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Which tires for track day? Q3 or PP3

20K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  TheXIIIth 
#1 ·
I am changing tires before this track day and both tires are supposed to be improved. I have run PP2ct and liked them but changed to the Q2 and have loved it since. Since I have changed to the Q2 I have gotten much faster and moved from level 1 track days to level 2 and might move up in the next couple track days. Does anyone have experience with a PP3 at a upper pack level 2 track day? How does the PP3 compare to the Q2 seeing as I have experience with the Q2. The Q3 I am sure will just be a bit better than the Q2 and that is good but if the PP3 outperforms the Q2 then I would like the extra life.
 
#3 ·
I have a 30 minute session on the PPIII on a bike I had never ridden before and questionably set up for someone about 30 lbs lighter...so this isn't the best feedback, however....

I typically run 1:10 or so lap times at the local track and on this bike after a couple laps I was running 1:14's and the bike was not confidence inspiring at full lean at all.
Coming into the corners on the brakes until tip in was fine and exiting once the bike was coming back up was also fine-but through mid corner while fully leaned over and from just maintenance throttle on a few turns to actual acceleration in most the bike felt un planted and wanted to move around, especially through the long carousel and the bus stop chicane.
I did knock off a 1:11 on this bike late in the session but it never felt too great. The owner of the bike runs about 1:18-1:20 and he came off of oe BT016's so his feedback was biased...(of course he is like "all hail Michelin")

As far as the Q3's, all I have seen here so far are fronts, so I ran a front with a Q2 rear, two laps in I was running low 1:09 and high 1:08 lap times and stayed there pretty much for the entire 30 minutes except when traffic slowed me down. I actually did not notice much differeNce in the front from the Q2 except for a biggie in these longer sessions-it didn't fall off late in the session like the Q2 would...16-20 minutes on the Q2 on this track at my pace seems to be about a Q2 limit before they noticeably lose some grip. Starting out 2 psi higher takes away the fall off but at the cost of the ride being a bit harsch. The Q3 didn't have this issue-so that is a big improvement in my book.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Are either brand sold at the track? If so, use that one. Good tire guys are a wealth of knowledge, much better than a bunch of guys on an Internet forum.

If not, I'd go with Q3's from race tire services, because they can tell you what set up changes you to make to go from Q2's to Q3's. They can also help on when it's time to move to DOT's.
 
#7 ·
For what it's worth (and it aint much!) I run the PP3 on the street and I feel that it is an excellent tire. I have no track days under my belt though, so I can't comment on how it would hold up under extreme conditions, but the rear feels quite solid in the street twisties. As far as the Q3 is concerned.....you can pretty much tell, just by looking at the tire that it is a heavily track oriented "street" tire. Given everyone's great reviews of the Q2 as a track day tire, it's almost guaranteed that the Q3 will be even better. If it was a wet track day, the PP3 would no doubt have the edge, however.....it handles wet conditions very well for a hypersport tire.
 
#8 ·
Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC. Fits between the Diablo Superbike slicks and Diablo Supercorsa SP hyper sport street/track tires.
 
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#9 ·
I will be riding these tires on the street as well. As soon as I can get SWMBO to let me get extra rims then I will have a set of track only tires.

I ordered the Q3's and will see how they go. I will post up after the track day to give ya my review of them.
 
#10 ·
I came close to getting a set of Q3's the night before my first track day but the local Cycle Gear didn't have any front tires in stock.

I bought a set of PP3 since I'd been using PP2's since 2010. I run 120/70 in the front and 190/55 in the rear. The first thing I noticed with the PP3s is that the rear doesn't seem to be as wide the PP2 in the same size. In fact, I thought the tire tech put a 180/55 on my rear by mistake.

After confirming that it was 190/55 I put them on the track the next day. Granted, I'm only running in the upper levels of the intermediate group - I didn't have any issues with squirm or them getting loose as they got heated.

I haven't had any issues having since transitioned back to using them on the streets daily.
 
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