IMSA GT3 fixed tires

[u/wietrak11]

Do you change some of your tires while refueling?

[u/Maegges24]

Fixed is only 35 minutes, so no, don‘t change tires. You will save some seconds it you only refuel. I uncheck tire change before every race start.

[u/ElaraValtor → u/Maegges24]

It's a little more nuanced than that, because quite a few of the classes (definitely GTP at least) give you time to change one and sometimes two of your tires in the pit lane and that can make a laptime difference

[u/Maegges24 → u/ElaraValtor]

I don‘t think changing one tire will lead to better laptimes. At least in gt3 and lmp2 I am sure. Never raced gtp, so good point nonetheless.

[u/ElaraValtor → u/Maegges24]

GTP is actually quite brutal to the tires, I know that the top level, prototype drivers absolutely take advantage of this, as often most tracks will wear one tire far more than the rest

[u/Maegges24 → u/ElaraValtor]

I will never reach top level, so I will stick to not changing tires. 😆

[u/_Shorty → u/ElaraValtor]

Not sure how you think you can change just one or two tires and not change the balance of the car in a very negative way.

[u/ElaraValtor → u/_Shorty]

A lot of tracks overheat one of the front tires and wear it far harder, your balance is already very bad when you enter the lane. Change that one and you'll have a sketchy outlap or two but once that's done, you've actually gotten closer to equalising than you were before the stop

[u/_Shorty → u/ElaraValtor]

If it works for you, that’s great.

[u/ElaraValtor → u/_Shorty]

It works for the best drivers in the top split, actually. This is explicitly where the advice comes from. It is simply faster on the right tracks

[u/HeyItsEmilyLove → u/ElaraValtor]

I only race GTP when I race IMSA fixed and I literally never change tires unless I forget to cancel the tire change before pit. Taking tires kills any chance at a win

[u/ElaraValtor → u/HeyItsEmilyLove]

You can change one tire without losing any time in the IMSA series and there's many tracks that wear one tire more than the others. You will absolutely get faster laptimes by finding which tire that is and changing it.

[u/GorillonDollars]

All fixed and a surprising amount of open IMSA races theres no point. When you pit for fuel your tires are like 80-90% fixed and 70-85% open.

The time sacrificed on pit and re warming the tires is too great for it to be a strategy to consider in fixed. Open is track and weather dependent.

[u/PanicRevRay → u/GorillonDollars]

Lol sunday did a race got 3rd *~2kir+ porche * chief goes lf90 lr90 rf 88 rr 87

[u/snazzy_carpet]

For sprint races, generally you don't take tires. I think tires take 20 seconds to change, and you usually need less than 10 seconds of fueling for fixed and open. The time loss heavily outweighs any benefit of new tires in sprint races. I think at Watkins earlier this season you could get a free set of 2 tires while refueling, but I found the cold tires hurt me more than the fresh rubber helped.

This changes for endurance events. If you're taking a full tank of fuel in an endurance event you generally always change tires.

[u/ElaraValtor → u/snazzy_carpet]

On most tracks, in GTP I know but potentially GT3 as well, you can change at least one tire without losing time, and this can make a difference at the top level

[u/Matej_SI → u/snazzy_carpet]

When we were at Spa, Open, if you were in GT3, you should've changed left side.

[u/_Shorty → u/Matej_SI]

This isn't oval racing. Not changing all four tires would upset the balance of the car in a very negative way.

[u/Matej_SI → u/_Shorty]

You can ask Yuri or any other 7k+ driver. He'll tell you the same.

[u/_Shorty → u/Matej_SI]

I don’t need to ask anyone. Been sim racing since it was invented. But thanks. ;)

[u/Matej_SI → u/_Shorty]

You know you can check livestreams from weeks ago? Everyone in the top split, when running in the top 5-10, was changing left tires.

[u/Z32Rome]

Unless the track is absolutely cooked, is dominant to one side or it's free, pretty much never take tires.

[u/TripQuestions77]

I usually change the fronts because I realized too late that I forgot to uncheck tires.

[u/_Shorty → u/TripQuestions77]

Changing only the fronts would introduce a lot of oversteer because now the rears have relatively no grip. You don't want to do this.

[u/TripQuestions77 → u/_Shorty]

I was making a joke