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Tire wear and tire noise on different tracks (Pitt Race vs Mid Ohio)

I recently participated in track days in Pittsburgh International Race Complex (Pitt Race) and Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.

I noticed that my tires (Bridgestone Potenza Sport) were almost silent in Pitt Race and very loud in Mid Ohio.
Tire wear was also different - both tracks wore the rears about the same (around 0.5 mm of tread depth) but Mid Ohio wore the fronts about half as the rears (0.23 mm) while Pitt Race wore the left front by 0.9 mm and the right front by 0.4 mm.

Both days were about the same weather - partly cloudy with temps in the high 70s to low 80s.

I'm a novice on the track but have sim-raced both tracks extensively and felt comfortable pushing the car on both tracks about the same (in braking and turning).

My street wear is about twice as fast on the rear than the front, similar to the Mid Ohio wear.

Is there some characteristic of the track that would cause the tires to be silent or loud and to wear at such different rates? Subjectively I felt that Pitt Race had much more consistent grip and was much more confidence inspiring than Mid Ohio (which had a lot of variation and was often squirmy).

I've also did SCCA Starting Line autocross school in a fairly worn parking lot and the tires were pretty loud as well.

Tons of variables, including surface, driver comfort, and general car condition/setup.

Mid-Ohio hasn't been resurfaced in a much longer time than PittRace. So comparatively, the PittRace surface is much newer and smoother. Another aspect to consider is you're heat cycling a set of street tires in fairly extreme conditions.

Did you notice any difference in noise going through Mid-Ohio's Keyhole with that new patch of concrete vs the back straight?

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisingAnarchy (Post 3541599)

Mid-Ohio hasn't been resurfaced in a much longer time than PittRace

Yeah, that was my guess as well (same as with highway noise on new vs. old pavement, I supposed).

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisingAnarchy (Post 3541599)

Did you notice any difference in noise going through Mid-Ohio's Keyhole with that new patch of concrete vs the back straight?

Can't say that I remember a difference, but doesn't mean there wasn't one :bonk:

Mid-ohio is the type of track that allows drivers to do nasty things to their tires IMHO. Almost every turn on that track has something interesting about it and many are easy to drive hard on your car without a lot of consequence. I believe there is a spot coming out of turn 6 that usually unweights the cars pretty good and that sort of stuff will wear extra rubber off as well. It probably has more to do with surfacing IMHO but I don't know anything about that sry. Many years since I have been there but have great memories.

Mid-Ohio needs repaved in the worst way. The owners know this and have lost the IMSA series because of it. It's a great track with a lot of history that is going down the tubes because the owners are apparently terrible.

While that may not be the primary reason for what you're seeing, it definitely doesn't help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast (Post 3541302)

Does the SCCA Starting Line autocross school have worn out parking and probably have poorer surface quality? Could tire wear be related to this school parking problem?