I was wondering what the optimum tire temp. is for Michelin Power One B compond tires is. When I was last at JGP the asphalt was about 110F and the tires coming off the track where about 156F give or take a few degrees. Can anyone tell me if that is even close to being in the optimum range for those tires?

Thanks,

don't worry about that. your not checking enough places on the tire to matter, i assure you the tire was not 156f from one side to the other. That being said, if the tire was at that temp it should have been working VERY well. We saw 110f track temps this weekend, and the hottest part of my rear tire, just left of center where your on the gas hard but still leaned a bit (as it is almost all left handers) was 206f.. THe far left edge was 175 or so, with the far right edge 155f.

Just set em at 22psi cold and don't worry about it. If you are running some stellar lap times, pm me. We did use 19psi cold on the power1 B rears this weekend to keep them from going too high and reducing the contact patch mid race. It feels funny on the 1st lap or so, but worked ok. Could try that if it is real hot outside, with high track temps like you had..

Now that is some good tire wisdom that I like to have. How did the lower (19 psi) affect change in ending pressures, temps or lap times? 3psi seems like a big jump.

Mark

worked great for the hot day. Better lap times than when the tire psi was going up from 22 to nearly 29. Starting at 19, the off tract psi was no more than 27. The warmup lap feels a bit "odd" as the tire is not as firm, but it works. Again, only for real hot days, where the track temp was above 120f.
And this was not my idea, this came right from Frank Kinsey who got it from Walt Sheaefer (michelin trackside tire distributors).