Tires: tire break in period??, Break in tires

Question
Is there a tire break in period? Like keeping under a certain speed for x amount of miles?? Any light you can shed on this would be very cool!! Thank you for your time!!!  

Answer
Joe,

Brand new tires have a number of things about them that MIGHT be considered as part of a "Break-in".

1)  There are mold release compounds - commonly called "Mold Lube" - that are on the surface of a new tires.  While that isn't a problem for the other parts of the tire, the tread may be a bit slippery before it wears off - which may takes as long as a couple hundred miles.  So caution is urged until that happens.  Alternatively, knowing that they might be slippery at first, "scrubbing the tires" - hard braking or cornering under conditions where the car can't get into trouble - will definitely clean off the tread surface.

2)  There are waxes and anti-oxidants (and anti-ozodants, together called AO's) imbedded in the rubber compounds.  These migrate to the surface to protect the outside of the tire, both during storage and in service.  During the first few miles, these may appear to make the tire something less than black - the exact shade varies with what the manufacturing plant uses.  It may take several months and a couple thousand miles to dissipate.  While it may look bad, I don't recommend removing the surface.  At best, I would consider the use of a dressing that contains anti-oxidants, but not solvents, to make the tire appearance acceptable.

3)  It is common for "street" tires used in racing to need a "heat cycle" to be ready for extended use.  A "heat cycle" is sometimes called "scrubbing in", and is a gradual raising of the temperature of the tire by using it the same way it is intended for the future.  To some extent all tires go through the same process, but, for practical purposes, only tires used in competition need to go through this process - as it shortens the life of the tire, because one of the things it does is burn off the AO's, destroying the long term protection designed into the rubber compound.  For racing tires, this is not s problem, but for street tires this can cause dry rot to set in pretty quickly.

I'm sure there are more things, but this is a quick overview.  I hope it is helpful.