Slicks or HP and DOTs

[Piersin]

Which way is faster on most Road Courses? Gumball slicks and 6.25 hp/wt ratio or would you go with Hoosier DOTs and 5.5 hp/wt ratio?

[kbrew8991]

this year at Mid-O using the pro course config, I'd put my money on HP and DOTs

 

it still may be a toss up, after the back stretch that track does get a bit twisty and technical

[Slowwrx]

What kind of car, awd, turbo, rwd supercharged etc...

[Piersin]

RWD -- 3400lbs/490rwhp supercharged now

[phoenixR34]

If you're a bad driver, go with the horsepower.

[kbrew8991]

the nice way to say that is "the horsepower will be easier to make full use of"

[Bart Carter]

HP is over rated. If you have a lot, the advantage is not as great. You can't use all of it out of slow corners or slow straights, your tires just start to spin. You will find your car is more difficult to drive as you have to deal with spinning tires on acceleration AND when you lift the throttle. Your braking and downshifting become more difficult. You have to constantly strive for perfect throttle control or your car can spin.

 

I would go with tires. Fine tune your suspension settings and your driving. The car will be easier to drive. Carrying more speed through the corner means you will not have to brake as hard and you will be exiting the corner faster. You can accelerate longer and brake later coming into the corner and will be able to apply the throttle sooner coming out of the corner. This makes the HP car have to accelerate past your speed in order to catch up to you. The HP car can only do this on a few long straights.

 

I just did HSR-West at Cal Speedway 2 weeks ago. I ran a car with almost half of the HP of the car I last ran at Cal Speedway. My speed on the long oval straight was almost 20 MPH slower, but I beat my best lap in the HP car by 10 seconds. Not all of this gain was just with tires, but certainly a lot of it was.

[Red Tornado]

All depends on if the car can hook up with DOT's or not with the extra power.