Quote:
Originally Posted by BGTV8
An infra-red temp gauge is an approximation only - you want a pyrometer with a probe to get into the tread proper for accurate readings, UNLESS the IR technology you are using is top-shelf (professional motorsport quality)
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Eh, I doubt there's a ton of difference in various IR temp gauges. They're just a simple scientific instrument, and they have a certain accuracy and work a certain way. My Fluke (that I originally bought for electronics stuff) claims 1%, and coming off a DE cooldown lap and all the way back into the paddock I'm sure contributes way more error than that. I get that the the pyro in the carcass in the hot pit is more-accurate, but at this level I generally don't need to be more accurate. I just want to know the general shape of the temps: which band of the tire is running hotter or colder.
This is kind of what I was talking about at one point earlier, about trying to find out what it really matters to obsess over at an amateur/learning level. There's a pretty wide gap between "what you need to measure/adjust/fix just to make the car reasonably-drivable and not destroy tires", and "what you want to do to squeeze every thousandth in tight competition". In some areas I still have no idea where to draw the line yet. But I'm pretty sure at this point that tire temps/pressures, as critical as they are to the car, can be done for DE-level stuff with just an IR temp gauge and a simple pressure gauge after getting back to your parking spot in the paddock and still get you in the ballpark well enough. Most of the time you can even see gross pressure/alignment errors visually if you just look at how the rubber melts/wears.