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I am a PCA Instructor and have a Club Racing license (Spec Boxster - I rent when I race - fun - hope to do more).
On my 6GT3 track prepped car I am mostly used to Hoosiers and Nitto's. Since I got out of the trailer scene I have been running a set of Cup II's. I run them on my lightweight forged wheels. They are 18's.
I have chalked the sidewalls after every DE or open lapping session and am up to 15.
I noticed them dropping off a bit at about 12-13 sessions or so. I just visually inspected them for tread, safety, etc, and mounted the wheel/tires set on the car for a track day Sunday. They look amazingly decent for 15 sessions.
My question: Do these tires degrade like a Nitto in that they can be run until they cord, and will just slowly drop off with grip until they cord, or are they more like the Ho-Ho's in that even though they show plenty of rubber they harden from heat cycles and become hard and drop off like a cliff?
Those with first hand experience, thanks in advance for insight!
I find they are good for 5-6 track days (~4 sessions a day) then drop off quickly. After 7-8 days become an major exercise in car control. This is an a standard and RS GT3.
I found them to be closer to the Nittos. They drop off and lose their 'magic grip' around 15 cycles (as you have observed) but will last (with less grip) until you run them down to slicks
I didn't find them to be a 'major exercise in car control' until they got down to the end (near slick level).
They have different (harder) compound starting from about where wear bars are. It feels like they heatcycled out but you just got to harder compound. It's has slightly different color and texture and is not sticky to the touch when the tire is hot, so it's pretty obvious when you see where compounds meet. I think this makes sense for a street tire - once to wear bars it becomes hard as an all-season tire but that gives enough cushion to drive back home. But the drawback is that running the tire down to slick state comes with major loss of grip. I typically get 2-3 fast days and one slow day out of a set, but I like slightly overdriving the car, so others may get 3-4 fast days and 1-2 slow days driving the same pace.
Are you guys heat cycling your Cup 2's first, i.e. get them up to temperature in one track session when they are brand new and then let them sit 24 hours? If so, do you find they last longer?
04-27-2018, 11:07 PM
Advice about Pilot Cup II's degradation on track?
