to be a controversial topic, but yes, I've soaked and had some success.

I used some purple stuff years ago in Nascar. We would deflate the tires and drop the car. Then we put a hose on the valve stem and the can and lift up. This would suck the stuff inside and soak from the inside out. We would do this 2-3 days before a race and constantly rotate the tires. Made it harder for tech to find as it was illegal at the time, although people got suspicious when our tires turned white after a race. Not sure how well it really worked but in Nascar a mental advantage is just as good.

On the 86's I made some homemade soak with some cleaning agents, diesel and AFT. Used on an old set of Kumho v710's. I soaked old towels and bedsheets in the mixture , wrapped them on the tire and then wrapped again in stretch-tite. Left in the sun for 3-4 days.

Tires gripped like glue for about 4-5 laps before the entire carcass de-laminated on both left sides. Made a helluva noise.

Point being, if your tires are at the end of their life, it could be fun to try

Have fun

I have no personal experience, but I know some people who have use formula V, and have been happy with it (it doesn't do miracle though).
http://www.formulavtraction.com/

Played with tire treatment a decade ago on kart tires, didn't see any advantage except maybe psychological.

Times have changed though, if anything I'd think that'd make the rubber compounds better off the shelf and throughout life and the treatments stuck in the past.

Delaminating tyres might not be fun on a hillclimb where the outside of the corner is a rock wall. I might try the commercially available stuff. Thanks for the info. Genius method to get it inside the tyres BTW!