How To Care For Kumho V700 Victoracer Tires

The V700 is the DOT legal competition tire member of Kumho's ECSTA high performance tire family, and is designed for autocross and road racing applications.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are provided to help you get the performance out of your new Shop for KUMHO V700 tires  as safely as possible.

However, auto racing and racing-like activities may be dangerous, and may result in property damage, personal injury, or death. Always approach the performance limits of your car and its tires with appropriate caution.

Tire Mounting

While mounting and balancing V700 tires on your wheels should be left to a professional with the proper equipment, there are several factors that you should confirm with your installer before he mounts your tires. The V700 tires features an asymmetric tread designs and "SIDE FACING OUTWARDS" and "SIDE FACING INWARDS" messages are branded on their sidewalls. New tires should always be installed accordingly.

However, while V700 tires continue to be branded with right ("R") or left ("L") side of vehicle markings and rotation arrows which originated with Kuhmo's desire to reduce stress on the tire's tread splices, Kuhmo has since developed tread splices that make following the side of vehicle markings and directional arrows unnecessary. Today, there is only one part number for each size tire and experience has shown that V700 tires can be installed on either side of the car, run at any wheel position, and are not required to be run directionally.

Because a tire mounting lubricant should be used when installing V700's, it is best to mount your tires far ahead of their use in competition to minimize possible tire slippage on the wheel which might affect balance. Slippage can be confirmed by running a chalk line vertically across the wheel flange onto the tire sidewall. If the line doesn't remain lined up after competition use, some slippage has occured and wheel balance should be rechecked.

Tire Break In

The V700 does require break in. New tires will be slippery for their first laps, and will begin to feel better as they get scuffed in and build up heat. We recommend that drivers heat cycle their tires before using them in competition. Heat cycling helps you get the most consistent performance and tread life out of your tires. It is the process of gently bringing the tires up to temperature for a short duration and letting them cool. Ideally, you should break in your tires, remove them from your vehicle, and set them aside for more than 24 hours before your track sessions and races. Often this requires running a practice session on new tires to prepare them for a future race, while you use tires prepared previously for the current race. The Tire Rack offers an automated heat cycling service which can complete this process before your tires are delivered to you.

Inflation Pressures

The V700 will work well on most cars with inflation pressures between 35 and 40 psi ("cold" inflation pressures for autocross use and "hot" inflation pressures for racing use). Cars that are light, well balanced and relatively easy on tires will find slightly lower pressures may work for them, while heavy, high horsepower cars that are generally harder on tires may find that they need slightly higher inflation pressures.

Generally adding air pressure in small increments (2 psi) to the tires on the end of the car that looses traction first works best. For example, if a car is understeering, add pressure to the front tires. If the car is oversteering, add pressure to the rear tires.

Tire Temperatures

Tire temperatures are taken with a tire pyrometer which can measure how hard your tires are working and how evenly the work was distributed between them during the most recent corners. While the V700 tread compound operates well over a broad temperature range, it is most effective in the 160° to 200° F range.

When preparing to take tire temperatures, the driver should enter the pits using moderate braking. The temperature's of the car's outside tires on the last corner should be taken first, followed by the inside tires. Depending on the distance from the last corner to the pits, tire temperatures may not be even across the tread face. Your first goal is to achieve an even temperature spread between the tire's outside shoulder, center, and inside shoulder.

Alignment Settings

Your vehicle's alignment settings can influence the performance of your tires and often can be adjusted to maximize their capabilities. Like most tires, the V700 features a symmetric internal construction and will require negative camber to achieve its full potential. If camber is adjustable, most cars will perform best when camber is adjusted into the -2° to -3° range. Caster settings can enhance straight line stability and cornering traction, and if adjustable, should be set at the maximum positive value for the vehicle. Toe settings may be adjusted to enhance steering response and corner turn in.

Rain Conditions

Because wet track conditions are frequently different and always changing, you need to use your best judgement when selecting tires for driving in the rain. For damp conditions where standing water is not present and water evacuation is not required, shaved or worn V700 tires can be used. Standing water should be avoided whenever possible and V700 tires with nearly new tread depths should be used if any standing water is present. However like all tires, the V700 will be forced to hydroplane when their tread design's ability to remove water is exceeded by the vehicle's speed and/or the water's depth.

Most cars should begin by using cold inflation pressures for wet track conditions that are 5 to 8 psi below the cold inflation pressures they use in their tires for a dry track.

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