my last set of V700 victoracers were shaved and heat cycled.

anyone with direct experience for road racing regarding the necessity for these services?

is it necessary to shave the tire when the car is less than 2000 lbs? I can see wanting to do it if you have a big powerful and heavy car like a vette or viper.

I did not find any improvement in grip by having them shaved.

Heat Cycling made them last longer, for sure.

Hi David,

Our first year Doris and I ran the Victoracers and tried them regular and shaved. We had the Tire Rack heat cycle in both cases. I found that we got more track days out of them shaved. When I talked to the Kumho guys they said that because of a 2 driver car (sometimes running in back to back sessions), the tires would really heat up. With the deeper tread blocks of the new tires, it creates more heat.

Since we were also autocrossing the car, we would use tires a few times to knock down the tread a little, but I didn't like subjecting the tires to the parking lots and then taking them on big tracks, so we segregated tires for each use. That's when we went to shaving for the track tires. It seemed to keep them from glazing over so quickly.

John has more track time on Kumhos than we do, so I'd probably listen to him. I think we just toasted ours because of subjecting them to so much concentrated track time with two drivers.

Bill P.

everything you guys have experienced makes sense. the issue of heat buildup with the full tread is interesting.

track temps get super high here in the summer so it could be an issue.

I will say that these kumho's so far ( shaved and cycled) last many times longer than any hoosier that I used to run. My experience with hoosiers was on heavier stock type 911's but I like the kumho's performance and longevity so far.

I ordered a set of the V700's (205/50/15) on a 2.0/4, not shaved or heat cycled, lasted for a total of 12 track days, plust around 1000 street miles. I am ordering my next set shaved to see if i can do better. The Driver's side wore evenly, but more quickly, while i had some blistering on the passanger side on the last day (dry/rain combo).