Semi-Slicks and Performance Rubber..

[VT3C]

Trying to get out onto the track ASAP I've been hit with the whole conundrum of which tyres to get for track duties..

Many brands and many types to choose from and obviously each manufacturer claims that their tyre has 'superior grip' bla bla bla..

I'd like this to be a place where members can post their comments through their own experience on the variuous types of tyres available to us in Australia.

For comparison purposes I've only listed 15" sizes..

DUNLOP DZ03G
http://www.dunloptyres.com.au/images/spt_supplied/DZ03G%20200x200.jpg

195/55/R15
195/50/R15

The latest in a range of Dunlop "Tarmac Rally" road legal patterns that are designed for ultimate grip and performance on tarmac roads

The latest evolution in Dunlop's superb lineup of Tarmac Rally tyres has a symetrical, directional tread pattern with excellent drainage capability.New casing and profile designs lift dry performance over previous designs with improved "even wear" characteristics .Made in sizes to suit rim diameters from 13ins to 18ins, including newly available 295/30R18 to suit Porsche and other GT cars.

185/60R14 82H DZ03G M
195/50R15 82V DZ03G R
195/55R15 84V DZ03G R
195/60R14 86H DZ03G R
195/60R14 86H DZ03G S
205/50R15 85V DZ03G H
205/50R15 85V DZ03G M
205/50R15 85V DZ03G R
205/50R15 85V DZ03G S
_________________________________________

DUNLOP D01J

http://www.dunloptyres.com.au/images/spt_supplied/D01J%20200X200.JPG

One of a range of Dunlop "Tarmac Rally" road legal patterns that are designed to give ultimate grip and performance on tarmac roads.

Ultimate all-round performance for the serious competitor. Very high levels of dry and wet grip. Several compound options available to suit various applications and weather conditions. Advice should be sought from the Dunlop motorsport distributor in your state for particular applications and compound availability. Range covers popular sizes in 15" and 16" rim diameters.

205/55R15 87V FM-R 01J SPS
205/55R15 FM-R D01J GP
205/60R15 91H D01J TL S
205/60R15 FM-R D01J SPS
215/50R15 88VFM-R D01J TL SPS
215/50VR15 FM-R D01J GP
225/50R15 91V FM-R 01J S
225/50VR15 FM-R D01J GP
225/50VR15 FM-R D01J SPS
_________________________________________

Bridgestone Potenza RE55S

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/lib/images/tyres_misc/re55s_b.jpg

The Bridgestone Potenza RE55S is Bridgestone's ultimate club racing tyre.

Developed for gymkhana and circuit racing, it features asymmetric and uni-directional
tread pattern to optimise tyre performance.

Available in a variety of specialised tread compounds and sizes to suit a wide range of temperatures, operating conditions and racing categories, the Potenza RE55S is a tyre designed to suit the requirements of professional racing drivers.

205/60/R15
185/55/R15
195/55/R15
195/50/R15
205/50/R15
215/50/R15
225/50/R15
_________________________________________

BRIDGESTONE Potenza RE-01R

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/lib/images/tyres_misc/re01R.jpg

The Potenza RE-01R is Bridgestone's tyre for drifters. It is used by top drifters in Japan and also the Autosalon Drift Racing team in Australia.

There can be few tougher ways for a tyre to earn its street cred then in drift racing - but that's exactly where the Bridgestone Potenza RE01R is right at home.

It incorporates Bridgestone's semi-slick shoulder block, wide straight groove, racing sit, wider cntre rib, cooling sit and advanced polymer technologies for high speed, high temperature durability along with high hydro evacuation. Best of all, it's completely legal for on road use.
_________________________________________

HANKOOK VENTUS Z209

http://www.tiredealersites.com/assets/sitecontent/tireselector/images/Hankook/ventusz206.jpg

Splendid performance tarmac rally tyre for superior traction on dry or damp road surface.

180/560R15
180/560R15
180/560R15
190/580R15
190/580R15
190/580R15
190/580R15
_________________________________________

VENTUS Z211

http://www.tiredealersites.com/assets/sitecontent/tireselector/images/Hankook/VentusZ211.jpg

The Ventus Z211 was designed and built specifically for the racing and tuner markets. Specially formulated R-compounds are incorporated into the tire to provide a solid grip on both wet and dry surfaces. The Ventues Z211 205/50ZR15 R-compound is the official spec tire for the SCCS's newest series the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Championship presented by Hankook Tire.

205/50R15
225/50R15
_________________________________________

TOYO R888

http://www.racetire.com/products/images/r888.jpg

The Toyo RA-1 will be phased out and eventually replaced by the new R888.
By the end of 2008, all sizes of RA-1 are expected to be replaced by the R888

225/50ZR15 91W $349.00 AUD
205/50ZR15 86W $319.00 AUD
I 205/50R15 86V ("GGG" tread compound) Not available
I 205/50R15 86V ("SG" tread compound) Not available
195/50R15 82V $314.00 AUD
225/50R14 89V $316.00 AUD

_________________________________________

KUMHO VU36

http://www.kumho.com.au/Images/Passenger/kt_14g_ku36.jpg

Designed for SCCA racing that demands high Uniform Tyre Quality
Grades, this incredible tire delivers unrivaled dry grip with split-second
steering response, and its unique footprint is designed to deliver consistent handling performance at high G-forces.

205/50 R15
_________________________________________

If you have any other tyres / brands to contribute, please post in a similar fashion.. and any comments, your best prices etc.. post away..

[Riced_Civic]

if its your 1st time go out with what u have and get a feel for the car.

then after if u think u need some more grip them switch to semi's.

semis id recommend ToyoR888

[beeza]

^^ Great advice Danny! and great thread!

It's too easy to get caught up in the 'Get everything perfect before I hit the track' mentality.

For first timers just get out there EXACTLY how your car is now and forget about everything else.

After the first time out there you can start experimenting with tyres etc/spend money.

I've just used my road tyres Toyo T1R's and T1S's and they worked a treat!

The Kuhmo KU36's are looking good for my next set of tyres but just how quickly will they wear for a daily compared to say T1R's?

[FLICK]

i got semi slicks for my time out no problem with that. Road tyres on the track will not last long and you will end spending more money i think. But in terms of the tyre range no point in buying the more expensive brands like the re55s or advan 048's. Go with the r888's coz there cheaper.

Until your driving is down pat then you start to try out these other more expensive brands because at that stage you will then be able to tell the difference between these tyres.

ozzy tyres usually have pretty good deals when it comes to the proxies.

[bennjamin]

imo

go as hard as you can on a particular track/setup....on legit road tyres.

Then once you hit a time barrier....chuck on semis and relearn your car. You should maximise your times.

for example...i have hit wakefield 6 times , down to 1.14xx with proper road tyres ( bridgestone RE001's) - i slide a fair abit all over the place but i feel there is a tiny tiny bit more in it. Once i hit this barrier....ill chuck on semis and that should net a touch lower times.

[beeza]

Until your driving is down pat then you start to try out these other more expensive brands because at that stage you will then be able to tell the difference between these tyres.

Yeah that was the point I was trying to make lol

The r888's sound good then.I don't wanna be replacing the Kuhmo's 3 months after buying them or something stupid..

[FLICK]

Yeah that was the point I was trying to make lol

The r888's sound good then.I don't wanna be replacing the Kuhmo's 3 months after buying them or something stupid..

ill be honest with you i've never driven on road tyres coz i was silly and went all out. I wish i did so that i could know the difference between road tyres and semi's.

ditch your kuhmo's when there worn and get yourself a set of r888 and tell me what the difference is like.

[fatboyz39]

+1 for street tyres. Recommend the Kumho KU36.

[Sexc86]

what about the advan a048?
i thought it was an awsome tire. Very noisy, expensive and burnt out real quick though

[beeza]

ill be honest with you i've never driven on road tyres coz i was silly and went all out. I wish i did so that i could know the difference between road tyres and semi's.

ditch your kuhmo's when there worn and get yourself a set of r888 and tell me what the difference is like.

haha,good to hear,I've got T1R's atm and was thinking of Kuhmo 36ers next :D

How long lasting are the r888's compared to the Kuhmo's?

[string]

If your driving isn't up to scratch you'll wear your $1000 set of tyres very quickly and unevenly, and put down average lap times in the process. Fast times come from fast drivers.

+1 Any of the top level street tyres. I use RE-01R and they're excellent.

[beeza]

That makes sense.

[Limbo]

Beeza - i've found from other friends who track alot (and the Bridgestone tyre owner), that when you run street tyres you wear them out pretty quick. Friend managed to wear down his Re001 to 50% in one track day. He ran the RE55 and they were about 80%.

I run second hand semis, which are usually quite cheap. I've been to 2 track days with them and only worn about 20% or so. Semis last longer in the heat than normal tyres.

[VT3C]

...if its your 1st time go out with what u have and get a feel for the car... then after if u think u need some more grip them switch to semi's...


Good Advice, but this is just a general Tyre comments thread - not about my own personal track ambitions LOL.. we all know we need to just get out there on what we've got etc.. but the problem being that I wont pass scruitineering on my current tyres (bald inside edges) and I have no need for daily driving tyres... however most of us drive the cars TO the track so needs to be Street Legal..

Just looking for comments on the tyres members have used and perhaps the prices they paid for those tyres also.. and where they got them as for example TOYO R888's I dont think u can get over here (in WA at least).. for example some friends of mine have brought them in from the US for cheaper than 'normal' tyres over here..

[string]

The high performance street tyres (RE001 is not in this catagory) will last longer than true R-compounds both on the track and on the street, and cost you less money. If you overdrive your car, plow in every corner, or frequently lock up your brakes, you're going to devastate whatever tyres you have on there.

Losing 80% tread in 1 trackday is outrageous - how fast does the same driver and car wear semi-slicks?

[Limbo]

R888 - you can get from Teleb tyres, pretty good prices also.

[Riced_Civic]

Trying to get out onto the track ASAP I've been hit with the whole conundrum of which tyres to get for track duties..

u asked which tyres to get, i did say R888.

i just gave my advice as well:)

[string]

Don't be a pussy. Get a set of Hoosier R6.

[beeza]

Haha!

ALl the advice is good relevant info.

The R888 are sounding good,I'm not made of money :)

[bennjamin]

Just to add



I drive like a big girl at the track
and also on the road. This nets me more than 25,000ks on this current set of tyres , half a dozen track days an drag strip events too.
If you want your tyres to last drive like there is a can if coke on your bonnet lol.
But you won't net your best times

[Limbo]

my wheels were squeeling all through the bends, it was great

[VT3C]

u asked which tyres to get, i did say R888.

i just gave my advice as well:)

yeah everyone's comments appreciated but I didnt ask for anyone to advise me personally.. this is a thread for general info on these semi-slicks for those who may be finding it hard to get all of this info and opinions in the one place.


Don't be a pussy. Get a set of Hoosier R6.

HAHAH yeah man !! never heard of the term SEMI slicks untill these honda peoples started up.. I thought there was SLICKS and then there was WETS and then ROAD Tyres.. the whole 'Semi-Slick' I thought was in relation to the DOT approved 'R-Comp' tyres (Racing Comp/SOFT).. which are really just road tyres LOL..

but unfortunately some of us have to drive to the events and some events actually prohibit the use of slicks..

it needs to be made clear that a good Road tyre will be compromised at the track in the same way that a 'semi slick' will be compromised on the street.. for example the road tyre will generally have better durabilty at the sacrifice of dry weather grip.. in the wet.. the semi's would be awfull and almost dangerous on the street and in the dry they would wear quite fast compared to a harder compound street tyre..

[Limbo]

yeah good point.
I drive with semis on the road cos i'm lazy so i never come out to play in the wet. :)

[DNYALL]

First time I wen to the track I used Advan AD07 street tires, was good. The next time I went with a set of new AO48's semis. The difference was a lot, so much better with the semis. I used them for another day, then sold them.

Bought a set of DUNLOP DZ03G (R compound) and they are awesome, better than the AO48's (not by much to be honest, prob just because they were new ) but yeah, The Dunlops are my choice at the moment :thumbsup:

[beeza]

That's for everyday driving DYNALL?

[DNYALL]

haha nah man, got a second set of wheels with the semi's on for track. AD07's for street :thumbsup:

[beeza]

Ah cool! :)

[DNYALL]

Car is still a daily and I drive 100km's a day traveling to work and back :eek: Semi's are a big no-no for street for me...

[DC5TYPER]

KU36 is Best Tyre for street and track that is affordable.

I went quicker at winton with KU36 on my setup then the used A048. RE55 and R6 should be used when you have sufficient track time and you've maxed out street tyres and cheap Semi's.

This is what i've learnt from owning many different tyres and also tracking on them.

[chargeR]

I have used Bridgestone RE001, S03, RE55s, Advan AD07, and Hoosier R6 on track and if I were just starting out I would probably stick to the RE001s. They provide adequate feel and feedback, and wear pretty well.

In terms of track performance I would rate them in this order from worst to best:

RE001
S03
Advan AD07
RE55s




R6

The R6 were a lot better than the others but they were in a much wider size so that perhaps accounted for a lot of the improvement.

Beginners should stick to street tyres in my opinion, they don't even have to be high performance. I switched to RE55s after only 2 track days and I regret it somewhat, it was some time before I was able to make good use of the added grip.

[DNYALL]

hoosier R6 hmmm I never even considered Hoosier :eek: how long did they last out of curiosity? how many track days? might have to try em out.

[chargeR]

hoosier R6 hmmm I never even considered Hoosier :eek: how long did they last out of curiosity? how many track days? might have to try em out.

Not sure how long they will last, I have only run them at two events for a grand total of around 50 laps of Winton. Wear so far is pretty reasonable so I would anticipate upward of 200 laps out of them.

EDIT: This is in 275/245 sizes on a lightly modded DC5R with about 110kW at the wheels.

[lukits01]

my quick impressions from what I've tested

R888: not the fastest semi slicks by far, but the easiest to use, No need to worry too much about pressures or temperature, just go out and drive them. Compound lasts quite awhile but will overheat given constant laps. Good as a starting tire, sprints, auto-x, hill climb, cheap, can be easily had from taleb tyre or elsewhere.

RE55S: fast circuit tire, sensitive with temperature. They are horrible when cold but will handle continuous abuse at the circuit. Give it a few warm up laps and strap yourselves on and feel the Gs! These tires will carry amazing cornering speed. compound will last awhile, but grips gets worse as you wear them down.

D03G: The dunlops are a lot more tricky, they have a very narrow operating window, if you stay in it they deliver grip like no other. They are a very soft compound tire, I would not recommend them for circuit work, when you overheat them they leave chunks of compound on the tarmac. They are by far the best tire I've had for late braking right to the point where the compound delaminates itself ahaha probably the best tire for auto-x, sprints, hill climb etc but they wear down like no tomorrow!

Mickey Thompson Street ET: Drag radials, nuff said :-P

A048/A050: I personally have not used these tires, but I've been told the A048 is rubbish because Australia only get the Medium-Hard compound and they dont grip as well as any of the above tire. The A050 however are getting a lot of good rep because for once, we get the Medium and Soft compound, these will be my next tires to test. From the ppl Ive spoken too, the consensus is they give the same level of grip as the Dunlops while using a harder compound, so they dont suffer overheating issues.

[VT3C]

Great post Sena !! exactly the type of response that I was looking for !!

I am thinking the R888's are worth the extra $80 each over KU36 Khumos..

R888's are still street legal arent they ?

[lukits01]

tbh, I'd go with what ppl have said, go with the KU36
use the money saved for all the entry fees and licenses
first few events will always be about getting used to the car, and driving the car at speed, experimenting with lines and setup.
In which case nobody is able to drive 10/10 first out.

Learning with semis just seems like a waste of a competition tire, before you know it, all those experiments with different lines and setup, and you'll need a new set before bringing the tires to the limit.

Last year I drove Barbagello a lot on Nexen N6000 (*shock* *horror*)
I learned a damn sight more with the tires moving around. Semis just tend to cover for your mistakes and let you get away with doing silly things. With street tires you get punished for mistakes, and that's the best way to learn.

Oh and R888 are street legal, BUT I've been harassed by police for using them on the streets. Despite telling them that it's street legal tires, I was told to go home and change them ASAP. LoL

[91type-r]

I had tried the ADVAN A048's as my first try with semi slicks and found that they had good initial grip once warm but they felt like they went away very quickly after about 4 or more laps, I purchased a set of ADVAN A050's and found them to be much better! they got up to temp nicely and then stayed consistent throughout the whole session and gave good confidence for each one of the days that i used them on even after about 6 or so track days they were still good, worn but good. sadly i gave the front ones death by commuting to work (due to normal road car being broken!) so now i have semi's on the back and pretty much slicks on the front! don't know how well they would fare for a track day now!
Deffinitely agree with going out there atleast twice before you change the car (except for tire pressures and such) most of my speed came from learning the track and finding the limit!

[anjin]

I have used the KU36 's at barbagallo and found them ok, but not up to the semi R spec grip (Toyo 881 for comparison). They also wore down surprising quickly - front left had about 40% wear in 40-50 laps. Then went to the AHG track ans skid pan which is tighter and slower, but you get a lot of power down in second gear. Front left was below the wear indicators after a good hard afternoon. That's in a gen 1 crx with 160 whp and lsd.

I do support the view that you go out with road tyres. I did that first time, and it was worth it as you could directly compare road behaviour with track behaviour, and first time out you are not fast. It took me quite a while to get up to cornering speeds where I found the tyres going off in grip after 5 or 6 laps - about 6 times, to show the type of learning curves involved.

The advice given to me for the type of track work I do - essentially tuning days with lots of laps and the odd super sprint - was to get the cheapest semi R that were going at the time.

Hope this helps