BruceAMG

Thanks for welcoming a stranger whose car type isn’t put on track by many unfortunately leading to not being able to have this discussion on forums supporting the platform 😔

Road America “Home Track”, do 2-5 HPDE days/weekends per year depending on schedule.

Been in many of my friends cars that run used Pirelli DH slicks they buy used.

My own cars have run only R-comp tires.

I AM ONLY LOOKING TO BUY NEW!

I just ordered another set of track only wheels, this time going away from the 19x10 & 20x12 factory stagger that utilize a 275/35-19 front tire and 325/30-20 rear.
New wheels will be 19x11 fronts 19x12.5 rears. Did this so I have the option to run various slicks.

I am not after fastest ultimate lap “one hit wonder” set up, more so a slick that can handle “street/track” camber set up, as I drive the car on street 2,500ish miles a year + track use. More after a slick that:

*Has some more gradual break away vs the there / not there associated with some slicks. This is mainly for my own confidence after running R-comps for so long. Is that proper logic?

*Doesn’t need a ton of camber, don’t want to switch setting on/off track.

*Comes to temp relatively easy, in a couple laps most, and stays consistent as possible for 7-9 laps of a session.

*Durable, has some longevity to it

I am looking at the following 4 options:
1)Pirelli 295/680-19 & 325/705-19 as many use the brand.
2)Michelin 29/67-19 & 31/71-19 have heard good things.
3)Hankook 300/680-19 & 320/710-19 hear sidewall stiffer so behaves more like what I’m used to? Seems to be a sleeper not big name but works?
**these 3 options are all almost spot on factory tire diameters**

4)Hoosier R7 295/30-19 & 345/30-19
**smaller diameter but know from others it works with no issues** nice step up from R-comp?

Based on what I THINK I am looking for in a slick, any suggestion you like best of the 4? Or please, re-educate me as to what I really want!

Thanks all!

Brian @ LGR

Of late the quality of take offs for me has been less than 50% good tires.

budgets effect the races teams too and they use up more true than then used too.

half the slicks I got this summer were just off pace by the time i got them

BruceAMG

I am only looking to buy new.

Brian @ LGR

Slicks don’t like street camber, so that’s probably a no for you.

get the R7.

trackdaytire.com code Lgrvip

BruceAMG

Thank you for pointing that out.
I was just thinking I could get by as the car from the factory has some camber in it, has so far been kind to outer shoulder of R-comp tires and have been wearing pretty evenly on track.

But need to consider your advice, I appreciate that! And thanks a ton for the code!

The couple other cars like mine running same camber have only used Pirelli and Michelin slicks, successfully at COTA, but hard for me to decipher what is right for me since I don’t know who they were!

winders

More options with 18” wheels…..

GC996

I have run R7s for many years at RA on my 996. Great tire.

BruceAMG

Not an option for this car.

edub

Slicks on the road? Not enough camber and you'll just get a flat or tramline everywhere.

A dot R would work as long as you don't hear cycle them out with street miles.
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spiller

I would strongly suggest Yokohama A005 slicks. I have tried all of the ones on your list with my 996 cup car and the Yokohama tick all of your boxes. None of the others on your list meet all of your criteria. Good news is the Yoko also comes in 19 inch sizes. Not familiar with cambers for your car but on my cup the Yokohama need around 1 degree less than Michelin and Pirelli. Hankook are better with less camber also but not durable and their break away is not very progressive.

https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/a005

BruceAMG

No, slicks on track only. Additional set of “track only” wheels I reference in original post.

Have to do 19/19 as 18/18 is not an option unless swapping out some hubs, suspension, brake components from a GT4 race car version of my car, which I have zero interest in doing……at this time at least!

BruceAMG

Thanks, I will investigate this option too, you are the 2nd person to bring this up to me. An experienced Viper driver in Southwest swears by them.
I know the 330/710-19 rear would be fine, but the “690” front sizes may be a fraction too tall.

Brian @ LGR

The hankook slicks will go 50 cycles at the same grip. They just last. But you can't beat the Almighty Hoosier R7

Mahler9th

Haven't driven on "sticky" tires since about 2001. Before that time many of us "climbed the curve" to the Hoosiers. I remember when folks first started using them... some got "caught short" with cording and deflations. It was not initially understood that they were more fragile when corded than other stickies. Fiberglass and not steel belts.

Very close to slick performance back in those days.

I imagine the R7s of today are similar to what we used. Those could be turned on pretty easily.

Not always easy to do this with true slicks, except for bias ply slicks.

Zhao

I liked the soft compound hankooks. z71. 2.5 race weekends out of those until cords and wereok until the end. Similar life to what I got out of R7s oddly and more grip. z51s were good value too.

For hpdes since lap times really dont matter though I just run chinese dot slicks now if the car allows it. nankang, maxxis, zestino. lap times aren't there but they're consistent.