[OhioRiderAaron]

Originally Posted by Continental02

I wouldn't bother making the switch to a Hoosier or more common Pirelli slick until you are trailering your car with an additional set of wheels and tires as a backup. Keep in mind you really can't bring a set of R7's and then an NT01/RE-71 as a backup because you'll kill the semi-slick with the amount of camber you need to run on the slick tire. I would always bring 2-3 sets of Pirelli DH slicks whenever I ran that configuration. There's nothing worse than getting excited for a track day, doing all the preparing, paying all the fees, and then having tire issues and cutting your day much shorter than you expected while feeling like you wasted time and money.

In my opinion, the drop off isn't so bad if you get them new or start with a good set of scrubbed tires and have them cambered correctly and heat them up/cool them down properly. They are much faster than the semi-slicks, which means they will also be much more sensitive in all aspects. We are spoiled with the abuse and neglect a tire like the NT01 can handle. Do not expect that from an R7 or DH. If your pressures are off even a little bit, you will notice a big difference.

Typically the first day is a great day, and the tire should be relatively consistent for the first 5-6 sessions. The second day, you will lose between 1-2 seconds on a 2-minute circuit depending upon how comfortable you are. The third day you're probably another 1-2 seconds off the pace, but given that they are about 4-5 seconds faster to begin with, you're still faster than a semi-slick tire at this point. For me, cornering speed was still good on the second and third day, but I would lose all of my time putting the power down out of low-speed corners as the rears don't have the grip anymore. All of this is assuming you aren't sliding the car at all, have proper temperatures, good warm-up and cool-down procedures, and dialed in alignment for your specific track.

At the end of the day, the slick takes a lot more effort to get right and much less effort to get wrong. Some people will like finding that balance and are ok with the occasional issue and others would prefer to enjoy the day and not worry about anything. I think it depends on which camp you fall into and how much you're willing to spend.

Thanks for the feedback!