I'm wondering if my RA-1s are at a point where I should flip them on their wheels to prolong their life.

Okay, I'm new to racing and these were the wheels that came with the car, so I'm not sure where exactly they are in their lifespan.

There is more wear on the outside of the tires than the inside. It seems to primarily just be on the outside block. The tire is worn to just a bit above the indicator arrow on the outside of the tire. The inside seems to have about 3/16" above the arrow. I can see all four lines on the tire, no other tread.

Would I benefit their life by flipping them? Are they so worn down that it's too late? Is this pretty normal, or am I over-driving my car?

I'm planning to hit an auto-x this weekend. Would like to try the race out, but am I likely to just shred my tires so badly, that I should just use my Miata instead?

The tread:


The worse side:


The better side:

Hey Cameron,

I understand that the RA1's shaved or worn can be run in either direction so you can just rotate the tires, but the real issue is how many heat cycles are on them. There are different schools of thought on how many heat cycles they can take. Some guys claim until they're corded, others say X number of cycles.

RA1's probably aren't ideal for Auto X but unless your trying for TTOD you should have fun!

Run 'em till the cords show! That's what I did on my Miata and the lap times were the same.

Running them until the cord is my plan. I also plan to get as many runs out of these as possible. I know they can be flipped, just want to know if this is the appropriate time to do that.

Not worried about amazing auto-x times. I know this car isn't set up for auto-x. If I were trying to compete, the basic safety gear would instantly bump me up into a goofy competitive class. Actually, so few people signed up for the event, it might be canceled.

Hey Cameron,

Those tires had 6 heat cycles before you possessed them, 1 from nationals main race and 5 from when I rented the car, the 5 rented heat cycles were fairly easy (thanks Mike!).

I run RA-1s till they cord and found that some tracks show no difference in lap times from fresh to cord while others do show minimal difference depending on the asphalt condition.

In order to promote even wear I rotate tires once a weekend after the Saturday race. Using this technique I've never had to "flip" my tires as they seem to wear evenly. If you are experiencing excessive wear on the outside that would indicate to me that you need more camber. What cold psi are you starting the RA-1s at? We've found 28-30 cold is a good starting point. Have you ever been able to get some hot tire pressure/temp data?

I have used RA-1's since 2002. Never fliped a tire at all. The edge wear you are seeing is not bad. I also roate tires each day at the track. This way I never really run more than 4 heat cycles with the tires in any one spot on the car. This means all the tire get worn down fairly evenly.

I suggest you do the same. More camber might help too, but there is always as trade off.

As for life 24-28 heat cycles seems like a safe bet for guy using his tires to the max and looking for optimum lap times. I have found that past that grip goes away.

Even so the good old days of RA-1 are back. I just ran this weekend on old set. 3 tires had 20+ heat cycles on them and 1 was unknown. I pulled it out of take off pile because I had damaged (puncture) in one tire and did not want to buy a new set.

Anyway my dumperster diving got me through the short weekend (4 session, 3 pract 1 race) although by the end of the race I knew my RA-1's were dying. Even so I managed a respectable 4th on old tires (27th heat cycle) and have run most of this year on that one set. I could run more sessions on them if I need to, but probably will keep them as an emergency set. I will be bringing one fresh set and one mid life set to nationals.


Oh, based on the photos you have 15 more heat cycles in them easy.