I need some recommendations please guys, I'm killing normal track day tyres, and feel the most sensible solution is slicks, Anybody using them ? If so, what compound are you finding best for harsh track days. Thanks in advance.
Wearing out, R888 medium compound lasted me 200 miles, I rotated the tyres around to get even wear and after I did Rockingham they were virtually bald, Ferderal 595 the same, it's costing me a fortune, they don't seem to be able to last with the abuse I give them.
I run slicks on the race car.. If your eating tyres now and go onto slicks you will probably wear out faster.. What suspension ect do you have and what alignments are you running with? You will require a more agressive geometry set up and stiffer springs to get most out of them.. New slicks are pretty expensive.. I was buying cheap part worn Michelin s9f hard compound slicks (ginetta/Porsche cup) £30 per tyre and on the 225 standard cup setup I could destroy front slicks in half a days trackday as its too soft for the grip and limited adjustment. now using BC's with 8kg springs, slight toe out -3 degrees camber, car is 1100kg and I could still kill set of front part worns on a race day. Could do with more camber tbh Now been using Pirelli part worns as found new contact and so much better.. If you can deal with that and get them for right price you will love it.. 'Once there hot' For example at pembrey my local circuit my Best times (recorded by transponder by TSL timing at a race) AD08r - 1:10:4 lap Michelin s9f - 1:08.5 Pirelli medium - 1:07.1
Also.. You will be probably running a wider tyre as 225 and 235 are rarer in 18s... 245 ones I get so I needed spacers to use them with my wheels as they rubbed on the coilover on full lock
IIRC you need a cage generally if you want to run slicks on track days. It's not a golden rule but some TDOs will mandate it or it may be the tracks themselves but just FYI
That's not good. Any pictures of the tyres after the 200 miles? Problem with running slicks is that unless you've got some pretty firm suspension your car will wallow all over the place and your alignment will be crap when loaded up. You'll still be way quicker tho You 'should' be able to get much better track life. How long are you staying out for each session on track?
This is definitely the case at a few but the majority in my experience don't mind. Definitely worth checking though
Interesting about the cage, thanks. I'm running Nitron suspension set up by K-Tec, corner weighted etc, I've no idea what they set it all up at but I can find out. I find the suspension as it is amazing and not much normal track day stuff can stay with me lol
No picture of the R888's but they all had a nice even wear on them, I'm doing 15min Max sessions, sometimes less if it's hot
If they all have nice even wear then that suggests everything is good setup and suspension wise. Strange?? On a number of heavier and more powerful cars I get way more than 200 miles.. Even on stock alignment you should get more than that surely? I doubt getting slicks would fix your problem.
200 miles is not surprising at all, when I was club racing the fastest guys I know were going through the outside tyres every 2 race weekends and that is on a 1130 Kg or so RWD car, for me I was relatively rubbish so in the same car the same tyres were lasting me a year. Honestly when it comes down to it Shaun you have 2 choices: 1) Slow down, or 2) buy a much lighter car such as a Caterham or Lotus as the lighter the car is the less they tend to hammer the tyres.
R888s are known to wear very quick in heavier cars, try something different like Direzzas or the Federal FZs
agreed about race cars - far less mileage than that depending on how much money they've got but I thought the tyres wouldn't be worn out, just passed their best. i just bought a mk 3 because I thought it wouldn't be too heavy on consumables lol!
888s are cack DZ03s are what you want New slicks are expensive and will put a lot of strain on the car suspension; you'll break stuff. Used slicks from races teams are cheaper but not really any stickier than semi slicks so you could get away with using those...
DZ03 are great tyres but you can still muller them in a couple of hours of hard running track time, depends on how abrasive the surface is to some extent as well. Some tracks seem to be very hard on the tyres. They seem to be the most consistent tyres I have used though.
The example I gave earlier was DZ03g btw on the Porsche 944 S2, the drivers Alex Eacock and Pete Morris at the time were literally shredding the outside pair of tyres up over 2 race weekends (about 2 hrs track time in total, most tracks wear out the left hand side tyres more i.e. outside). Both of those guys went on to win the Porsche Club Championship. Going the other way the first set of DZ03 I used eventually just went off from running too many heat cycles but still had about 2 to 3mm tread on them. There a very tough tyre but its the on the edge slightly 4 wheel drifting of the car stuff that the fastest guys do, it just kills tyres, but unfortunately getting the car to move around is where all the fun is.
Hi mates! I'll ask here so I don't open a new thread. I can buy Pirelli'ss Pzero Slicks 235/645 18. Has anyone tried them? Do they rub? Suspension setup is KW coilovers.
Porsche Club Championship has run them since 2013, I did one race weekend on the 17" size version. Never thought that would be my last race but its how its turned out. The grippy rubber or tread on the Pirellis is a tiny thin band maybe 1mm or so thick, once through that you are basically running on the base rubber of the tyre. When new the grip is mental, I made the mistake though of running mine through a test day and track day so they were 9 heat cycles old that race weekend and gave my slightly lower lap times than 3yr old Michelin Cups. Team Hartech though measured a 5 to 6 second delta at Silverstone for em when fresh to used Cups but that quickly drops off with every heat cycle. Running 600 lb/inch springs on a 1130 Kg car was not enough to properly use them, I noted the guys that could afford it going to 3 way dampers and 1000 lb/inch springs. Grand a set for new tyres every 2 race weekends put me out. Honestly on KW v3 assuming that is what you have you will never fully exploit slicks, I tried racing on them but quickly realised I was never going to have the money to properly run a tin top on slicks. Personally I didn't even enjoy the car that much, moves around more and is more fun on road legal tyres like Cups or DZ03g. I doubt they will be much different on a Meg. For sure you can run around for days on the base rubber at OK speed until you hit the cords but I didn't find much fun there so whats the point.
Hi NJH! Thanks a lot for the reply! Didn't know they ran out of rubber so fast. There's soft, medium and hard compound. Regrettably it's the only slick I can get. The KW coilovers are the Clubsports. Cheers
Thats the thing, they don't. It will take a very long time to run them down to the canvass but the mega grip and fun handling part only lasts for the first several heat cycles or so (around 6 or so on the Pirellis). I also found they do funny things and can give slightly unpredictable handling when worn, a coach I shared my car with one day said he couldn't quite trust the car on the limit as some laps it would suddenly slide a lot, the next fine despite going the same speed. Don't get me wrong fresh slicks are out of this world but I would much rather drive on a predictable dependable List 1B/C tyre like the Dunlop DZ03g than worn slicks. As others have said the super stiff structure is also a big problem on road based cars as they are way stiffer than the shock valving and springs all of us would be running.
