Im looking for what peoples opinions are of how it feels to use slicks on a track day. How much grip is there when the tyres are cold? Is the limit controllable compared to normal tyres? Do people have problems with having the fronts hot and the rears cold?
depends on what type of slicks - they come in many different compounds from chewing gum soft, to bakerlite hard - the soft ones work immediately, the hard ones can take 3 laps to warm up, and are consequently like driving on ice when they are cold
Most trackday companies wont let you run slicks unless you have a cage these days. Im going to be driving a car on slicks in this year britcar 24hr race, having not run on slicks before, only all manor of trackday rubber, and rally tarmac tyres, I will be testing on slicks this year. But have done a lot of research and gained has much advice as i can. Is all about slip angles and progression. Bringing the slick up to an operating temp and maintaining it is the key.
Forgive me if Im teaching you to suck eggs but remember that when running slicks that the extra force generated will be transmitted to the other components on the car so make sure everything else in the suspension department is healthy or uprated.
I have done a trackday on slicks, but had more fun on decent road legal tyres. Its faster on slicks, but I enjoy feeling the car move around more at lower speeds - especially while Im still learning The slicks really had to be pushed to get enough proper heat in them. If you know the car and circuit im sure you would enjoy slicks more than I did (although it was still great!)
How much grip is there when the tyres are cold?Very little but depends on your set up. As we run FWD cars, the rear can be very nervous and want to break away very easily until some heat gets into the rears. If you run a standard ish set up then it’s not too bad. I run a extreme set up and there is no real grip until warm. It can feel horrible and impossible to drive to a novice. I let a friend drive the MK3 at a track day a while ago. Quite an experienced trackdayer and he said it felt all wrong until it warmed up. Which is fine on a track day and you can have 5 laps to get the tyres 'In' but when your racing its flat out from the word go. All you have is one lap to warm the brakes and tyres. Im constantly weaving '50%' of the track and literaly sliding it through the corners to generate heat into the tyres and most importantly the rears, then stamping on the brake and back onto the throttle. Sometimes the warm up lap can be as tiring as the race. I cannot stress how important this lap is. Is the limit controllable compared to normal tyres? Yes, more so id say. Once slicks are 'In' they are amazing. As i have said before i will not race on anything else. I had to go back to 888's for the vag trophy and it was crap. Once slicks are warm its like you are on rails and if you do loose it then a bit of opposite lock and some throttle in the right place and drift it out. As they say 'Slide it in' 'Drift it out' I found slicks gave me confidence in my driving. I was scared of slicks on my first time out in a race car but but the end of the day it was heaven. If you’re a trackdayer then you can work heat into the rears over a few laps. Then off you go no problem and after some practice you can experiment with cold rears, how it feels and how to drive it. It’s a skill on its own In my first few races i found i was being overtaken on the first lap due to cold tyres, not pushing hard enough and worrying about damage. The first 2 is just down to confidence in what’s underneath you. I now make it a must on every track/test session to push really hard straight out of the box, 1 lap. Harder the better. Also you will learn loads about car control during this. The last is down to knowing a good body shop lol Very wise words there. Once slicks go off your stuck with a car which udnersteers and feels ****. You can't just slow down and let them cool etc. As you need to push harder as a race progresses. Its especially hard in a FWD car as it does everything. Accelerate, Turn in, Brake and has the majority weight of the car on each corner, which all generates heat. Compare this to a RWD car or AWD with Mid engined or rear engined and you get the idea. Smoothness is the key to looking after your tyres and a progressive driving style. When we used to test loads in the VW Cup we found the rear tyres did not fully come in until lap 6. So in a sprint race its all about driving on cold rears. One thing a lot of series do is rolling starts. Ideal for FWD drive cars on slicks. Hope this helps. Any other questions please feel free to ask. Always willing to help Edit: Too many glasses of wine and typing too fast god it was bad, thank god for a spell checker
