Other People's rubber
 

So here's my new RE71R front tire after 2 days on the track. Question: does anyone bother to scrape off the slag with a heat gun and a scraper if you are not using these tires for street use? Or do you just keep running them figuring that the track scrapes it off and the track puts it back anyway? :rolleyes:http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1474661018.jpg

Good question, that is what my tires look like after a track day. If I switch and put them on my trailer and don't street drive them, they look just like that when I start my next track day...

I had a set of R888 and one side looked like they were slicks, then I got lazy and drove them home from the track and it cleaned them out and they looked way better than before, with lots of apparent tread :)

I don't scrape it off... Curious to see what other folks do as well.

If you have a full pit crew, sometimes yes. If not, then definitely no.

Yes, it will come off quickly from driving...

Ah yes, the rubber "snakes" which can get picked up. I have experience with these autocrossing on grippier compound tires. For best grip, yes, you'll want to remove them. It's easiest to do it in between runs (when they are still warm), as in that case you can use just some rough gloves to do it. If you let them cool down and "harden", you may need some scraping tools. :) When changing tires back to street tires after an event, I routinely scrape and wipe all all the debris on the outside of the tires (rubber snakes and embedded gravel) on racing tires before wrapping them up and putting them away into tire bags.

Usually the snakes get picked up driving the car back to the grid/paddock after a run. If you don't care about optimizing grip (e.g., for intense competition), sure, you can just drive with them. They could prolong treadwear! :p

Removing gravel from racing tires is also a lot easier on a warmed up tire than after they've cooled!

By the way, I would not recommend using a heat gun, if you want to maximize the life of the compound. Heating it up more often than necessary can make it get harder quicker. Wrapping them into tire bags and storing them in a cool environment (definitely out of the sun) will help them last as long as possible.