Track Tac

Why do tires cost so much?

your right.....we are our own worst enemy. if someone said that rubbing banana peals on the tires gave you an edge, walmart would be out of banana's every race day. racers are more follow the leader types than some realize. tires.....what wins today will be bought by everyone tomorrow. don't know who coined the phrase "what wins on sunday is bought on monday", but they were right.

the prices could be more reasonable as far as over all cost. given the overall situation. mark up happens down stream time and time again...down stream refers to the hands that touch a certain product from cradle to grave....brand x makes the tire, sells it to wholesaler y, who sells it to company z, who then sells it to racer a. at each step a small percentage of profit is added to the cost of the tire. do i know how much? no...companies will very rarely say what they buy for, but will be quick to tell you want the sale price is. this isn't a slap in the face of ron or tony...they have to be able to make something for thier efforts to keep us in tires!! will it ever end? nope....will we see sets of tires going for pennies? nope....we will buy what is winning, do our thing with them and try to win ourselves. we win, they are the greatest tires on the planet! we lose, they are the worst tires that we've ever bought.

while we are starting this season on new unilli's, my trailer has a lot of "worst tires" mounted up and ready to use. some have a couple of laps, some have more....but as long as thier are racers that have to have a new set for every race they are in, then the "used" tires market will continue to florish!

and.....tracks that dictate what tires you can run are in a sense looking out for themselves and the racers...which is no problem....lots of tracks do it. it's jsut something that you have to adjust to if you want to race.

just sayin....
 
Monopoly... Look at it from this view, I have ABC Tire Company. I go out and tell a track that if you make your track a ABC Tire track then I will give you say $5 per tire per entry in the form of a tire coupon. You in turn give those coupons to your brother who has a tire business going on. He either runs the tires and wins with them, and then sells them to a weekend warrior or sells them to a high paying customer.

I as the owner of the tire company am creating more demand for my tires which pressures the supply. That in turn means I can demand a higher price for my tires because I created a monopoly for myself.

The fact is when there was an open tire rule I spent less money on tires than under a restricted tire rule where I spent way more money.

Much like NASCAR, more rules means much more money spent on trying to get around the rules.

Look at the chassis manufactures, they can sell only so many chassis. So, in order to make a better profit they have turned to tire programs. They have either started their own tire program or teamed up with someone. After all, you can sell way more tires and prep than chassis.

Then if by chance you happen to be really good friends with some spec tire tracks, in flows the tire coupons.

Somewhat like crony capitalism. If the free markets were allowed to behave as originally intended, things would be much cheaper. But free market capitalism is taboo these days where as crony capitalism is the norm and this is a great example

As the Chief Beef Officer would say, "That's my two cents."
 
have to agree with your two cents. when i was asked to develop the rules for the track that i race at, i got with all the kart drivers and teams and we talked about limiting the tires or just racing on what you want....they all voted exactly the same....open tire rule and you can mix and match to your hearts content! unilli's, stones, hooiser, maxxis, bridges, el's.....we've raced them all. i've found that a el on the left front, a stone on the left rear and unilli's on the outside are a good combo and running what others decided had too much wear for the local dirt track...so a lot can be said for used tires! this year we are starting on sets of unilli's and i have one set of red vega's that was given to me with about 10 laps on them...figured i'd give them a shot!!
 
Tires are one of the best values for your money. It is a continuously improved largely hand made item in a very competitive and fickle market and expected to handle speeds and forces most sane people would avoid.
 
There can't be a monopoly if there are so many tire manufacturers that split up the kart tire market. The simple truth is that we all are willing to pay the prices that we pay. If I can sell product "X" all day long for $50, why would I start selling that same product for $40? That would make no business sense at all. These tire businesses are just that, business. You make what you can until competition or demand cause you to reduce price.

Don't be mad at the tire companies for charging what they charge, be mad at yourself for buying sets and sets of tires for every other race.
 
That's why I only buy used, if i buy at all... Karting is a hobby to me, but a science as well. I have one many a race and championships with the wire showing through my tires! These high dollar preps and treatments have made it all a money game. Set your kart to handle without burning up the tires!!!!!!!

(Cant wait to hear the comments on this one)
 
Just because we all use kart racing tires it don't mean that it's a huge factor in any tire manufacturer's business, in fact it's prolly only a marginal thing, and anything marginal isn't worth doing if the price isn't high enough to make enough profit.
 
The only ones making money on kart tires are the importers and distributers. Shops make a little, very little, but the manufacturers make little or nothing. The factory could rip out the kart tire line, put in a truck tire line and make 10 times the profit. Racing tires are just a form of advertising for the factory, it creates brand recognition. Hopefully you will buy on Monday what you raced on Sunday. You are buying a product created for the purpose of advertising the commercial brand.

JMO Based on 27 years working in the tire industry.
 
I think this will help answer the question, notice the many materials used, complex and expensive specialized equipment and machinery and a surprising amount of hand work by high skilled labor.
Were getting a bargain! Enjoy: http://youtu.be/0P_mzraEAec
 
well since you brought gasoline into it.
The reason it cost so much is because I buy too much gas and too many tires.:)
 
Cool video, Lots of 1960's - 70's era blending and milling machines with some modern controls added on. Most definitely not state of the art even in the 1990's, and did you see the tire stretching when the mold opened? Ohh yeah that's real good for the tire, NOT. That's precisely why they are not round when you mount them among other problems. No reputable tire company has used that mold technology in the last 25 years. That whole video is of a very low budget operation.
 
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