Your thoughts on tire pressure and holding the road...

[Gerald]

Put car under boost. Felt good. Neck hurts. Big Smile. Cars get tiny in small rear view.... Me Smile more..

...Car really started to drift big time (almost uncontrollably). Scared the crap outta me. I have new rear tires, old fronts (1/2 tread or so) I stopped at gas station to check air pressure and found rears to be pumped up to nearly 40 psi. Place that put my tires on really had those things inflated. ..I quickly dropped them to about 26 to 28 psi.

Would inflating tires that high cause a car to drift or hit the ruts in the road more than a normal viper does?

Gerald

 

[MES]

What kind of tires are they? I had MMX3 and they were really bad now I have pilot sports and they are much better. Make sure front and back are the exact same type. Also I've noticed just 2-3 lbs difference between the two rear tires will cause the car to pull hard to one side (usually right) when under very hard acceleration. So make sure each side has exactly the same pressure. If that don't work then the only solution left is for you to remove that supercharger and send it to me

 

[slaughterj]

I believe Henri and Janni Cone's recommendation for tire pressure was 33psi front, 29psi rear.

 

[GTS Dean]

I would heartily agree with the Cones' pressure recommendations. The #1 thing to keep in mind with track (road racing) tire inflation is that pavement friction and brake heat will push up the tire pressures - sometimes as much as 12-14 psi! You start with a 3-4 psi split f/r, then play with the hot pressures based on handling preference and tread temperatures. You can bump or drop by 1-2 psi *one end at a time* to achieve the best feel and performance.

I just drove a whole weekend on MXX3s in cool (50F) weather. I adjusted hot pressures to 41f, 36r and got tread temperatures of 130-140F - absolutely optimal for the MXX3s! Cold pressures turned out to be 31f, 26r. These tires were 8 seconds slower than Hoosiers. Another Viper driver was on Sports, and experienced a very similar pressure rise.

 

[Jake654321]

I'm new to Vipers. I keep the front and rear at 29psi. Should I move the fronts to 33psi?

 

[GTS Dean]

Jake,

If you're just driving on the street, keep them around 29-30.