QUIKAG

I had a good weekend until the end when I realized my tires were effectively gone much sooner than expected. I did 4 sessions at COTA and the tires were incredible. Then, Saturday at TWS this weekend, tires felt decent. Sunday, first session was okay, 2nd session felt a bit looser which surprised me because the track was heating up at that point. 3rd session I spin off the track. Check out around 8:00 on the below video. The whole session (for those that want to watch), I'm sliding around through multiple corners. Grip was really, really bad.


And here's why (the rears):



Fronts aren't much better.

As a comparison to that mess of a session (vid above), here is a 1:50 lap I got on my very first session on Saturday. I hadn't been to TWS in a long while and I was still feeling the lines out and just waking up overall. This 1:50 lap was 10 seconds faster than I was running on the last session before I spun out. No grip issues at all. NOTE: Ignore the mph gauge as it was obviously lagging/not accurate.

CHJ In Virginia

A whole lot of slippin and slidin going on in that video. Several good saves till you lost it at 8:00. Stick a fork in those tires, they are well past done ! Thanks for posting.

5280Racer

How did you make your thumb bleed!!!!???

QUIKAG

I think it jammed into the steering wheel during the spin and it split my fingernail pretty good. It's fine now. Good observation btw!

5280Racer

glad your ok.. seemed fun... I woulda smashed that damn evo and miata out of anger!!! its was entertaining watching your hand signals..

MarkDFW

Corey the edges of those slicks are worn pretty badly. I'm told you need a very aggressive alignment on slicks to make them last or else you chew up the sides quickly and are all over the track. I assume your alignment is pretty conservative?

I may run slick scrubs at some point just to try them out for 2 or 3 track days but I will probably stick with DOT R Comps as I am told I will get more life from them with my conservative alignment. Most of the slicks apparently want a ton of negative camber so the edges aren't chewed up as fast in the corners.

dvandentop

damn well atleast no damage to car, how much camber were ya running on these since ya got em??

seebobgo

Ouch... You should try shuffle steering.

HHughes1

Minimum 3 degrees or you'll cord the outside edges when the remainder has plenty of life left.

MarkDFW

I have only -1.2 camber, which means I'll be lucky to get two days out of slick scrubs, but I'll probably try them anyway sometime this year just to experience them.

JerryTX

So how many heat cycles total did you get out of them through Saturday before they fell off? These are pirellis right?

Werks

I think those are the big $$$$ Michelin slicks!!

Regarding the hands, one of the first things that I was told when I was fortunate enough to have a long time racer in the car instructing me was to never wrap my thumbs around the wheel cause you might loose them!

Werks

Wow, just took a look at your first video and one word describes it.......sketchy! Compliments on your driving skills catching the car but I would have pulled it after the first lap, not worth risking damage to the car or your self dealing with that let alone doing that with a passenger in the car!

Bills Z06

I was flagging on corner 8 earning some free track time. You were very smooth even though I could see you sliding around. Great driving!

vette6aut0x

Depends on ride height, spring rates, shocks. 3 degrees is more than we run in our race car and we have same amount of wear across the face of the tire with 170 to 190 degrees of tire temps in the front.

QUIKAG

-1.75 front and -1.2 rear.

See above on my camber settings. If you see the pictures, wear is pretty consistent across the tire, though if anything it looks pretty rough on the INSIDE of the tire which is quite odd?!?! I check both wheel wells and there is no rubbing at all.

The 4 sessions at COTA were incredible. Sessions on Saturday felt pretty good, but I didn't break into the 40's which I fully expected to do, so I'm sure there was some grip degradation. Sunday, first session was okay, but was running 52's so grip wasn't there. 2nd session was pretty slippery. Passenger commented on why I had my car set-up to be so loose in the rear end. 3rd session vid is posted. Car was all over the place.

Yep, those were brand new Michelin slicks S9H compound. Again, tires were epic the first 4 sessions, pretty good for the next 3 or so, and then fell off pretty fast.

Agree, I had gloves I was using, but I couldn't find them. That would have kept me from busting my nail probably. No biggie though.

Passenger in car is crazier than me (Andi), so he didn't mind. I agree I should have pitted sooner, but I thought it would smooth out and grip would come as I got more heat in the tires. haha.

Thank you, sir, and thanks for flagging! You live local? If I was closer, I'd be all over flagging for free track time.

dvandentop

need more camber to get better longevity out of them IMHO and from what i have seen on 2 sets of mine.

did you always reset to 22lbs before sessions and get them to 30 hot??? that is another big thing to do.

also assuming you are on stock bushings? if so probably losing out alot of the camber in hard corners due to deflection

QUIKAG

Yes, suspension is stock. I seemed to have fairly even wear across both sets of tires. I think the ZR1 magnetic suspension is quite a bit stiffer than even the Z07/Z06 mag suspension. The calibration is different from what I've been told. For a stock suspension to not rub or roll too much is pretty amazing on slicks IMHO.

On the pressures, I always started at 22-24psi and they would get to 30 hot. One session, they got to 32psi mid-session. I monitor it frequently on track and check/adjust right after each session as necessary.

So, how many sessions did you get on your two sets?