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Warming up the stock Goodyear Tires...

2007 - 2014 
3K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  CMP 
#1 ·
All,

So after reading this forum, I know for a fact I need to get new summer tires for my 2011 GT500. I already have Michelin Alpin's for winter, so I'm good there. But I don't have the money to blow on a good set of new summer tires just yet, which means that I am stuck with the stock Goodyear's for the rest of this year's summer. And on a related note, I also live in downtown Chicago, where it has been in the mid to upper 70's lately as the high temperature.

Anyways, my question to everyone is this: how do I adequately warm these Goodyear tires on public streets? I obviously can't do a burnout while driving through the middle of downtown Chicago if I want to keep my license, yet if I hit the accelerator even a little, I will break traction with these tires unless it is above 90 degrees out and I've been driving a while. So I feel there has to be a safe way to warm them up when I want to drive a little more spirited - I just don't know what works best. Do I try taking off ramps at high speed to put some cornering force on the tires? Do I just drive a few miles on them at speed? Again, I'm trying to avoid spinning the tires and drawing the cops, but I still want to warm up my tires.

Any advice is appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
It’s been a a handful of years since I finally got rid of my F1s. They are not the greatest tires for these cars. They actually do ok on a clean surface on a warm day, but conditions have to be darn near perfect to get any bite out of them. I never did any burnouts when I had mine... I would just do normal driving to warm them, but I am in Texas. Find yourself some etched concrete (freeways and frontage roads)... etched concrete always gives the best traction.

Aside from that, get some tires with more grip. Almost anything is better than the OEM tires. Especially since yours are 8-9 years old.
 
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#7 ·
Goose, I appreciate the advice (which you've given me several times now) but I just cannot afford new summer tires this season. I have had way too many unforeseen life events which have cost me thousands and thousands of dollars this year, so new summer tires will have to wait until next year. That said, I have determined my tires are only 1 year old and not 8-9, so that is a plus.

Given these restrictions, other than finding etched concrete, do you have any other ideas to warm them up? Someone mentioned serpentine driving, but I am not sure if that works anymore these days and if it helps or hurts the tires.

Thanks for the reply :)
 
#3 ·
Do it nascar style and serpentine down the first few roads lol
 
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#5 · (Edited)
EDIT: Warning, Rant Below ! (and MY advice as requested)

I just don't understand. All know the OEM noGoodyears are crap.
Part of owning one these cars is being responsible, I for one do not believe driving around on 8+ year old 'crap' tires, looking for a way to warm them up so they can try to drive the car with some 'spirt', responsible. After a few years tires begin to harden with age, it is just a fact of life and we all know this or should know it.

I realize that we/most pay a premium price for the opportunity of ownership, with that also comes the responsibility to maintain a safe vehicle and the cost of doing that. It may sound/feel wrong to have a relatively low mile vehicle and TIRES and not want to get rid of tires that were on your LOW mile vehicle, but the tires were not GOOD to begin with even on a nice warm day. And with age become more useless to the expectation of driving a performance vehicle to it's capacity. Everyone wants or will put their foot into it! Why do you think we own these things? Knowing these truths it is as responsible as changing oil, to change the tires to those suitable to driving the car safely. Yes it does COST and take $$ to own and Maintain a vehicle with the potential that they have. I may hurt some feeling here but that's the way it is. I'm driving on the same roads as the rest, so are people that I care about and just do not want to see or hear about someone injured or worse because a vehicle "got away from, out of control" just for the fact they didn't want to replace Crappy old tires.

Enough of my first Rant on this site out of few thousand posts.
You may take a similar opinion when you lose someone to a negligent driver, and not taking the responsibility to keep a vehicle such as these as safe driving as possible IS negligent and irresponsible.
 
#6 ·
EDIT: Warning, Rant Below ! (and MY advice as requested)

I just don't understand. All know the OEM noGoodyears are crap.
Part of owning one these cars is being responsible, I for one do not believe driving around on 8+ year old 'crap' tires, looking for a way to warm them up so they can try to drive the car with some 'spirt', responsible. After a few years tires begin to harden with age, it is just a fact of life and we all know this or should know it.
I realize that we/most pay a premium price for the opportunity of ownership, with that also comes the responsibility to maintain a safe vehicle and the cost of doing that. It may sound/feel wrong to have a relatively low mile vehicle and TIRES and not want to get rid of tires that were on your LOW mile vehicle, but the tires were not GOOD to begin with even on a nice warm day. And with age become more useless to the expectation of driving a performance vehicle to it's capacity. Everyone wants or will put their foot into it! Why do you think we own these things? Knowing these truths it is as responsible as changing oil, to change the tires to those suitable to driving the car safely. Yes it does COST and take $$ to own and Maintain a vehicle with the potential that they have. I may hurt some feeling here but that's the way it is. I'm driving on the same roads as the rest, so are people that I care about and just do not want to see or hear about someone injured or worse because a vehicle "got away from, out of control" just for the fact they didn't want to replace Crappy old tires.

Enough of my first Rant on this site out of few thousand posts.
You may take a similar opinion when you lose someone to a negligent driver, and not taking the responsibility to keep a vehicle such as these as safe driving as possible IS negligent and irresponsible.
First of all, my tires are not 8 years old! These were brand new OEM tires put on in 2018, although at one point I suspected they were older as they had a patch in one of the rear tires. After more investigation, it appears these Goodyear F1 G2's were indeed new in 2018, but someone driving the car merely punctured a tire almost immediately while test driving the car or whatever. So while these tires do suck, they are only 1 year old.

Secondly, I would LOVE to replace the tires. I do know that part of owning this car is being responsible and putting good tires on it, etc. I was responsible and bought 4 brand new winter tires 2 months after buying the car seeing as how I live in Chicago and this is my daily driver. Those 4 tires cost me about $1600 or so installed. Since then, I have had 2 unexpected medical surgeries and hospitalizations and other unforeseen expenses that have caused me to hemorrhage money. As a result I simply do NOT have the money to replace this summer tires now. 'cause - if you would like to donate money to me so I can buy new tires, then go ahead. It's just not fair to rant at people who had money when they bought the car, but have since had a change in fortune and now cannot afford new tires.

So, back to my original topic - if you can't give me advice about warming up the Goodyear tires on public roads, kindly remove yourself from this thread. Ranting at me to buy new tires that I cannot afford right now will solve nothing, unless you would like to donate to my tire fund. And again, this car is my daily driver, so it is not like I have the option to just park it until I can afford new tires - I need to drive it to get anywhere, and I am trying to be as responsible as I can by asking how to warm up these tires on public roads. I am not planning on driving like a maniac; rather I just want to drive a little spiritedly, and I know these tires are good and safe if warmed up properly. So again - if you have advice on warming up these tires, great, otherwise please remove yourself from this thread.
 
#8 · (Edited)
No where did I specifically single you nor anyone individual, go back a re-read as it was my general Opinion.
So take a deep breath and relax.

We all have problems in life and have to deal with them. If you wish to open a Go Fund Me, please do so with your explanation and I will assure you I would be one of the first to contribute. Otherwise there is no reason to turn on me for you requesting some advice in an internet site. Telling a Member here to just leave an open thread is not what we do here when asking for an opinion.

So relax and stay safe.
 
#13 ·
I think if you reread my post, and then reread your post, it certainly seems like you were at the very least talking about "people like me" in your rant. After all, why else would you post it in the thread that I started? If you weren't indirectly talking about me you would've started your own thread. I mean say you made a post about smoking weed, and I replied and went on a rant about "people who smoke weed" in the thread you started - wouldn't you take offense and assume I was talking about you? So let's be 100% honest here - I started a thread, you read it and got mad and went on a rant about people who drive on the stock tires (which includes me), and then when I called you out on it you felt bad and are now backpedaling saying that you "didn't single me out" and weren't talking about me etc. So in the interest of coming to an agreement, at least have the courage to admit that you were also in the wrong here and that you were at least indirectly targeting me.

Anyways, yes, we do all have problems in life and have to deal with them. That said, I am not the type of person to open a Go Fund Me, as I don't want charity, and there are far more needy people out there than someone who cannot afford to upgrade the tires on his Shelby. I'd rather people contribute to people who really need the money for food, shelter, etc. And OK, I get your point about telling a member here to leave an open thread, but I think after your rant I was well within my rights to ask you to leave - nobody wants to be lectured or ranted at when asking an honest question, whether or not you were targeting me specifically or "people like me."

Going forward, I think we can both put those posts behind us and continue on as normal. I have huge respect for my fellow Shelby owners, and the last thing I want to start is an internet fight. So I wish you the best, and going forward, please post your rants elsewhere, because I'm sure I'm not the only one to take it as an attack.
 
#9 ·
I don’t have experience with the stock tires. As for warming up any tires without drawing negative attention, take it to the track.

If you cannot or will not, I would use repeated small, controlled “burnouts” for lack of a better word. Away from everybody and everything...on a back road.

However you do your driving, be safe and have fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#11 ·
I'm positive I am in a very small minority but I've never had any issues with my stock "noGoodyears". Of course this may have something to do with my location and the time of year I drive the car. I live WAY out and have to travel several miles on twisty country roads with lots of elevation changes to get anywhere. And I only drive the car from about April to October. We get lots of snow and they use lots of salt here.
 
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#12 · (Edited)
I understand, and certain you are not in a small minority. You make good decisions on when it can be driven safely.

After driving on those things for around 1,000 miles and reading about them around the internet car world, I realized just how useless they were. If most recall I live in Arizona, and having to "warm them up" is not an issue here most any time of the year, they just do not perform as a tire for these cars should warm or not. At about 2500 miles I decided to do the best thing for these tires, replace them. I did so with less than 2600 miles on them. I went out to a PCA track event and burned the OEM's down to the cords in a series of extended burn outs! Just for the fun, and it was! It is not fun driving on unpredictable tires, not to a person that drives as hard as I do. It is no secret here that my Porsches are my car of choice for real spirited driving and I only bought the 500 to flip it with 1500 miles. I began to enjoy the 'brutishness' of the thing and decided to keep it and mod the hell out of it, and I have. I DRIVE the Thing HARD. I am only at around 23k miles and on at least it's third set of tires if that tells you anything.
Fortunately for me it is a toy, and I can do these things. I break it, I fix it. I enjoy it for what it is. I like the idea that I can take it down from it's perch (typically lives up on a lift in one of the garages) ANY day of the year, put the top down and drive it, even halfway across the country to Shelbyfest a few times! I can understand that not everyone can do this, as I said previously I am fortunate to be able to. But all that said, it does not mean irresponsible driving on questionable tires is justified. I just feel it is important to be on the best tires possible when in a vehicle with power and propensity to lost traction or blow outs from a patched tire.
My life is worth more than that and the lives of others.
 
#17 ·
They are not bad on track- when good and hot. But on the street for probably the first half hour they're pretty sketchy and not unlike the old Gatorbacks. Any power adders like a pulley or even a supercharger makes them pretty close to useless accelerating onto a freeway or from a traffic light/merging. Having not enough traction and my running the Ford Racing racing traction control/ABS doesn't help. My car sits on the Goodyears for weeks at a time between track days where I run Pirelli DH slicks. My situation probably keeps me out of trouble on the street and channel it on the track. I'd put put MPSS 4's if I could bring myself to spend that kind of money on tires that I would probably put on a hundred street miles a year at most.
 
#18 ·
F1 tires are far from perfect, but you just have to adjust you driving to the tire's shortcomings. Everyone knows they perform better when they are warm, so just take it easy for the first 30 minutes of driving to get them warmed up..there is no specific way to do it so just drive and put some miles on. If you are hoping for great traction on the street like toyos or drag radial traction you are not going to come close with the OEM tires..even when fully warmed up. You might want to try experiment with different tires pressures which may help for what you are looking for, but we are still talking F1s here so just remember what you are starting out with.
 
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