[descartesfool]

I have none.

But I was at a track event at Watkins Glen, and after having my rear-end handed to be by a highly modified and stupid fast GT3 running on slicks, I spoke to its owner for a while about the tires. He was running Michelin slicks, so I asked him about longevity and heat cycles, etc. His opinion was that moving from street tires to R compounds (Hoosier R6's) was about the same improvement as moving from R compounds to slicks in terms of the increase in grip and feel. He said he could get about 12-15 heat cycles out of them before they needed to be replaced, which was for him about the same as he got from a set of Hoosiers before they dropped off in grip. So if there was 4 sessions per day at the track, he would get 3 to 4 days with a set of slicks, sometimes more. His cost for 4 Hoosiers was about $1800, vs about $2200 for slicks, and he felt in terms of bang for buck, that extra $400 a set was well worth it.

Thoughts and experiences?

 

[pcargt3]

i just returned from 2 days at wat glen with audi club in my brand new gtr. its completely stock and has the all season dunlops. my old car was a 2007 gt3 that had both pilot sport cups and r888.

my lap times were in the 2.18 range with the porsche and saw about 140 before bus stop. it was 1st time for gtr on track so i was still getting used to it but it was about 5 mph faster on straight. i was shocked when i checked my lap times though - gtr was 5 sec/lap slower than porsche!

the two factors were my more experience with porsche on track vs 1st time with gtr. second was definitely the tires. the r compounds never made a sound while the all seasons were howling everywhere. downside to r compound was they would stick like crazy then give up without warning. the dunlops were very predictable and fun. other advantage to all season was ease of drive to/from track in monsoon conditions. also dont forget gtr is about 800 lbs heavier than porsche

all things considered, i will stick with street tires on gtr

 

[descartesfool]

Looking for info on slicks, not R compounds.

 

[pcargt3]

what tires do you have now?

what does tirerack say about slicks on gtr re weight?

 

[seanm]

Looking for info on slicks, not R compounds.

I think it could get down a lot to compound on the slick. I can look at World Challenge data from 2010 on shaved R888, to this year with Pirelli slicks, and show they picked up about 2-3 seconds at most tracks. We pick up about 1-2 seconds at most tracks going from the R888/NT01 to a BFG R1.

 

[35R]

Looking for info on slicks, not R compounds.

Here in Australia we've been using michelin slicks for about two years on the gtr. They are fantastic. Normally we run the 27/68/18s in S9 compound (hard). Yes you get about 10-15 heat cycles out of them, however the softs (S7's) only last about half the heat cycles.

In terms of feel, yes it's definitley another step up from proper R's, to give you an idea, good R's would be 2 to 3 seconds faster than OEM bridgetones, and slicks would be 2 to 3 seconds faster than the R's (on a 1:40-ish second track here). The road holding and braking experience on slicks is far far greater than OEM, you will love it, and be capable of slick shod GT3 times, speaking from direct experience. Trust me they work even on our heavy cars.

 

[shawnhayes]

My experience on slicks (not on a GT-R) boiled down to basically the following:

Fun/dollar ratio decreased DRAMATICALLY.

Lap time decreased DRAMATICALLY.

Replacement interval decreased DRAMATICALLY

But I have shared paddock with a slick shod GT-R

Watching Mark (teapartyracecar.net) at CMP on slicks told me that slicks are unforgiving when pushed just A LITTLE too hard over the edge, and don't communicate as well when you are near the ragged edge - which echo'd my experience on slicks.

My $0.02 is that if there is a woman with plastic "aftermarket modifications" and a giant cardboard check at the end, then slicks are the way to go. For me, having a cheaper tire I don't have to replace as often and driving the ABSOLUTE CRAP out of that tire is more fun than going faster on a track day to track day experience.

Shawn

 

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I started (when I first got my GTR) with the oem's, then quickly changed up to Hoosier R6's for about a season and a half. This season I again changed to Hoosier R100 slicks. I currently have two set of wheels and tires (HRE 18's with Hoosier R100's). My experience is that the R100's last a bit longer than my R6's. That said I still go through a set fairly quickly depending on which track I am running. That is why I always have a second set on hand. Like other have mentioned, overall improvement on the track. The slicks are harder on brakes ( although reduced wheel clearance may also contribute). I have found the slicks to have a better feel for me than the R6's. When I ran the r6's they would heat up quickly and performance would begin to suffer. The R6's would begin to move around quite a bit. On the R100's the grip level is higher but they don't seem to heat up and heat cycle quite as badly if that makes sense.

As we know as you increase grip your window for error shrinks. I have found the R100's to be very communicative. I have never had them break loose unexpectedly. Typically this tire will break away smoothly. Whereas, I found my R6's to be much more aggressive in their transition from grip to slide if that makes sense.

Overall, I love this set up on my car. But I also run very stiff springs (1200/1000) on my JRZ's with more than 3 degrees of negative camber. Not sure of your set up but you may need to make some suspension changes to fully utilize what a slick can offer.

Sorry about the long reply. Let me know if you have any other questions and I will try to answer in greater detail.