I just went for a 13mile blast (in the rain) with a friend and when we were parking up we noticed that the front tyres stank strongly of hot rubber and there was steam pouring off them!!

Both front tyres were warm to touch, but they cooled off very quickly. The rears had nothing going on.

We were just amazed that the tyres got that hot in the rain, when most of the driving was on the motorway. I hadn't done any burnouts, but had done some very hard acceleration from 2nd gear a couple of times.

He's a vehicle dynamics analyst and was shocked that they got that hot on a day like this.

We concluded that Avon must be using some awesome compound in the ZV5's! They do perform amazingly in the wet.

My toe and camber settings appear to be fine as I'm not seeing any excessive wear patterns and I had it all checked on my previous set of ZV5's, which lasted well over 20k miles and 2yrs.

Weird. Anyone else experienced this?

Never seen it, even after doing laps on a racing circuit in mid 20s heat. Something must be wrong, I would suggest an alignment check even if you think all is well as to get that hot the tyre must be scrubbing slightly.

It couldn't be your callipers binding slightly could it? Happened on my old car once and warmed the alloy up to the point it started to bubble the paint.

Otherwise, I'd agree it could be scrubbing. Certainly doesn't seem normal at any rate.

Not seen it apart from on rear tyres when rear calipers were binding and the tyres were being dragged along.

I had ZV5s on the front of mine when I bought it but that was a good 4 years ago now so I'm sure the tread pattern and compound are different now. They did a couple of hot laps of the Ring no problems though just the usual wear to the edges.

Could be the compound as you say but I would have expected the same results in the dry?

Steam means at least 100°C, so it's not normal.

The only time I have seen a tyre get that hot in the wet, is when it started to delaminate.

Steam doesnt necessarily mean 100C, watch yer kettle next time you boil it, it will start steaming at about 50, when the rate of evaporation reaches a visible level ;-)

However, i would agree that theres something amiss. is it possible that the tyres are rubbing on the inside of wheel arches or mud flaps or anything? if isnt the allignment or brake binding?

It's definitely not the brakes. I've experienced a siezed calliper before on the rear, so I'm familiar with the symptoms. The wheels aren't getting hot and there's no brake drag.

The heat is being generated by the tyres and the tyres are certainly not rubbing on anything (apart from the road!).

The only things it can be are a geometry issue, or a tyre issue or characteristic.

I spoke to one of the greybeards at work and he seemed to think it was normal for some tyres. He explained that the tyres can have high hysteresis in the wet, giving them more wet grip. Something to do with silica and tyre distortion frequencies.

I'm sceptical that it's a geometry issue, but I'll get it checked out to be safe. Nothing to lose.

I've had the tyres on for about 1k miles and they're not showing any strange wear. The last set managed over 24k (same spec ZV5's).

Thanks for all the ideas so far guys.

OK, looks like I'm probably fine.

I just had a good chat with an alignment specialist about it and he said not to worry about it, but monitor tyre wear as a precaution.

He was very knowledgable on the subject and I'll definitely be using them for my alignment needs: http://www.stealthracing.co.uk/4wheel.php

Once I explained that I'd be doing in the region of 120 and doing some hard acceleration, he laughed! Up to 70mph road tyres can operate anywhere between around 30 and 70 degrees C. Beyond that they can reach around 90 degrees apparently. Surprising really.

I guess I just underestimated how hot tyres get at prolonged high speed.

I did the same drive today at normal speeds and driving casually, and the tyres didn't get anywhere near as hot.

Working in Germany now are you Bodge?

Working in Germany now are you Bodge?

Haha yes obviously!

Car manufacturers are irresponsible. Why sell a car in the UK that can achieve 150mph, when the highest speed limit is 70mph.

It's like asking a hardcore cocaine addict to look after a sack of coke on a Saturday night, and expecting them not to touch it!

Speaking of Germany and speeding. Did anyone see Traffic Cops the other night, with the German dude in the Audi RS4 or RS6 Avant? The Police had an Evo and clocked him doing over 140mph on a UK motorway!! They just let him go after taking his details. I'm sure someone with a UK license would have been thrown in jail for dangerous driving. Lucky git!

If that was a UK driver on the continent you can be sure they'd have the book thrown at them :-(

What was the tyre pressure like?

What was the tyre pressure like?

Cold is 33psi in both fronts. Not sure what it is when the tyres are hot, but I will remember to check next time.

I have an infrared thermometer somewhere too, so I'll try and find it.

I've had the tyres get quite hot when the pressure had dropped (down to ~20psi).

when its raining mate I get lots of steam off the truck tyres.

not due to brakes neither as I dont use them much at all. if steam means 100 deg then why do you see your breath? all it takes is for the water on the tyres to be warmed up enough to evap off the tyre and condens so you can see it. something like that.

sounds like you had fun tho lol

take it you not in Huddersfield ne more?

take care mate

billy