Pirelli DH Slicks

[bracer]

Anybody know how long these can be stored (climate controlled garage) before they are useless?

[ixm3]

Originally Posted by blackey

Anybody know how long these can be stored (climate controlled garage) before they are useless?

I've used 2 yr old slicks before, without any issues. But the tires were a known entity from new and stored in a climate controlled garage. In my experience they will heat cycle out before hardening (unless you are storing for a very long period of time).

[Kbueno]

I've been told 5-7 years max

[CAOZKAN]

Originally Posted by ixm3

I've used 2 yr old slicks before, without any issues. But the tires were a known entity from new and stored in a climate controlled garage. In my experience they will heat cycle out before hardening (unless you are storing for a very long period of time).

Can you please let me know how do they compare vs michelin cup2? Are they much better on the dry track or somewhat similar?

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by CAOZKAN

Can you please let me know how do they compare vs michelin cup2? Are they much better on the dry track or somewhat similar?

A Pirelli DH slick is going to wreck a Cup 2; Cup 2's performance is similar to NT01, and Pirelli is a good 2-3 seconds faster than NT01 on a 2 min circuit. And this is using a Pirelli DH scrub set with 4 heat cycles on it already. I don't want to even know how monstrous these things are brand new.

[CAOZKAN]

Originally Posted by redpriest

A Pirelli DH slick is going to wreck a Cup 2; Cup 2's performance is similar to NT01, and Pirelli is a good 2-3 seconds faster than NT01 on a 2 min circuit. And this is using a Pirelli DH scrub set with 4 heat cycles on it already. I don't want to even know how monstrous these things are brand new.

I'm wondering if they can be fitted on our oem 437 wheels? 295/680 rear 255/650-19 seems to be the only feasible solution but I don't understand these sizes for the sidewalls. Also I wonder if they aren't very common with the people who track their cars. After all I don't use my cup2s for daily driving anyways.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by CAOZKAN

I'm wondering if they can be fitted on our oem 437 wheels? 295/680 rear 255/650-19 seems to be the only feasible solution but I don't understand these sizes for the sidewalls. Also I wonder if they aren't very common with the people who track their cars. After all I don't use my cup2s for daily driving anyways.

The "680" in 295/680 is the diameter of the tire in mm (i.e., 680 mm = 26.77 in).

[ixm3]

http://www.cargister.com/calculator-race-tires

[ixm3]

Originally Posted by redpriest

A Pirelli DH slick is going to wreck a Cup 2; Cup 2's performance is similar to NT01, and Pirelli is a good 2-3 seconds faster than NT01 on a 2 min circuit. And this is using a Pirelli DH scrub set with 4 heat cycles on it already. I don't want to even know how monstrous these things are brand new.

+1. The grip you get from a slick is intoxicating. BUT, you sober up when it comes time to replace them, unless you have a decent source for scrubs.

[CAOZKAN]

Originally Posted by ixm3

+1. The grip you get from a slick is intoxicating. BUT, you sober up when it comes time to replace them, unless you have a decent source for scrubs.

So the durability is the concern? I track my psc2s for almost 6 track days each consisting of 2 sessions of 20minutes. How long will the slicks can go? I found them to be priced 1800euros per set whereas psc2s are priced at around 1300euros so the price isn't so much different.

[bracer]

They'll wear about 2x as fast as the Michelin's, but as said, are several seconds a lap quicker.

Scrubs can be had for about $250 for a set of 2, so a good deal if you can mount them cheaply.

I called Frisby race tire fwi, and they said about 3 years for storage.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by CAOZKAN

So the durability is the concern? I track my psc2s for almost 6 track days each consisting of 2 sessions of 20minutes. How long will the slicks can go? I found them to be priced 1800euros per set whereas psc2s are priced at around 1300euros so the price isn't so much different.

Durability is definitely a concern, especially if you get them from a race team. You have a general idea how many heat cycles they have (4-5?), but you don't necessarily know which tire was on which wheel etc.

I bought 3 sets of 4 scrubs at $320 each ($960 total) - but this was part of a large volume group buy, so I was able to get them even cheaper than they normally cost.

I ran them flip side (painted side in, since the race team typically ran the painted side out), and was able to get 8 or so heat cycles off one set. You need to rotate these every 2 sessions to get maximum use from them.

I got lazy on my 2nd set of Pirellis and only got 3 heat cycles before I corded the outside of one of them. And this is with -3.7 camber in the front! (Maxxed out the ground control camber plates in my M4). I'm also convinced one of those tires probably had more HC than the rest.

If you buy them brand new, you could probably get 12 HC total provided you were aggressive with rotation. They are expensive.

[FLA997]

The DH slick is a really, really good racing tire. I?ve been racing for nearly 20 years and in my experience (Porsche Cup Cars), they put the Michelin slicks to shame...

With the Michelin we logged heat cycles and by the third cycle they fell off a cliff

The DH doesn?t seem to care as much about the cycles. In fact we just put a ?clock? on them now of 3.5 hours before we even think about taking them off - but, we DO flip them on the wheel halfway thru if we can. The DH also likes more camber than the Michelin.

Dunlop?s are even better IMO but somewhat difficult to get and I don?t know any racing series that allows them (Cup Racing).

As far as used slicks...no way in hell I?d race on someone else?s used slicks unless I had personal knowledge of their history.

I cringe when I see guys buying used slick sets online. I?ve seen the worst case scenario of using a used set many times. Just not worth the risk of balling up a $200-300k car, or even a $80-90k F8x for that matter.

*Be especially cautious about buying ANY slick that was run on a banked track like HMS or Daytona. The loads on slicks run on banked tracks actually break down a sidewall. If you run that tire on a normal/non-banked track you are definitely asking for a load induced tire failure. The reverse is also true...

If you are gonna run banking on slicks start with a new set. Every time.