I'm thinking about running slicks on my 88 tII this summer and I wanted to know if anyone had done this and what they thought of it.

I'm wont be driving the car everyday. Its already not street legal as far as emissions and exhaust go.

I don't plan on driving when it is raining.

Basically I like to corner and I really want to make sure The tires don't let loose when I get into boost at high speed.

I noticed there were some DOT Kumho tires with a lil line in them, they would be ok.

My main concern is life of the tires, they really only need to last me through the summer, two summers would be nice but I think that is wishful thinking for this type of tire.

 

Get some Trackday tyres, surely not full slicks for a road car.

toyo R888 are the daddies in this area, UK link but you get the idea.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.p...m12b0s665p3838

 

Hoosier slicks on a road track usually only last 2-3 races tops (20 min races plus 20 min qualifiing sessions) and cost $200 per tire. It would not only be illegal, unsafe, and costly, but driving like you need slicks in public is stupid.

If you are desperate to go fast around corners try the SCCA finger lakes region or any local autocross event.

 

tomoaac-Those seem like fine tires, but what would be the problem with slicks of a similar compound?

RX7 tuner, as I said I don't plan on driving this car too often, and if you use your train of thought of "well why do you need that" none of us would be driving these cars. Also why would it be unsafe, if I wasn't driving when it was wet?

 

have you not heard of drag radials.....with the emphasis on RADIAL

real slicks have no real side wall they're made to go fast in a straight line, if your takin a corner fast enough your worrying about the tires breaking loose, you'd be rolling your slicks under the rim

 

it is hard to get enough heat into Rcompounds on the street to make them any stickier than a sticky street tire. it also sucks running super soft tires on the street because you pick up every bit of debris in the road, nails, screws, glass, tableware, etc. Flat tires will be a common occurance. also the number of heat cycles you'll put into those tires driving on the street will make them nice and hard in short order.

 

slicks on the street is probably one of the dumbest ideas i have read on here in a while.

this kid had a similar idea. he isnt even sure what happened. part throttle at 40mph.






so yup. post pics of the aftermath i guess.

or just get some rt615's

 

Just to clarify I'm not talking about drag slicks here.

Ok I get the picture, slick are really not good for the street.

Thank you for your input guys.

I'll probably go with a set of those R888 as they should be more than enough, and I would have to worry about being hassled by the police about them.

 

that toyo R comp will still have the same issues i mentioned.

 

I'm going to guess that since you're asking about this you don't have alot of experience with them.

First off, like FCNAred said, you probably aren't going to keep enough heat in them to make them useful. Even an A6 or V710 needs a bit of heat to start working well. Cold, they are nervous, not confidence inspiring at all.

They do indeed pick up every pebble on the road and will sandblast your fenders clean in short order.

Also, despite being "legal" have a good time convincing any cop that isn't a racer himself that they are. You will get harassed, alot. A bunch of guys have been pulled over at 1 of our sites for driving from the site to the campground, which is less than a mile away and back roads.

While they are ok on damp pavement, they are downright dangerous in even the smallest of puddles.

Finally, race tires actually aren't that great in acceleration. My modestly powered TII will easily break my V710s loose at the top of 1st or 2nd, especially if I have any sort of steering angle on. They are designed to corner.

Please, if you want to drive at the ridiculous speeds r comps are capable of, come to an auto-x or HPDE. You're making the guys that use these things responsibly look bad.

 

i have no expirience with slicks, thats why i asked. As far as driving irresponcibly, im not sure where you got that from. All i said was that i like to corner and i dont want my tires to get loose. My dd rx7 gets loose at 55 in 3rd gear if it is damp outside, i can just imagine this happening easier with my 88.

 

If you haven't driven on them, you won't understand. They corner STUPID hard. I don't know if you have experience on RE01s or Azenis, but V710s make those things look like touring tires. They make you think "OMG there is no ******* way I can take this corner this hard" as you are diving into it. They are serious physics benders, and hence have no place on the street. If you are driving hard enough on the street to need them, you should have your license removed. Besides the speeds you can carry, there is NO error margin on them at the limit. I've spun my car so fast on course before that I've gotten dust in my teeth. If you wanna corner, come out to a auto-x, its not expensive and there are plenty of people willing to help.

 

You may want to change the terminology that you're using.

No one considers R888, RA-1, NT-01 or tires like that slicks. Slicks are either drag slicks or road racing slicks. You may want to use the word R-comps or R-compounds instead. Slicks don't have tread in them, while all DOT-legal R-compounds do.

Standing water is dangerous for any R-compound tire. Light rain is ok. Heat is a big issue affecting R-Compounds.

What you should be looking at are the following tires:
Yokohama Advan Neova
Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Toyo Proxes R1R
Falken Azenis RT-615
Kumho Ecsta XS

Best of the best when it comes to street tire traction, will last a lot longer than R-compounds, and you won't have to worry about a ticket.

damint jdmsuper7, you're making me want to pick up some 710s or A6s real soon.

 

Also
http://www.mohud-scca.org/Solo/
Jim Garry is a great guy, and Mo-hud a solid region.

CNY has some good sites too
http://www.cny-scca.com/index.php?mo...ohome_2008.htm

You could probably do some NE region events with a drive too.

edit: roen, be careful, they are addicting like crack...

 

i am running kuhmo ecsta supras on the 88 and they are pretty good i think i will just get another set of tires just for the track. i dont think we are talking about the same cornering, so i dont think you need to worry so much. I would love to get involved in scca, where are you in ny? Where can i get involved?

Thanks for the info

 

i like the toyo proxes 4's
i had a set of 4 brand new those things gripped amazing

 

Seeing as we are both stuck in shithole NY (I'm in Rochester, FLR is my home region), you aren't going to see any events until mid April. Go and give one of the close events a shot. Its usually in the $35 neighborhood. Registration is usually pretty early so you need to plan. Pump your tires up to like 40 psi, and take everything loose out of the car the night before. Listen to your novice instructor and have fun. If you like it, join up (I think you get a discount), the membership pays for itself after only a few events. If you really want to have fun, make the trip out to a Seneca Army Depot. Those events are always fast since there is alot more space to play with on the runway.

Roen had a great list of tires you should consider. All of them are plenty sticky and should easily last a full summer plus a bunch of events.

 

Just like how the V710's make the RE-01R's look like touring tires, the RE-01R's make the Kumho Ecsta Supras and the Toyo Proxes 4 look like all-season touring tires.

You're going to get a big improvement in grip with the list I submitted that you may not know what to do with it.

The tires I listed are the only tires any serious street tire autocrosser would consider for this season.

 

I've also used hankook RS-2's with good results, right now i am running the Dunlop Z1s

 

You remind me of my friend who flipped his RX7 into a ditch going 70mph around a 30mph corner...

He had to have the most billy bad *** tires and once he did though his car was unstoppable... that accident btw happened 6 days after the tires were mounted on the car.

 

You'd better not hit so much as a puddle in the street or you're going to spin out! As a side to the comment about sandblasting your fenders with rocks and pebbles, this is what you'll be doing to the car behind you.

If you honestly need more performance on the street than any street tire can give you, I've really got only one piece of advice. Do the world a favor and stop driving! You don't want to know the rest of my opinion. If this is ONLY for the track, put them on when you get there but you don't need them on the street. There is no good excuse.

 

First off I would like to thank everyone for pointing out the safety factors concerned with slicks and non-street tires, there were a lot of good points which I hadn't thought of. I have no experience using these types of tires, therefore found it appropriate to get some expert opinions before even thinking about using such a tire.

I think it was roen who made some suggestions, I will most likely choose something like that.



I'm just a guy who is inexperienced with slicks asking about slicks, I have no Idea to what extent they perform in comparison to other tires.

I would also like to point out that this type of "well what do you need that for" quote is BS and I'm really sick of hearing it. Surely, no one who drives a TII needs the power and performance it offers, but those of us who do drive TIIs, enjoy every aspect of its performance and its not just about getting from A to B for us.

I have plenty of performance that I don't need, after reading everyones input I won't be getting slicks, not because I don't need them but because I don't want them.

 

Get one of those tires I listed, plus maybe the Hankooks, most of them are on Tire Rack, so read the reviews about them. You'll love the large increase in grip.

As an aside to Tire Rack, the Ecsta XS is very new so it doesn't have many reviews yet. However, they are slightly cheaper than the Dunlops which are the new must-have tire. Add on a review that claims that the XS is on par with the Dunlops and these are my top three:

Kumho XS
Dunlop Z1 Star Spec
Bridgestone RE-01R

 

Thanks Roen

 

Gotta learn to walk first. Don't be so hasty in moving up to R-comps. Try out the tires listed above, each one has their advantages and disadvantages. Pick the one you like, work with that one for some time, then move on once you feel you are ready for the next step.

Instantly going to an R-comp will not make you a better driver, since they'll become a band-aid for poor technique.