Tire questions

Prolyy the tires getting greasy and overheated.

The pilot powers have silica wich is helps the tire heat up but also keeps it from cooling down.

The qualifiers use black carbon wich doesnt get over heated.

Might try those or jsu be a little more easy on the powers

I guess a few more details would be good to know.

Which turn (s)?
Lap times?
Hard throttle on exit only?

Either way with 3000 miles I'd swap them before my next track day.

I've run as low as 1.17 on south and the only real slip I had was full throttle through the back kink on the last session of the day.

Wolley said:

I guess a few more details would be good to know.

Which turn (s)?
Lap times?
Hard throttle on exit only?

Either way with 3000 miles I'd swap them before my next track day.

I've run as low as 1.17 on south and the only real slip I had was full throttle through the back kink on the last session of the day.

Click to expand...

Coming out of turn 1 as I was powering out. To me I was being easy on the throttle, maybe I just got on it to0 quickly. I was running high 20s. This only happened once because it scared the crap out of me and I let up a good bit. That's a fast kink on the back straight. I would hate to have slippage there ;-) !

Probably not a bad idea to change the tires before the next track day. Tires will only grip 100% the first time out. After that they start to fall off. Now with supersoft race tires they will lose grip sooner than a more street oriented tire like the Pilots, but still I wouldn't want to run a set of 3000 mile tires without a good insurance policy.

With your times you could go with another set of Powers. Personally I hate Michelin's but a lot of guys like them so if you are comfortable with the tire stick with them. As your speed increases you may want to consider a more track oriented tire like the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III. Either way have fun out there

Yeah slippage there will put you on top of the tank. But it was the end of the day and in a weird sort of way was kinda fun and scary at the same time. I was told you can run flat out there on the throttle and since then I have tweaked my suspension a little so next time there I want to see if I can go wide open there.

You might also consider dropping the psi in the powers. 32/32 on the track is alittle high. I would go with a new set and try 30/28 on them. More contact patch, better grip. Or you can but some race tires, i.e. Pilot Race, 208gpa, supercorsa's, racetechs, BT002's. Many options out there. Be sure to check with your tire rep on what tire pressure to go with no matter what brand you go with.

Thanks for the replies guys! I think I am going to put another set of Powers on and change the PSI a bit as LDROWN says. I would eventually like to have two sets of rims to have race tires on 1 and street tires on the other...maybe one day.

at 3k its time for a change. if they've been good to you, reup with um. once the shop starts sendin me around more to tracks ill be of more help but for now if u like um keep um.. (brand wise)

Another little question. Are the Pilot Race Soft compound okay? I found a super deal on a set and if I could get them and put them on just for track days and put my powers back on for the street would that be okay? I hate to take my powers off since they have so much more street life left in them, although, I want some nice new tires for the track. BTW...how many trackdays can I get out of a set of Soft Pilot Races?

Soft compound track tires are a good choice for cool/cold weather use. They will wear very quick with warm/hot weather use.

supertireguy said:

Soft compound track tires are a good choice for cool/cold weather use. They will wear very quick with warm/hot weather use.

Click to expand...

That may be a good idea then. The next few trackdays will be in colder weather. How many should I be able to get out of them? I am hoping around 4 or more.

3000K, time to change tires. lower the PSI as mentioned 28/30.

Also, when a tire is rated at 149mph....this may be a dumb question...what happens if you go faster than this?

supertireguy said:

Soft compound track tires are a good choice for cool/cold weather use. They will wear very quick with warm/hot weather use.

Click to expand...

depending on how u ride.. thats a big factor..

rkiser said:

Another little question. Are the Pilot Race Soft compound okay? I found a super deal on a set and if I could get them and put them on just for track days and put my powers back on for the street would that be okay? I hate to take my powers off since they have so much more street life left in them, although, I want some nice new tires for the track. BTW...how many trackdays can I get out of a set of Soft Pilot Races?

Click to expand...

First of all, seriously the #1 thing to remember if you ride the track:
NEVER! GET CHEAP WHEN IT COMES TO TIRES! They are the cheapest and best form of insurance you can ever get and thats no lie.

And now to your question:
S2 Front and Rear Pilot Race are great track day tires, especially on the VIR track surface. If you can get them cheaper than a set of Pilot powers then def buy them. If your doing high 20's on south then you dont really NEED them, but they wont hurt thats for sure. Im sure your Pilot Powers are slipping because you have def heat-cycled them out after 3,000 miles, and if thats the case you should replace the front tire regardless if it "looks" like it has a few more days left in it, you'd rather do that then find out the hard way and crash as stated above; Insurance

Hope that helps.

I thought a good PSI for the rear was 22 for the rear, thats what im running now and it grips a lot better, but does sacrifice more rubber.