Like Burnouts? Watch One Through a Thermal Camera
Check out just how hot your tires get during a burnout.
There’s nothing like watching the final trip of a set of tires as they burn out on the track. But have you ever considered looking at them through a thermal camera to see how hot burning rubber really gets?
The Car
As you can see in the Engineering Explained video above, the demonstration car is a Honda S2000 with a 4-cylinder engine and a top speed of 149 mph. These fantastic little convertible coupes usually come equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission, and are a favorite for racing and everyday use.
The Burnout
The tires start at room temperature, around 19 degrees C, or 66 degrees F. After a few seconds of burning out, the entire surface of the tire jumps to over 160C/320F. The sidewall of the tire barely creeps up to 30C/86F, but the treads are downright molten. And they’re likely hotter, since the mode the cameraman uses to record the burnout tops out at 160C.
You can see the heat spreading out through the shop floor, and the fragments of melted rubber flying backward.
The Brakes
To complete a stationary burnout, you’ve got to lock up the rear brakes, unless the car is equipped with a line lock that separates the front and rear brake systems. Those are most common on cars equipped for drag racing. Notice the discs for the brakes getting red hot during the burnout. Once the car is shut off, you can see that the discs are over 300C/572F, and they start to discolor because of the heat.
Once all is said and done, the tires are reduced to a pile of rubber slag, and we’re left with an awesome thermal camera video of a tire burnout. Will you ever look at a burnout the same way again?
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