My $0.02…..
There is no appreciable difference between the Pirelli trackday / DOT race tires (not the super corsas) and the slicks in sc3. I think they are the same tire as the SC3 slicks with just enough grooves cut into them to pass as road legal.
I switch over to the DOT race tires for school/coaching days where I need to have a debrief or classroom session and don’t want to fuss around with warmers between sessions or for the first couple of track days in the season while I am getting reacquainted with the speed after several months off the bike.
If you aren’t activating traction control a lot on the DOTs, switching to slicks probably isn’t going to help unless having them gives you extra confidence to push a little harder, which in itself will probably help many people. Confidence is hard to gain and can be worth quite a bit of time if you are struggling to improve pace, just having a better tire can help you to feel comfortable to push and take some more risk.
I think slicks are great, but they are a bit of a hassle to maintain compared to DOTs.
The generator, stands and extra gas tank take up a bunch of space in your vehicle. Wear is more difficult to read with slicks. With DOTs it’s pretty clear when they are getting close to needing to be changed just by looking at them, not so easy with slicks. I change mine when I start feeling them slip a lot. If you forget to unplug your warmers after you take them off they can catch on fire….
Also, don’t be so concerned with temperature, focus on pressure. Figure out your target hot pressure and measure as soon as possible when you pit, adjust pressures before each session until your measured pressures immediately after a session are consistently where you want them. This takes a little guess work and experimentation, but once you get it right the tires work and feel great.
There is no appreciable difference between the Pirelli trackday / DOT race tires (not the super corsas) and the slicks in sc3. I think they are the same tire as the SC3 slicks with just enough grooves cut into them to pass as road legal.
I switch over to the DOT race tires for school/coaching days where I need to have a debrief or classroom session and don’t want to fuss around with warmers between sessions or for the first couple of track days in the season while I am getting reacquainted with the speed after several months off the bike.
If you aren’t activating traction control a lot on the DOTs, switching to slicks probably isn’t going to help unless having them gives you extra confidence to push a little harder, which in itself will probably help many people. Confidence is hard to gain and can be worth quite a bit of time if you are struggling to improve pace, just having a better tire can help you to feel comfortable to push and take some more risk.
I think slicks are great, but they are a bit of a hassle to maintain compared to DOTs.
The generator, stands and extra gas tank take up a bunch of space in your vehicle. Wear is more difficult to read with slicks. With DOTs it’s pretty clear when they are getting close to needing to be changed just by looking at them, not so easy with slicks. I change mine when I start feeling them slip a lot. If you forget to unplug your warmers after you take them off they can catch on fire….
Also, don’t be so concerned with temperature, focus on pressure. Figure out your target hot pressure and measure as soon as possible when you pit, adjust pressures before each session until your measured pressures immediately after a session are consistently where you want them. This takes a little guess work and experimentation, but once you get it right the tires work and feel great.
