oortcloud Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 This is just a question of curiosity. I'm simply trying to learn and had a question about non-dot racing slicks such as the hoosier R100 compound tires. (I'm not about to buy them but just curious as to their benefit.) What's the performance difference between running a R100 compound vs. R6 or A6? And how does the longevity compare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oortcloud Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Sorry for replying to my own post, but after doing some better searches I think I found some basic info. From what I have read the r100 offers better grip and might last longer. Although there were several people who stated it was only a modest improvement. While others seem to really like them. Like so many things it seems to depend on the driver, the car, type of race, etc... One big factor is that they are expensive in terms of points. Please correct me if I'm off base. That was just a very brief summary of what I read here after a couple of hours of searching posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philstireservice Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 This is just a question of curiosity. I'm simply trying to learn and had a question about non-dot racing slicks such as the hoosier R100 compound tires. (I'm not about to buy them but just curious as to their benefit.) What's the performance difference between running a R100 compound vs. R6 or A6? And how does the longevity compare? Generally R80's are faster than an A6 or R6, but there life is less. R100's are the harder compound that Hoosier makes. They will last a little longer. Usually R100's are used in the hotter weather. A6's are faster sooner than R6's. Good for TT but need to managed if you are going to race on them. So generally slicks (non DOT), R80, R100 and RS1, are faster than DOT tires (R6/A6). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Tuning Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 The performance difference is pretty significant running the R80/100 slick vs. An R6 of about 3 seconds a lap. This very much depends on your ability to not only drive the slick faster but to also set the car up to take advantage of the slick. With really good setup and again the ability to drive faster you could shave up tothe 1 second from a Hankook C91 (which in construction and feel is closer to a slick than the A6). Now why would you want to spend almost +$500 more on a set of slicks? Unless you can beat your competition with a huge HP penalty (about 100 in my case) there is no performance gain on most tracks. NASA negates the gains offered via points. The bottom line is that its not worth the penalty NASA imposes for TT. Why do I run them then? I can win my class even with the HP penalty but trust me it's hard. Because I win, I get free tires at least up until the contingency change. My car is set up to take advantage of the slicks and when I swap back to DOT the suspension is too stiff. I also fine the performance does not drop off a cliff like i find with the C91 and A6. Those are good for three qualifying laps at best and they will not recover in a session. I also find they are fast until they cord, they don't heat cycle out and for me actually last longer. Forget the R100, they are downright scary on lap 1 and need two laps to get up to temp which is no good if you're lapping the field on lap 3. I think there are mixed results regarding slicks because if you just put them on and race a couple sessions you're not likely to see the benefit. Setup the chassis, alter tire pressures, and put on your big boy pants in the turns Hope that helps. Phil Grabow There are a lot of mixed reviews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philstireservice Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 The performance difference is pretty significant running the R80/100 slick vs. An R6 of about 3 seconds a lap. This very much depends on your ability to not only drive the slick faster but to also set the car up to take advantage of the slick. With really good setup and again the ability to drive faster you could shave up tothe 1 second from a Hankook C91 (which in construction and feel is closer to a slick than the A6). Now why would you want to spend almost +$500 more on a set of slicks? Unless you can beat your competition with a huge HP penalty (about 100 in my case) there is no performance gain on most tracks. NASA negates the gains offered via points. The bottom line is that its not worth the penalty NASA imposes for TT. Why do I run them then? I can win my class even with the HP penalty but trust me it's hard. Because I win, I get free tires at least up until the contingency change. My car is set up to take advantage of the slicks and when I swap back to DOT the suspension is too stiff. I also fine the performance does not drop off a cliff like i find with the C91 and A6. Those are good for three qualifying laps at best and they will not recover in a session. I also find they are fast until they cord, they don't heat cycle out and for me actually last longer. Forget the R100, they are downright scary on lap 1 and need two laps to get up to temp which is no good if you're lapping the field on lap 3. I think there are mixed results regarding slicks because if you just put them on and race a couple sessions you're not likely to see the benefit. Setup the chassis, alter tire pressures, and put on your big boy pants in the turns Hope that helps. Phil Grabow There are a lot of mixed reviews This is what it takes to learn the difference between tires - Phil does his due diligence and it pays off..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbuskuhl Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Forget the R100, they are downright scary on lap 1 and need two laps to get up to temp which is no good if you're lapping the field on lap 3. What was ambient temp? I am thinking of getting some R100 for 100+ degree days. I've ran R55a which is the hard compound in bias ply slicks for hot days and they did fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Tuning Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Forget the R100, they are downright scary on lap 1 and need two laps to get up to temp which is no good if you're lapping the field on lap 3. What was ambient temp? I am thinking of getting some R100 for 100+ degree days. I've ran R55a which is the hard compound in bias ply slicks for hot days and they did fine. It will never be hot enough if you need your fast lap to happen on laps 1 or 2. Honestly even the R80 Isn't ideal on those laps unless its extremely hot. I have a hard time getting those tires way up in temp in onlythe two lapsweeks but they are still extremely fast even at 170 or so but without a doubt higher temp are rewarded with the most grip. The fastest I've ever run at VIR for came in 105 degree weather when most are easisly 2 seconds a lap slower. It was clearly the tire temps and it can be felt in the suspension. If "fine" is what you're after sure they will be fine but not record breaking. I absolutely love the R80 slick and its going to be hard for me to ever get off of a real slick but there are some new brands i wouldn't mind trying one of these days. Car set up is critical with slicks along with aggressively scrubbing so you can make best use of them on laps one and two. You have to be careful however as you need to run super low tire pressures cold so progressively work up the scrub. I've had some issues tread separation at the edge of the sidewall that could be due to scrubbing to agressively too soon. The sidewalls are so stiff you can't even tell the tire pressures are super low and therefore i think i was putting too much stress on the sidewall. They are magic at 30the psi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Why do I run them then? I can win my class even with the HP penalty but trust me it's hard. Because I win, I get free tires at least up until the contingency change. Are you saying that you are getting free R80 slicks from Hoosier under the current contingency rules? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbuskuhl Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 You have to be careful however as you need to run super low tire pressures cold so progressively work up the scrub. I've had some issues tread separation at the edge of the sidewall that could be due to scrubbing to agressively too soon. The sidewalls are so stiff you can't even tell the tire pressures are super low and therefore i think i was putting too much stress on the sidewall. They are magic at 30the psi I've heard alot about the tread separation issues. Both Tim and Jeff at Hoosier tell me 32-34psi hot on the radial slicks. They used to recommend lower temps but were seeing the failures. I ended up buying a bunch of 75 compound as I got a good deal and Jeff thought they would work well for my needs, I'll find out in 2 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Tuning Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 This is what it takes to learn the difference between tires - Phil does his due diligence and it pays off..... I'm sure you have a tough job when you tell someone the tire is faster and they come back with, "it's not any faster why did you sell me more expensive rubber?" LOL! It takes effort, knowledge, and skill to go faster. You may even go slower at first. This is what happened when we added more DF than we had last season as it created extra drag. Once I started hitting the corners much harder I netted a gain and set a new track record. Now at VIR I'm not so sure the extra DF will offset the drag but at Summit Point it was worth a lot! You have to be careful however as you need to run super low tire pressures cold so progressively work up the scrub. I've had some issues tread separation at the edge of the sidewall that could be due to scrubbing to agressively too soon. The sidewalls are so stiff you can't even tell the tire pressures are super low and therefore i think i was putting too much stress on the sidewall. They are magic at 30the psi I've heard alot about the tread separation issues. Both Tim and Jeff at Hoosier tell me 32-34psi hot on the radial slicks. They used to recommend lower temps but were seeing the failures. I ended up buying a bunch of 75 compound as I got a good deal and Jeff thought they would work well for my needs, I'll find out in 2 weeks. Yeah I think they are recommending the higher pressure so you don't have to start as low therefore the sidewall isn't taking all the load. The tire at 32+ is way slower however so I would recommend working the tire up to pressure a little slower on the first part of the warm up lap and towards the very end scrub hard. If you can afford to get your "hot" lap in past the second lap you won't have this issue. Typically though the tread separation on my car is always the inside edge but I run a massive amount of negative camber for qualifying laps. Heavy car also at 3220 race weight. I will typically only run 6-8 qualifying laps on the front tires and then swap them into the rear where the inside sidewalls aren't taxed nearly as hard. Also the sidewalls are so stiff you can't tell by looking at the tire it's low so I have my crew check them before every session to make sure nothing had dropped more than normal. If they drop excessively over night that's also a sign you'll likely have a blow out and we've had this happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Why do I run them then? I can win my class even with the HP penalty but trust me it's hard. Because I win, I get free tires at least up until the contingency change. Are you saying that you are getting free R80 slicks from Hoosier under the current contingency rules? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Tuning Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Yes I bought a set of the R80/100 slicks from Phil's Tire Service and have been winning them ever since. I race another series also and Hoosier pays out the contingency for the R80 there also. What i meant by my comment is that we don't always have enough TTU racers to win tires. Just make sure it makes sense to run them in your class given the huge points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.