semi slicks in the wet - as good as a road tyre?

[downimpact]

I've got brand new ferderal rsr's on the Supra and a track day at Blyton on Sat which is forecast for heavy rain Wondered how semi slicks perform compared to road tyres, would I do better to swap wheels over or will the semi slicks be okay as long as there isn't standing water?

[AJI]

Normal road tyre tread depth and pattern is designed for generating heat and water dispersion so they work well on the road in wet conditions and standing water.

Track semi-slicks work well in the wet up to the point you get a lot of standing water. Tread depth on track tyres is usually not enough to cope with standing water of any depth more than a couple of millimetres. A wet track is normally no problem if you are able to keep the heat in the tyre.

 

Short puddles of water shouldn't be a problem but be wary if these are in braking zones.

[downimpact]

Thanks fella, just hope it's showers with a drying line

[AJI]

A semi-slick is actually a good tyre on a wet track and will give similar and probably better grip than a normal road tyre. Its just a case of being able to keep the temperature in it and also avoiding water that is beyond its dispersive capabilities.

 

I've used the Khumo Ecsta semi-slick on numberous occasions and a number of others and have always found them [semi-slick in general] to be quite 'stable' in the wet conditions.

Actually you should find that you can do many more laps on a wet track and not really worry about overheating the tyre as you would usually do in the dry.

 

Just to add : 3psi - 5psi extra in the tyre for wet conditions is normally what I put in. Just raises the 'safety' limit for any potential aquaplaning if there is significant water on the track.

Edited June 15, 2012 by AJI (see edit history)

[Chris Wilson]

IMHO they are dreadful, the very stiff sidewalls, fairly hard compound and lack of sipes makes them very inferior to a normal road tyre in properly wet conditions, just as a full wet race tyre makes a normal road tyre look terrible in the wet. Be VERY careful if the tyres are un-run when you hit the track, especially if it's wet, the mould release agent on new tyres, on a wet or even a dry track, takes a while to abrade off. Brand new tyre on a wet track = feels like you are on ice. Have fun

[Rajinder]

Just did a track day at Abingdon today. After the breifing the heavens opened and the track looked like a river, running water standing water the lot.

I have Ferderal FZ 201 on the front and R888 on the rears.

 

The grip was amazing. The car stuck to the track like glue over standing water and running water.

As said be careful at the braking zones.

[downimpact]

Thanks all, release agent should be gone done circa 250 miles on them. The RSR's look to have quite a good tread pattern - very good idea to raise the pressure

[bignum]

http://www.racedepartment.com/2012/04/racecartoon-no-more-wet-tyres-in-f1/

[downimpact]

Well after all that, the track was dry all day at Blyton and got very lucky, having not run semi slicks before I was massively impressed with the extra grip levels.

[dr_jekyll]

didyou enjoy the "wiggler"

[downimpact]

didyou enjoy the "wiggler"

 

Almost better if that was one long straight to get up some real speed. The track isn't really suited to my gearing, constantly changing down to second to be in the power band or changing early into 4th, so as not to rev the nuts off it through the high speed corners.