Racing slick tires are used by some of the fastest cars in the world, but just how much faster is a slick tire when compared to a track day tire, or even a normal ultra high performance road tire on a regular road car?
To find out, we're putting the ultra high performance Pirelli P Zero PZ4 road tire against the the Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R track day tire and two different types of Pirelli slick race tires to find out exactly how much faster a slick tire can be!
The test vehicle is a hot hatch Hyundai I30N. This isn't a race car, but that's not the point, can a FWD hot hatch with stock suspension settings really extract the most from a slick tire, or will it be too much tire for the car?
The two street legal tires are 245/40 R18, and the two slicks are 235/645-18 and 245/645-18. Watch the full video below for all the wonderful action around the Tazio Nuvolari circuit in northern Italy.
Results
- 3PMSF: no
They took about the same time to warm up, but the rear was a little more flighty with oversteer until warm.
Once warm, they had seemingly endless grip, everything to Trofeo R was good at this was better. It was almost too much for the car, at one point I could barely push the brake hard enough to get the abs system to activate, probably the hardest I've been able to brake in a road car.
Zero heat deg across multiple hard laps.
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Handling | 1st | 91.79 s | 100% |
- 3PMSF: no
The second fast lap was seriously impressive. Tires took longer to warm in, but once warm they were exceptional. The steering had amazing feel and turn in and I could adjust the line of the car way more freely. Most importantly corner exit was way faster thanks to improved traction. You could really drive the car instead of babysitting it.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience. If the road tires were 7/10, these were 10/10.
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Handling | 2nd | 94.81 s | 96.81% |
- 3PMSF: no
Delayed reaction from the steering but it feels about right for a road tire, as we've seen in other test is it's very similar to the Pilot Sport 4 S on track. It wouldn't be my first choice for a track tire, but also it excels in the wet unlike the other tires on test.
Felt like I was losing some time mid corner and lots on corner exit where you were having to be very delicate with the throttle.
The tires managed around 3 laps before being past their best, which is normal for a road tire.
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Handling | 3rd | 98.02 s | 93.64% |