Always keep an eye on the tire temperature
SMS- Stands for SPEED Monitoring Systems. In this area of our company, we deal with the recording, display and evaluation of relevant vehicle data. This also includes the sensor-based recording of tire surface temperatures and the output of this data using our own app.
2022: The tires for our track tools are getting more and more expensive. Good advice if the tires show a poor wear pattern or simply wear out too quickly, too.
Unfortunately, the cause of this problem can often only be inadequately clarified afterwards with the famous crystal ball.
With our SPEED Monitoring System, we get to the bottom of this:
Four sensors, which measure the current tire temperatures at eight different points on the tire, communicate wirelessly with our in-house developed SPEED SMS app, which is supported by a 15Hz GPS system.
This makes it possible to record your route and display the tire temperatures and performance data at any point. Either live, during the recording, or afterwards as a powerful data analysis tool, as is also used in classic GT motorsport.
Clarify – and here we are happy to assist you afterwards – where the deficits of the current setup of your car lie or determine that you are already starting with optimal settings.
The possibilities are almost limitless and provide enormous insight into where hidden potential may lie dormant in your car. After all, the feedback you get as a driver is very limited. Two short examples from the track:
While the front axle of your front-wheel drive feels stable and controllable, the rear lacks grip and precision. Afterwards, you can use the SPEED Monitoring System to determine that the tires on the rear axle are not even close to their optimum temperature window and are therefore operating well below their capabilities. – Here it would be a good idea to reduce the tire width in order to keep the contact area to the road smaller. The load per area on the rubber increases and the temperatures rise. The tire now works in a temperature window designed for it, which eliminates the entry problem and ensures you fast, stable lap times!
The front-axle tires wear down massively in the outer area, almost down to the tire sidewall, if you’ve been on classic GP tracks. While you have a quick look at the live data from the SMS app on the straights, you can see that the tire temperature is generally within the target range everywhere. However, the analysis afterwards shows that the tires develop enormous heat at the outer edges, especially in sharp bends, while they are well tempered in the inner area. – More negative camber on the front axle, especially when deflected, can alleviate the problem as the load is better distributed on the tire tread. If it’s a heavy car and you’ve already played with different air pressures, suspension setups, etc., it might be a good idea to choose a tire with a stiffer sidewall that won’t wear out so quickly when you next buy tires.
As you can imagine, such a system requires a great deal of development work and many practical tests. We expect the product to be released in spring 2023, just in time for the start of the season.
