Where to buy fully slick tyres?

[Trackslag172]

hello all,

Anyone know a decent place to buy fully slick tyres. To fit 15" 7J wheels?

And what size, the ones i've seen have the sizes in a different format to the 195/45/15 i'm used to?

Cheers
Tim

 

[Steven103]

Format is: width, rolling diameter, wheel diameter.

Rolling diameter for 195/50/15 would be (25.4*15)+(195*50*2/100) for example. That was (inch in mm*wheel diameter)+(width*sidewall*2/100%). Rolling diameter is pretty vague tbh (e.g. the same size between two brands can easily be 10mm different) so just get something close.

Most are in mm (Dunlop, Pirelli, Avon)

E.g. 280 660 R18

But some (Michelin) are in cm:

E.g. 28/66-18 (size doesn't exist btw, just showing what the above example would be in Michelin)

Clio cup UK cars ran 19/57-15 Michelin. S9 (hard) compound.

Compound codes are hilarious. Dunlop & Avon are a seemingly random string of letters & numbers that you need to look up on a table to know what is what. Michelin have a 3 digit code where the middle number, 1 to 9, denotes soft to hard so you can work it out yourself. Pirelli are my favourite as it's really simple: the first letter is D or W (dry/wet) and the second is S, M or H (soft/med/hard).



As for where...

New tyres - just search Avon Motorsport etc and look up the distributors details. HP Tyres are popular for dunlops.

Used tyres - find a one make race series that use a suitable tyre size & then agree cash on collection with a local team. Lots just put them on eBay these days tbh so that's worth a search. Most UK series use Dunlop atm so they're probably your best bet. Bound to be people running 15" in Britcar for example. Someone on here might know someone who knows someone who knows someone. I can't help with 15s.


What do you want them for? Just to go quicker on track days? Any used slick will be massively better than any R888/Dirreza etc, but ones which have been very well looked after will be worth another 2 seconds a lap. If it's just track days u wouldn't get caught up in worrying about how many heat cycles they've done etc, just make sure they've got some meat left on them.

P.s be prepared for generic comment about needing mental spring rates, aggressive pads & spherical bearings all round to get the most. Oh and probably something about less grippy tyres teaching you to be a better driver

 

[Trackslag172]

Cheers for the reply, it's an excellent read!
I'm a half decent track driver already, no expert, but I'm pretty competent!
I only want them to go faster on track days (mainly brands as its a small circuit and perfect for a relatively low powered clio), my clio is just a standard 172 with everything striped out (approx 800kg), all polybushed up and BC coilovers all round. I'm going to Spa and Nurburg in April and wanted to take a set of slick tyres as spares to try them out. I figure the only chance I have to keep up with my mates in much faster cars is to beat them in the corners with the grip from the slicks!
I've just emailed an Avon supplier to see what they recommend and how much they want, bu my guess is they are out of my price range. I would happily take a second hand set off ebay, but at the moment the only ones I can see are well used.

Would you recommend soft or hard compound? There are a fair few hard compound ones on ebay, but I thought I would want soft, grippy tyres?

Cheers for the advice,
Tim

 

[JamesBryan]

Do most track day organisers still insist on having a cage when using slicks?

 

[Matt W]

Do most track day organisers still insist on having a cage when using slicks?

Pretty sure that's the case. Some track days don't allow slicks full stop.

 

[imprezaworks]

Times I've been at Oulton I've seen people run slicks without a cage

 

[Steven103]

I would pay more attention to wear pattern than compound if I were buying second hand. The sort of cars you'd be buying 15" slicks off probably won't have the most advanced suspension design in the world, so will be running three or four degrees of camber up front to compensate. As such the middle bit might look great but the shoulder might not have anywhere near the same amount of life left. By the same token mount them a clever way round on the right corner of the car to maximise tyre life.

If I was buying new (for fun) I wouldn't really care. Even an old hard compound slick will be a very noticeable step above a semi slick. Maybe some of the people who have been racing years can back that up @Tony Hunter @NorthloopCup @harvsurrey etc. And even a soft compound will give you a good couple of hours of running, these are saloon/hatchback/touring/sportscar sized slicks made for long races afterall, not F1 super softs designed to obliterate the first 8 laps.

Would be nice to hear some comments on number of laps/length of use in Clio sizes, as I'm used to stuff that perhaps works tyres a bit harder than that sort of car.

There's a surprising amount of similar "where to buy" threads at the bottom of this page tbh.

 

[...]

Hummm

Find a decent supply , of a known slick in 15" sizing first.
Look for blueing and graining on the surfaces as thats not great
Look at the depth holes to see they have not had the edges run due to lots of camber.

Get a shore gauge to match up sets by hardness as the team will maybe not have kept sets together

Learn how to heat cycle them and warm and cool down properly to extend the life

Get a set of wets from the same series they will be magic compared to ANY road tyre in the wet

As for car , cage , uprated bushes rod end etc or be prepaired to change them ALOT .

Spanner check the car well after use running slicks punish suspension far far far more than list 1a semi slicks

Cage .... If you have not got one forget slicks , any tdo who allows slicks without cage is nuts because its against the atdo code

Thought cages and slicks were banned at the ring unless on a track day

Brakes ..... Uprate because the heat and forces running slicks are way higher

 

[...]

And my comma button is broken lol

 

[JamesBryan]

Times I've been at Oulton I've seen people run slicks without a cage

Yeah, I have too Dan. Bit naughty really.

 

[imprezaworks]

It is when they are a fair bit quicker lol

 

[Trackslag172]

Cheers for the advice guys, really helpful.

Done a bit of research and 2nd hand one seem few and far between. So I was looking at new ones.
Found these, looked up some reviews and they are basically budget ones. They are far cheaper than more popular brands, and i doubt I would even notice the difference in performance at my current skill level!
Has anyone had any experience with them?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/400454357407

 

[Trackslag172]

And just so no one is worried about me :smile:, I do have a full roll cage, bucket seats and harnesses

 

[...]

just reading a thread from people i know and have competed with , they tried them on a car at anglesea in warm dry temps ............... they had about the same grip as the T1r road tyres they had and were 4 seconds a lap slower than the avons they had that were showing signs of canvas in places .............

buy cheap s**t and you will get cheap s**t .