How Much Faster Is A Car On Slick Tires?

[@tyrereviews]

I hope you all enjoy the video :) As usual I'd REALLY appreciate you reviewing your own tyres at www.tyrereviews.com/submit.htm WHATEVER the tyres are, it really helps me continue to make content like this. Also a follow on instagram will help, instagram.com/tyre_reviews

[@rodtukker1904]

Do you think if you run down the thread of summer tires and achieve the slick performance?

[@XQUADRA1]

100% the results were interesting

[@DashCamSerbia]

@@rodtukker1904 Maybe for a short distance, because they would burst soon, I think. :D

[@andyowens5494]

@@rodtukker1904 Nope. At that point you will have worn away the grippy stuff, and you're left with the structural rubber - its tough, but not anything like as grippy. And its death-on-wheels in all but bone dry conditions.

[@skippy2987]

Does shaving road tyres make much difference on a tarmac track? On dirt speedway I used to groove my tyres by hand and came up with improvements. I'd get about a meeting (30 400m laps) before needing to swap and rotate tyres, regroove them for the third meeting, and by the time that was over I had no tread block left to reshape. If I had the ability to shave tyres to reduce block distortion I would definitely have tried it to see if the tyres lasted any longer

[@bence.gabor.slezak]

I think we can all agree that every car guy has been wondering about putting slicks on at some point, and now we know we should, at least once. Then fall in love with it and spend all our money on tyres. 😂

[@supaahflyy]

😂 slicks or even semi slicks should be left if you're ultra rich or have a F1 team backing you with cash. Seems a costly hobby haha

[@bence.gabor.slezak]

@Ching Chong I don't think running a tyre to the cords will magically change the compound of it, but good luck! I'll soon have a pair of Falkens you could test your theory with. 225/40R18 Let me know if you're interested!

[@Petrezen1982]

@@supaahflyy I can see from your comment that you never had or driven car with semi slick tires. You are completly wrong.

[@Petrezen1982]

I had semi slick Yokohama 17" 225 tires Advean Novea and I can tell that I was driving on rain 250km/h with no problems, braking, steereng etc. On sunny day it's like changing whole car in comparison with normal tires. It impacts whole performance. Skills and driving technics are equaly important if pushing to new limits but semi slick are my only tires for private car summer time.

[@thechillywinds5810]

Running falken rt660s on the street and I think thats as hardcore as I need to get lol. Incredibly sticky tho

[@AntalopeAUT]

I like that "garbled/rushed" format ... finally a video that readily gives me information without having to endure endless intros . Thanks !

[@tyrereviews]

Thanks :)

[@brieee28]

6:49 that's really cool, there's so much grip it's lifting up the inside rear wheel like a kart

[@SolamenteVees]

Back in the day we called that the GTI wave. 👋🏻

[@JoeAchilles1]

OMG this is a test I've been dying to see, brilliant video again mate, love the shots of the inside rear lifting non stop... I would love to turn up to a track day with slicks, imagine how fast a lap of Goodwood would be 😂 Keep up the great work mate 🏁

[@adamthompson6669]

Nice M2 😉

[@tyrereviews]

"How fast around Goodwood are you?" "Yes"

[@nickgooris6761]

I was amused by that lift off by the rear tyres. Also i'll be curious what you'll do with your M2 or M3 on Goodwood with slicks

[@L_J_D23]

Get it done joe!

[@dragospahontu]

@@nickgooris6761 if you put slicks on a road car it will destroy your suspension.

[@matemarijan3795]

All my tyres eventually become slicks

[@tyrereviews]

:( rip rubber

[@JamesJames-yp8zy]

You are lucky man! In my home country asphalt is so bad you really have to burn clutch to make slicks!

[@skippy2987]

Next video "are road compound slicks any faster?" :p

[@russcattell955i]

In the 70's my mate loved his Dunlop "Kojaks" on his Cortina GT, until it rained.

[@WingsOfADream1]

this guy gets it.

[@1991julez]

I’ll never fail to be impressed by you ability to both drive at speed and talk to camera as well as your actual tyre testing ability. From what your channel shows you have quite possibly the best job in the world

[@tyrereviews]

There's lots of late nights working in an office on my own, but I'm definitely very lucky too!

[@richardsmith5249]

So is it difficult to keep heat in the rears when they're not actually touching the track?

[@johnhufnagel]

That hyundai sure likes to lift that leg in the corners. :D

[@tyrereviews]

haha, rear tyre temp was never really an issue after a warmup lap which surprised me. The car was setup for understeer though out of factory

[@damncritics]

It's probably easier actually because it means much more load on the tyre that's still touching the ground.

[@richardsmith5249]

I had a Mk I Golf that would do that, a lot of years ago. It had to be properly provoked, mind.

[@Fastvoice]

@Richard: Don't forget that also braking induces heat into the tyres - via the brake discs and rims. 😉

[@Henchman1977]

I was a car nut in the 90s... One thing this video exemplifies is how much more advanced cars are now. Sporty version of a pretty pedestrian car with this level of performance is really impressive. Love how it's so rigid that it's picking up the back tire on the sweeping corners.

[@tyrereviews]

It's a really impressive little hot hatch. It would be a different story on a 1.4 Nova

[@TassieLorenzo]

@@tyrereviews A Nova (or general city car supermini) tyre test would be fun!

[@scanning7567]

Crazy to think that just changing tyres can equate to a 6-7 Second lap time improvement. That is insane performance. Thanks for the vid!

[@s70driver2005]

I've always seen it as it's better to do tires and suspension before doing power mods. Power only helps during accel. Tires and sus help during accel, deccel and turning.

[@fredygump5578]

The part where you had the right rear tire slightly off the ground for like 5 seconds was impressive. I'm probably not brave enough to do that!

[@tyrereviews]

Close your eyes and turn hard (not actual advice)

[@Drnken229]

to stiff suspension, if we would have gone with a bit softer setting they wouldnt have went airborne.. so you dont have to be brave or anything, just happens depending on the road/track and your suspension

[@fredygump5578]

@@Drnken229 The truth is the exact opposite of what you said. The car is diving to the front outside corner because front springs (in combination with the suspension geometry) are too soft to prevent that amount of roll. And the rear springs are too stiff for this specific configuration. Why? Because it is a 4 door passenger car, not a single seat race car. If it was optimized for handling with just the driver, it would drive poorly when fully loaded.

[@Drnken229]

@@fredygump5578 oops, might be the other way around then :D

[@MusangLaut2]

welcome to fwd world 😎

[@luxor2192]

This channel is so underrated, awesome video again!

[@tyrereviews]

Glad you enjoy :)

[@charalamboskioulos3932]

Tyre Reviews always tells you the benchmark tyre, but more importantly, Tyre Reviews is the benchmark tyre review.

[@timmarks8941]

Super interesting comparison!

[@tyrereviews]

Glad you liked it!

[@TheBillzilla]

I've done that for real as well, in the Merdeka Millennium Enduraces races in Malaysia. Did five of them, the first two or three were done on road tyres (rules) and the last two or three were done on slicks. The lap time for the road tyres was about 2:52 I think and on the slicks about 2:46. The car was an AE-101 Corolla.

[@TheBlaert]

There's a serious difference. Years ago I did some hillclimbing. Pretty much standard cars but with suspension and bolt on tweaks. Tyre choice was probably the biggest difference. Started on a standard road tyre, then progressed to a softer compound and finally a road legal "slick". Absolutely crazy difference. Also tyre pressure made a shocking difference too

[@Sunny-s1de]

Higher or lower pressure for more grip?

[@TheBlaert]

@@Sunny-s1de slightly lower. Too low though and you risk the tyre coming off the rim

[@ashokeb]

Love your work, as usual! Fascinating points: 1. The soft Pirelli sidewalls make the tyres look like they’re going to fall off the rims! 2. Delighted to hear that slicks work so well on a good road car! 3. What pressure are you running? 4. I’m still waiting for a track day tyre test that includes all the latest and greatest, including the Nankang AR-1!

[@tyrereviews]

1) Very common with road tyres, looks scary but is perfectly normal :) 3) Everything was 32psi hot 4) Me too :o

[@ashokeb]

@@tyrereviews also love that you are so diligent with responses, thanks! 1. You’ve said before that Pirellis have softer sidewalls, so I assume it doesn’t look quite so weird on other tyres, particularly if the wheel is perhaps a 1/2” narrower. 3. Just got my new GR Yaris, so wondering. Used to run 30psi hot on my old Lotus, so 32 sounds about right for a 300kg heavier car! 4. Only you can make it happen!

[@tyrereviews]

@@ashokeb Actually most tyres look bad, I've seen Cup 2s looking just as scary! I wonder whether a wider wheel would actually help as then you get some stretch so more sidewall stiffness. Sick car. I'd aim for factory HOT on traack then play with the balance to suit you

[@ashokeb]

@@tyrereviews I actually think a narrower tyre, perhaps with a slightly higher pressure, might keep the sidewall and bead in better control.

[@79blustone]

That real is a considerable time difference, coming down 3 seconds a set! That fuel surge would make me loose the plot. I'd love to see some tyre testing on GR Yaris as being the car of the moment, it would be interesting to see what a difference of tyres would make being a 4WD small hyperhatch.

[@tyrereviews]

It's surprisingly common, I had the same issue on an M2 at 1/3rd tank remaining :( Would love to test with the GR sometime, I've still not driven one!

[@79blustone]

@@tyrereviews Was that the Competition or pre 2018/9? I wonder if they changed the internal dimensions so the fuel pick up pipe doesn't starve? Epic car though 👌. You really need to drive one (Yaris GR with circuit pack), don't listen to the hype, make your own judgement, but it is crazy how it delivers power in each of the drive modes- (sport) rear bias pushes you into the corner the 'normal' setting gives you the feeling of pulling you into the corners much like a front wheel drive should- but with slight effort made from the opposing axle for a subtle bit of grip (can't be switched 100% to front or rear wheel only, 4WD still has a slight effect). The sheer cornering speed will have you grinning from ear to ear. Most of the torque is low down- quite similar to an E.V, its different from say an M3 or M4 Competition. Its a different type of fun, definitely try and borrow one for a tyre test! (Be careful as the wheels are £1600 each without tyres!)I could imagine a lot of people would be very keen to see something here. 👍

[@tyrereviews]

@@79blustone It was a non-comp, they have updated it in the comp a little, however I've still experienced it around 1/4 tank

[@calorus]

GR Yaris + Slicks = A broken neck.

[@adriendebosse6941]

@@tyrereviews Just to add a bit of a warning about the time differences, the setups didn't have the same alloy wheels. The differences were maybe minimal, but if the wheels are really different, it can mean a lot in handling and accelerating :)

[@alenseven11]

This video comes at the perfect moment as I just did a track day last evening, with normal road tyres and I really saw how much better were some cars with track day tyres and slicks. It was more than obvious, they were just much faster everywhere! My MPS4 were overheating after max 4 laps or so, they were the most limiting factor on the day. Great video, thank you!

[@andypark1694]

ps4s is stupid expensive but a damn good road tire. not bad on track for a street tire but overheats and heat cycles out too fast.

[@alenseven11]

@@andypark1694 You are right. Mine are only ps4, not the "s" model, so even worse for track. I couldn't get the S in my size unfortunately.

[@tyrereviews]

The Goodyear F1 SS is way better on track as a road tyre

[@alenseven11]

@@tyrereviews You are completely right, I have GY SS on my other car and they are fantastic!

[@justdriveit7434]

Great great job Jonathan!!!We can’t find these type of videos!!Very useful and interesting!!!The most underestimated KZbin channel!!!Million subs channel!!!

[@tyrereviews]

Glad you enjoyed it! :D

[@SebiStr99]

This was really interesting! Really looking forward to a more in depth test in the future EDIT: Also would be very interested in suspension damage/wear from using slicks all day on an otherwise stock car, but that probably exceeds the scope of a simple YT video

[@tyrereviews]

It does sadly! Rubber bushes would be the main thing to go first, but then I'd be worried about oil starvation etc

[@SS454LS6]

I absolutely love the test. Shame the day didn't go as planned, but it's a great learning experience that you can put towards an even better video in the future. Those tire shots were fantastic. The front tires weren't just rolling onto the shoulder, they were right on the sidewall! Perhaps in the next video you could use a RWD car. I think a modern M3 (paddle shifts) would work well.

[@Roeb074]

Great video! When I used to do trackdays, getting a set of (used) slicks was usually the first modification. 6 seconds on a 1:30 lap, with same suspension and same power to weight... all the improvement coming from just braking, corner and corner exit speed. bonkers!

[@annelchin]

OMG it is already an amazing info for a claimed to be 'rushed' video.. Can't imagine if it was in depth.. Cheers! 🥳

[@tyrereviews]

Aw thanks!

[@andyohara1393]

Awesome video and a great comparison for track day tyres. About twenty years ago now I had an E30 M3 Sport Evolution which was running around 275 bhp with twin injection running a stand alone Motec ECU, Shrick cams and a custom air box, it was stripped, fully caged and was running 3 way adjustable coil overs with adjustable anti roll bars (I know, sacrilege to do that to a Sport Evo, but back then they were only worth about £12K!). I used to run slicks on track and the thing was awesome, however, I was forever changing bushes and god knows what else due to running slicks. The slicks on track were a world apart from the Bridgestone S02's that I used as a road tyre and back in the day the S02 was a really good road tyre.

[@tyrereviews]

I loved the S02, and what a car that sounded like. Did you ever consider just replacing the bushes with metal parts so the wear would be less of an issue

[@andyohara1393]

@@tyrereviews Yep the S02 was an awesome tyre especially for the E30 M3. The M3 did end up being rose jointed and poly bushed, it was excellent on track but an absolute nightmare on road especially with the upgraded diff I was also running. It's one of those things where I wanted to always go that extra bit and ended up selling it as it was and bought a Caterham Superlight R as a track car and ran that on Yokohama AO48s and Nitron coil overs, that was awesome too.

[@krzych91krk]

Looks like fun, but be aware. Road car suspension is not designed to handle this sort of G loads, so slicks will quickly wear out your stock suspension components/bushings. Exposed paint areas will suffer from the soft compound aggressively picking up all the rocks. Savagegeese made a good video on that subject.

[@johnhufnagel]

You gotta pay to play. painter's tape along the sensitive edges is always a good idea. It even comes in colors now so you can be decorative at track days! :D

[@tyrereviews]

Pay to play lol. Yeah I mention about the extra wear, I'll check out Savagegeese video :)

[@krzych91krk]

@@tyrereviews Agreed - pay to play. Here's the title of the video I referred to in case anyone's interested - "Are High Performance Tires Worth It? | The Fine Print". Would be great to see this channel's take on that subject at some point :)

[@thehawk05]

Chris is spot on with his points……notably suspension components. Back in the day a friend used to track his car and tried slicks one weekend. Went faster than he ever had of course but the cost was it destroyed several of the control arm bushings (which were rubber still as it was still a street car) Never had that problem when he ran DOT R compound tires.

[@annarobin28]

The Best TIRES TEST Chanel in Internet. Ever... We love you. 🌹

[@tyrereviews]

Thank you :D

[@horrgakx]

I had a set of ex-BTCC slicks on my Mitsubishi EVO 6 TME at Croft, I agree with your comment about pressing the brake pedal ridiculously hard, I thought I was going to pull the wheels off the car, it was immense!

[@tyrereviews]

Nice car :D

[@horrgakx]

@@tyrereviews Thanks. Have some content on KZbin, wish I'd kept it now :)

[@JamesJames-yp8zy]

As always, the way you describe your experience, opinion and facts that every amateur can understand is astonishing. Thanks Jonathan!

[@tyrereviews]

Glad you enjoyed it! :D

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

I really appreciate the work you do. I like your honest opinion about the tires you test and I understand why you don't often get to comment about tires across brands versus within brands. On a purely numbers based comparison, track times tell you where brands will rank so long as the platforms are roughly similar. Please continue your testing and keep up the great work.

[@ThunderGoatz]

Thank you for this. You sound very rushed, but never the less, the video quality is amazing as always. You're a legend.

[@tyrereviews]

Thanks :)

[@dilysi156]

OMG YOU LITTERALY MADE A VIDEO ABOUT WHAT I ASKED!! Thanks a lotttt!!!

[@tyrereviews]

Just for you :)

[@PaylasYorum]

Thank you for meticulous reviews. I really enjoy watching and learning new things about tires. Writing ✍️ my reviews for all the tires I have used.

[@tyrereviews]

Thank you for your reviews :)

[@PaylasYorum]

@@tyrereviews you’re welcome ☺️

[@remiltonsilveira7314]

Man, i really love this channel!

[@tyrereviews]

Thanks dude :)

[@ramadhanisme7]

Man this is the comparison that i have been dying to watch for 🤣🤣 Great videos as always, now i can finally see how much the time difference between track tyre and slick tyre

[@tyrereviews]

I hope you enjoyed!

[@pgr3290]

Tried slicks on a Caterham R500, it was a bizarre feeling but once they were warm it would literally drive around the outside of anything on the track. I could walk around the outside of a 997 GT3 RS like it wasn't there. It was hilarious.

[@tyrereviews]

Sounds fun :D

[@MRS-2ZZ]

Good job at breaking the stigma of using slicks on track. Hardly anyone uses them on track days, with the exception of race cars. I've been using them for a while now and pretty much found the same time differences as yourself, around 2-3 seconds a lap over a decent semi slick. The benefits for me are they are cheap as chips used if you find a race team that uses your size and compound, and they last longer than semi slicks IME on a

[@matthijs3134]

6:50 love it how the tires actually lift the back end of the car up under heavy braking and cornering!

[@RobertKarlBerta]

I have noticed that the "same" tire from a given manufacturer can vary from one version matched to a specific car to the "same" tire matched to another car. Pirelli seems to very quite a bit with their PZeros as designed for different car brands/models. I also value a tire that may not be a tiny bit faster than another if the slower tire is actually more communicative. While the older Michelin PSS may be a tiny bit slower dry than a newer P4s....the older PSS, to me, had the better feel and feedback between the two. Also tire tech has changed so much that the newer tires are vastly improved over those of just a few years ago. As far as slicks on a road car....I went with uniballs instead of rubber bushings and that helps with non-slick tires....but I still won't use slicks on my road car....just to many other parts that are getting pushed far beyond their design parameters. I remember reading about a famous competition driver teacher who advised to get less aggressive tires for going to a driving school.....he said you need to learn how to drive the car and not rely on the crutch of a really sticky tire and the slower and cheaper tires give you more warning when you are getting over your head.

[@xFlowRS]

Man, all your clips are great. Whether it's something informative, or fun content like this (I say fun, 'cause most of us don't drive at track at all, for some it's reality though). Also, unlike so many other channels, you actually talk to/help your audience. Keep it up! P.S. I followed your advice and kept WR A4 for winter. Tyre is great!

[@tyrereviews]

Glad you like them, I look forward to seeing your review on site :)

[@tanvirhussain6106]

Finally John your on slicks! Been waiting good few years and your there. Please showcase in future video all slicks available on the market and test those and price them up too so me and my mates can make informed decision what to try on track next in my M3

[@tyrereviews]

haha, I'll try!

[@DanLMH]

great stuff! would love to see a "faster car" on the road tyre vs something like the i30n on slicks just for fun :D

[@tyrereviews]

That would be fun! Seeing an I30N troubling a GT3 lol

[@stephensmith2027]

@@tyrereviews Toyota GR Yaris vs Toyota GR Supra ;)

[@robmartin5414]

It’s no wonder you got faster times from the first tyre to the second one you’re driving on the left side we here across the pond drive on the right making the tread pattern have more contact on the track 😜😜seriously this video proves how much tread pattern and thickness has on the rolling resistance those are awesome results cheers from Canada

[@guigoroable]

Great test again, really interesting stuff! I went ahead and put Cup 2's on my 992 Turbo after watching reviews here on the channel and getting some great advice. My concern obviously was if track day tires would work on my daily driver, and so far they do (I am being extra careful in the rain). Now I want to try slicks on it at my next track day!

[@tyrereviews]

Jesus, a 992 turbo on slicks would be quite frankly insane. I'm not sure there would be a faster car possible.

[@djsomeguy]

@@tyrereviews you have to wonder where the breaking (not braking) point is for drivetrain/suspension components with that much grip on what is already a very grippy car.

[@RobertoBestia]

I would advise consulting Porsche for the ability to run slicks for a track day. Be aware that slicks will increase the stress on your drivetrain by a substantial amount.

[@time2driveohio151]

@@RobertoBestia slicks will void warrenty too

[@HidRomail]

Reviewing some of the known tyres, as Federal 595 RS-PRO vs Nankang AR-1s or NS-2Rs, etc would be awesome. Keep up the good work!

[@tyrereviews]

It's on the list :)

[@TranceFur]

I’d love to see a test including NS-2Rs, as I used to run them on a daily/autoX E36. Absolutely horrendous on the street, but my god, the braking and cornering grip felt insane!

[@HidRomail]

@@TranceFur I used NS-2Rs, and moved to Federal 595 RS-PRO, and I felt that the grips is better in Federals and also, they don't tend to loose grip when hot. I had a pretty good scare with those on a very fast turn. For me RS-PRO > NS-2R

[@ironingbored]

I ran NS2Rs over 2 years of wet Welsh road use, in an Alfa Giulietta. I thought they were superior to decent road tyres I had used before - PS4 inclusive. Not as bad in the wet on an FWD car as maybe they'd be when cold on a RWD car. In fact I found them to be very good in the wet. But immense amounts of fun in the dry.

[@shaul.vilkomir.preisman]

Having just done my very first track day, this is a video I needed. Thanks!

[@Zygrene]

Another great test. Very interesting to hear you enjoyed the slick on a street focused hot hatch, and that lap time advantage is insane.

[@Pagelos]

Whoa, would never have imagined that diff for the slicks. Thanks for the video

[@m.b.82]

6:24 i like how you say pfpfpfp just as the tyre goes on the ripple strip. Nice editing touch lol

[@tyrereviews]

Not intentional lol

[@iraqrepublicangaurd]

I didn't know before that there is slick tires !!! Anyway after watching your videos I have decided to buy continental ts860 fir my car. Thank you for helping in choosing my next tyre.

[@benjaminford8173]

I love this channel, you do amazing work!

[@tyrereviews]

Thank you very much!

[@supaahflyy]

This is one of those things everyone watching this channel (obviously a select few car enthusiasts) already knew the results to but what we didn't know what the difference in times. Finally we have some data on the difference between UHP and Semi Slick's in time difference. Awesome test

[@natoftw]

Awesome video! The right tyres for the occasion is the only way to improve a new car dynamically and not void your warranty. Have you considered testing lightweight rims + tyres against same size "regular" rims and tyres? Wondering how much reducing unsprung mass would affect performance and grip, especially on a FWD car, where a lot more is expected from the front wheels.

[@tyrereviews]

Yes I have! I'm excited to find a time to test it!

[@pacolicious]

That's a very good question. I'm curious

[@LackundLeder]

@Deniz: Very good question! As far as I know, reducing 1kg each wheel will equal into 28kg less "weight". Reducing 2kg each wheel reduces like 56kg "weight" .. and so on. So maybe not sooo much than you expect. Buuut, if you are able to reduce unused stuff in your car like ChrisFix showed us, plus put some slicks onto it, you´re the king! Link to ChrisFix, very interessting test cause he also measured the time gap: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3TMf3qjrNSjrpY

[@tire_reviews]

@@LackundLeder Thanks for the link, I'll give it a watch. Rotational inertia is certainly a big deal for longitudinal grip, but less so for lateral so that "56kgs" isn't quite 56 around a track :) It will still be a very interesting test

[@TassieLorenzo]

@@LackundLeder That's way overrated IMO, I think it's more like 1kg of unsprung rotational mass being worth about 4kg. There's a test that a UK magazine did on a Fiesta ST150 years ago. I think the lightweight Team Dynamics wheels with the same tyres were worth about 1-1.5s of lap time compared to the OEM wheels, but the 0-60mph time was slower in the wet with the lighter wheels as there was increased wheelspin (as the lighter wheels reduced the drivetrain loss and therefore effectively increased the amount of wheel horsepower I guess, or maybe just because they had less inertia).

[@ChrisMisMYhandle]

Interesting to see this. One thing that I think a lot of people don't consider when they think of running slicks is the car it was designed for, and the downforce level of that car. If you run a tyre designed to be used on a car with meaningful downforce, you're really going to struggle to load it up enough to get enough temperature into it.

[@XQUADRA1]

i always was curios about this, thank you for this amazing video

[@tyrereviews]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Dorich55]

Thanks for that video! That was the most entertaining video on a subject that I didn’t think I was interested in, ever. I can only imagine what I felt like to drive that car after changing to track day and then slick tires. Envious here, though it’s looks like you had a long frustrating day at the track. Thanks for the effort. Well done

[@gordonpatterson4425]

I wonder if the compound for the Pirelli P Zero PZ4 changed. Those were my first UHP tires on my Mk7 GTI and tracked them for one day back in 2017. They slide all over the place. Threw them away, after collecting a puncture, and went with the Michelin Pilot 4S. Same set lasted about 6 to 7 track days. They provided much more confidence than the Pirellis. I haven't looked back since.

[@kenzohkw]

Pirelli seem to have poor road tyres. I've seen a set of Pirellis delaminate on a Clio 220 after a few hot laps and they weren't even a year old!

[@tyrereviews]

I think there must have been a big update, I'll check

[@ApothecaryTerry]

Would definitely be interesting to know if they've been updated, there doesn't seem to be any obvious info suggesting that but various forums don't seem to like the PZ4s (although certain forums, especially Porsche ones, are pretty anti-Pirelli anyway) but I stuck a set on last week and have been very pleasantly surprised. They're not perfect but they're certainly better than I'd been led to believe.

[@michaelluttmer2486]

Great review, I was super curious about these. Because you asked in your video, I'm in the process of writing 6 or so tire reviews.

[@tyrereviews]

That's awesome, thank you!

[@whitewalker9622]

You missed out on tyre pressure and wheel allignment for these tyres, please do another ep on this :)

[@CarSceneKorea]

Wish this vid is 30 minutes long. Thanks for the amazing content and props to Pirelli 👏

[@tyrereviews]

Thanks :D

[@bogdan12275]

Amazing video ! Would be interesting to see this test done on a RWD car .

[@tyrereviews]

I was trying but finding the car / sizes was tricky

[@Fastvoice]

@@tyrereviews Try 210/610R17 on a GT86 or BRZ. Or maybe 230/650R18 on the new GR 86. 😉

[@clarencebenjaminlim]

This is your best test thus far.! Love it!

[@tyrereviews]

Thanks :)

[@ragweedmakesmesneeze]

Great video as always. You are so good at this. I was interested when you mentioned that you wished you weren't in the car's stiffer "sport or track" mode because of all the bouncing around. This might be out of your wheelhouse a bit, but lately I've been thinking/wondering if it is ACTUALLY true that a stiffer suspension set-up is faster around a track? Would love to see you run a test including that parameter as well!

[@tyrereviews]

I've almost shot that video before but ran out of time! It's something I definitely plan on doing :)

[@ВіталійДедік]

Some say the N are a stiff cars overall, as for hothatches. Do you agree?

[@bilaltariq7819]

Stiffer springs will work better with rcomps and improve transient response, so on a smoothish track they would be better

[@TassieLorenzo]

I think it depends on how bumpy the track is and how intense the corner loads are. Apparently in the V8 Supercars they run the whole range from 4 kg/mm (so close to a sporty road car) at street circuits where they need to ride kerbs, up to 20 kg/mm (i.e., rock-solid) at circuits like Bathurst where there are high speed corners with elevation change and they need to stop the car bottoming out.

[@SVW1976]

Well done! I didn't think the differences would be that great.

[@larsweinand4035]

Awesome!! Looking forward to more of this. Maybe you can explain the sizes and numbering systems of slicks over standard sizes next time somehow :)

[@tyrereviews]

Good idea :)

[@SerenaBluee]

It looks as though they use the width in mm, outside diameter of the tyre in mm, and the wheel diameter in inches. With the size given as 235/645 R18, an 18" tyre with that kind of profile (similar to the road-biased 245/40 R18 used earlier in the video), would be around 650mm in overall diameter.

[@Fastvoice]

@@SerenaBluee Sounds about right. The Yokohama A005 rear slicks on my old NSX were called 250/610-17 S04. So we have tyre width in mm (which is usually just an approximate value), tyre outside diameter in mm, rim size in inches and compound mix (S for soft, the lower the number, the softer the compound AFAIK).

[@florian_montuzet]

It was the one I was hoping for ! I hope you will do the second one with more data.

[@Woggin-ind]

That sidewall deflection at 3:40 😮

[@tyrereviews]

Looks bad but is actually fairly normal for road tyres!

[@UnProj]

Check the deflection at 6:18

[@DonLee1980]

wow, the tires made such a difference in lap times, but again, this track is like constant cornering and almost no straights. I was debating with a friend the other day, whether track tires made more difference for a fast car, or for a slow car. My first thought was, that a slow car won't be on the limit of grip as much, while a fast supercar will need a good tire to get the most out of the car. Well, this test showed that even a good tire on a medium fast car will improve your lap time hugely, but again, it could be circuit dependant. Gosh, I still don't know lol, but thank you for this test!

[@boyacki]

So moral of the story, we need slicks!!

[@tyrereviews]

Yes! And race cars

[@alfie3836]

This test is fantastic!! Please don’t ever stop!

[@nathanmacleod1367]

Hold on is no one going to comment that he is literally wearing a calculator on his wrist.😂

[@tire_reviews]

FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICED :D/

[@tyrereviews]

10 points :D

[@marka3504]

Thank you for fulfilling my suggestion with this video, it made my terrible day way better. Now I'm currently looking for some decently used slicks as a start LOLOL.

[@tyrereviews]

Glad I could help!

[@CerberusTenshi]

I might have to look into slicks for my Type R. At least for track use. That would mean different rims to fit the 245/40 tyres, but that's fine, I guess.

[@tyrereviews]

Just be aware things wear out much more quickly!

[@Fastvoice]

@Cerberus: You'll need a 2nd set of rims anyway if you drive to and from the track with the Civic (with mounted slicks in the trunk). 😉

[@CerberusTenshi]

@@tyrereviews True. Most people seem to go through multiple brake pads and even brake disks on track in way less kilometers than my Type R has on it now. Plus oil, bushings and more.

[@CerberusTenshi]

@@Fastvoice I have 18 inch rims for my winter tyres, but those are 235/40. So it's not, that I don't already have a second set of wheels, that I could use for track tyres during the Summer and than put winter tyres on again. They are just the wrong size. Also, over here in Germany, driving on slicks is illegal. I wouldn't be caught dead doing something that stupid.

[@Fastvoice]

@@CerberusTenshi Du hast mich wohl missverstanden. Du kannst problemlos 230-650er 18-Zoll-Slicks (die häufig tatsächlich etwas breiter sind) auf deine 18-Zoll-Felgen montieren und die dann im Kofferraum zur Rennstrecke transportieren und dort montieren. Auch 240-640er gehen. Slicks auf der Straße sind natürlich überall illegal - auch bei uns in Deutschland.

[@FrancoisTCS]

Nice review !! Even though I will never put slicks on my car.... 😬 nor even track tires....

[@tyrereviews]

Thanks :D

[@kosfactor]

You should on occasion review cars as well on track. We will watch, promise.

[@asalouros]

Awesome test video! Dude you keep banging out quality vids that just give us punters quality info. Much appreciated.

[@tyrereviews]

:D

[@ErikB750]

Would love to see more details (from another test session maybe) taking the temps into the equation. As you know by design, slicks optimal temp is higher, allowing to be more aggressive with the setup and staying out longer, but they might be more limited in the amount of heat cycles they allow. Also storage temps are important (don’t go too low). In short: there’s more than laptimes to think about. (my opinion)

[@JackMott]

not all slicks have higher operating temps. and generally you consider only laptimes and if the life time is less you just pay more money to get new ones more often. such is racing.

[@tyrereviews]

Agreed, I'd love to do all this too but it needs more time (and money :( )

[@videomaniac108]

Thanks Jonathan for another great video. Concerning the use of slicks on the street, I think it is feasible if the driver is really careful. I lived in San Diego, where it is dry most of the year and where there is not a terrible amount of rain during the winter rainy season. I had a Porsche 944s with a set of Yokohama A008Ps that had been evenly worn down to slicks. The tires handled fantastically in the dry during most of the year, with me only having to be watchful for water runoff on the roads from sprinklers. During the winter when we did get some rain I did drive in the slow lane on highways, not over 50, and made gentle turns with light braking and never was in a scary situation. The only problem was when my wife found out that my tires were slicks and she marched me down to the tire store, while ignoring my explanations of how the benefits far outweighed the risks in driving on the sicks.

[@tyrereviews]

Surely it's also illegal past the tread wear indicator of 1.6mm?!

[@videomaniac108]

@@tyrereviews You could be right on that, as I do remember a San Diego cop who was measuring the tread depth of my tires during a traffic stop one day. He was a jerk who was annoyed that some guy who looked like a kid was driving a Porsche and so he was scrutinizing every inch of my car, looking for equipment violations he could stack up against me. I'll not drive the Michelin PS4S tires on my Z past the wear indicators. BTW: my projected mileage for these tires to zero tread is looking like 38K miles on the rears and 50K on the fronts, not what I expected for this kind of tire. The ¢ per mile tire cost of running these tires is looking to be very cheap. I use the engine a lot for braking and have the habit of always trying to use maximum radius turns when cornering; perhaps that's helping in getting the excellent tire wear that I'm getting.

[@peterfarkas6763]

Thank you again for the great content! How did the rim width compare between the different tires? As a side note for future videos topics, I would really like to know if the same width tire would behave any differently with different rim widths or not.

[@tyrereviews]

Wdiths same, different offsets slightly. I actually have that high on my list of things to do as it's something I want to know too!

[@kristinahylton5514]

Tire Rack recently made a video on tire width vs Wheel width. Surprisingly a wider tire is not always faster, and sometimes is slower than a narrow tire on a properly sized rim.

[@marcusrobertson8065]

Can’t wait for these results , great work 👊🏽

[@raftonpounder6696]

I once told the police I was on racing slicks. They didn’t believe me.

[@alexdory900]

:)))))

[@Eddie07S]

Quote of the day - “So where where was it (the slick) getting time from? Absolutely freakin’ everywhere! It was awesome!” 👍 Actually, I am surprised you saw much of an improvement with the slick. With as little front camber as that car probably has, it is no wonder that the slick didn’t pull itself off the tread and onto the slide wall and understeeer to the point of agony. The car did well. The thing I wonder about with slicks as a track day tire is whether they will heat cycle out before wearing out. If I do a 2 day event, that would be 8 heat cycles. I wonder if they will be at a 500 TW before the end of the event. At any rate... great review. Looking forward to the followup...

[@tyrereviews]

I'd really like to test that, but I'd guess it wildly varies from slick to slick

[@Eddie07S]

True if you were looking for absolutes in changes in performance. But what if you were to just look for a trend within one brand? Could you get a trend just though changes in tread rubber hardness? What if you took the PIRELLI track tire and slick to multi tire test days that you do even if the tests themselves are for some other reason. It wouldn’t have to be the same track, maybe not even the same car, but just to heat cycles on them; tag along laps/testing. Take hardness measurements after they cool each time, Maybe tire temps as you come off the track? Then after a few heat cycles take them back to the track that you first used them and retest them for lap times. Ok, surely there are some details to work out along with how to compare data, but maybe a trend can be worked out. Just a thought... At any rate, your efforts are always of interest...

[@kenzohkw]

Don't fit slicks on your track car unless you upgrade your oil circulation system otherwise oil starvation is real and bye bye engine!

[@tyrereviews]

Yep!

[@a.villar6291]

What? Why?

[@zoka7108]

@@a.villar6291 G-forces interrupt oiling

[@a.villar6291]

@@zoka7108 that's logic! I've never thought about that, but it makes sense

[@AdistiantoYuwono]

Next year, there will be an 18" Pirelli slick F1 tyres. Can't wait for you to test it on road car!!!

[@tyrereviews]

hahaha I'll ask the question

[@memo90frost]

Such a cool video, didn't expect to see racing slicks tested. Hopefully we'll get a more in depth video in the future.

[@tyrereviews]

Pepe is the best meme

[@czierwo]

Love how the car is lifting the inner rear tire! Great comparison!

[@aroundomaha]

I envious of all that seat time in the i30N since we don't get those in North America. Great test and reminds me of switching from 500 UTQG all seasons to RE71s for autocross. It was like getting a new car.

[@StormeTheGates]

This is awesome! but I'd love to see you throw winter tires in the mix just for fun!

[@thomasmogensen1]

Great test, great to see the different on the pirelli and from road tires to semi, to slick Look forward to more like this please 👌🏻🤘🏻👍🏻 Well done and great info, even if it was cut short 👍🏻

[@tyrereviews]

Thank you!

[@stefndogg]

Once again another super useful comparison. I have thought about going the slick route a few times(currently on Rival S 1.5's), but as you mentioned, the wear and tear on wheel bearings, bushings etc. always kept me away. Back before all the "200tw" tires were out, I ran Toyo Ra1's on my cars, which were the hot tire at the time, but even those were very hard on suspension components. These days, I feel like unless its a full time track car, the current crop of 200tw tires strikes a good balance between on track ability and street usability. If I ever can justify having truck, trailer and full time track car, then I will for sure go with slicks.

[@tyrereviews]

I'd imagine the 1.5's are pretty tough too!

[@pigeonpoo1823]

Fantastic to see, thanks. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, 'please repeat with an M2 cs'. Great work

[@tyrereviews]

😁

[@schmid1.079]

When talking upgrades, tyres are the first thing anyone should consider investing in. Doesnt look or sound as cool, but its totally worth buying good ones.

[@russcattell955i]

Tyres & brakes, cheaper than motor upgrades & allow faster for longer.

[@EugenioPicado]

Great review. Looking fwd to more slick reviews. Hoosiers, Michelin, Goodyear and Pirelli slicks

[@tome1903]

My autocross truck went from sliding through turns with barely any lateral G force on street tires to having so much grip with the slicks that i got a new rule added because i almost rolled the truck and it would frequently 3 wheel. Ive since lowered it to the point that almost rolling is no longer an issue, but it will still happily pick up the inside front tire, and I'm getting ready to put an even grippier set of tires on it.

[@purplehazeffc]

Is it possible to to a Tyre test using the i30N ?? As the original Pirelli "HN" P-Zero's get a lot of complaints from owners.. With the Michelin PS4S's being the most popular replacement & make a HUGE improvement.. Great video

[@corynhughes7782]

Did very similar years ago on my mkiv Supra started with Goodyear GSD3 F-1s which were legendary in the wet.Went from them to Yokohama Advan AO48 Semi slicks which were a decent tyre very expensive for the performance gain I got over the Goodyears. In the end I went to a square Dunlop D11 265 slick and I found 5 seconds over the road tyre it’s night and day even over the Semi also and it all starts with the entry and exit speed out of the corners and braking that’s where most of the time was. Like the content creator mentioned you feel like a driving hero because of that extra grip with the full slick it really is an eye opener once the temps up in them.The secret I found after runs is to keep the slick in hot air temp of between 32-34 psi and the grips there for days.

[@brunomanco7529]

I did this last year. I was doing 2.04 on my home track with old used 235/610r17 slicks. I then switched to 255/40r17 semi slicks and ended doing 2.10 (gearing was also worse because the slicks were 610mm diameter and the 255s are about 645mm)

[@winkytct]

Thank you for doing this video! (Would love to see the Yaris GR test)

[@danny7694]

easy sub & like for me, very informative, good camera angle showing the preformance and behaviour of the tyre wall. yeh good video mate

[@TheChannel1978]

Great test! Have been wondering about this myself. Long time user of semi slicks but never made the jump to slicks, because I drive to the track.