THSCC Forums

I'm getting ready to buy a new set of tires for my '99 Miata, and doing research on the web saw this article by Discount Tire.

Now if it's all true, a 200% improved braking and handling performance, plus longer tire wear sounds really good. But almost too good to be true.

Did anyone on this forum have any experience with siping? Is is worth it?
Thanks!
Alex

Hey Alex,

Unless the tires are only going to be used in slippery and/or wet conditions, I definitely wouldn't bother. A lot of the tires designed to be used in slippery conditions will wind up coming presiped (is that a word? ). Check out the tread pattern on some of the snow tires and you'll see what I'm talking about.

In "normal" dry conditions, the sipes will tend to heat up your tires beyond their intended operating temperature and may start to chunk. They will also feel "squirmy" which isn't exactly confidence inspiring when tossing the car around. I imagine running siped tires at an uber-grippy place like Laurinburg would wind up tearing up the tread surface in fairly short order.

Jim

Yeah, I wouldn't consider it for any tire you are planning on running in a performance environment, or for that matter for normal driving conditions. It may make a difference if you use the car only to commute and then only if you commute through the rainforest. I think tire technology now is so good that rain performance on all-season tires is pretty good and if you are buying performance or summer tires you are buying them for ultimate grip, not rain performance.

my $.015

Rob

I asked Jeb from D.T. about siping my rally tires. He says
that D.T. no longer has a siping machine at either location
he is familiar with. It anyone knows where to get this done,
let me know. Thanks. R.G.

_________________
2008 Burnt Piston Award Winner!!!!

IMHO it is only beneficial to the place doing the sipping as an extra profit center (same goes for N filling). Tire profits are getting heavily squeezed by the internet so the brick and mortar stores are looking for ways to improve their bottom line to stay in business.
If it was such a miracle improvement, don't you suspect the tire manufacturers would know about it and do it at the factory? It certainly would be in their best interest to provide the best tire they can.

_________________
SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Robert, I have a tire grooving tool which doubles as a siping tool when you turn the blades around. It works fairly well but it is a rather labor intensive process. I'm guessing it would take about 30 minutes per tire to do and unless you workout a lot, you'll wind up with a sore arm afterwards. If you are amphibious, you can spread the pain out a bit. You are welcome to borrow it but I'll need to order some new blades for it. If you can't find any other option, let me know and we can work something out.

It definitely makes a difference in slippery conditions but you'll also find that it makes the ride a little rough and very noisy on regular pavement. I played with a bunch of different patterns many years ago so if you need any advice about what works and what doesn't, I may be able to help.

Jim

Thanks everyone for sharing your opinions! I guess I'll do without sipes in my tires ;)

It works on deck shoes.

_________________
RedLanternRacing, builders of the fastest cars in last place.
Success is not an option.
1981 Scirocco, "Vera"

Thanks alot! I'll let you know. If I decide to borrow this "tool"
I insist in buying the new blades. If I borrow your tools do
you think some of your mad driving skill will rub off?

_________________
2008 Burnt Piston Award Winner!!!!

No problem. The blades are very cheap from what I remember (like 12 for ~$10) so it isn't a big deal to me. I only used a couple from the original pack I got and they lasted quite a while. They only reason I need some replacements is that I lost the spares in a move a few years ago.



The only thing I can guarantee is that if you hang around me long enough I'll probably drive you mad and you'll wind up calling me a tool.

Jim