Pirelli P-Zero Corsa evaluation

John B.

Hand held timing can be very inaccurate. I still stand by my original opinion though if you post video clearly showing a 1:01 I will tip my hat to you and call up Luca M. to let him know we have found a replacement for MS .

It still unconceivable to me that you could close the gap on a 355 Challenge on real race rubber with a street 360 on street rubber with a passenger adding extra weight. Take a look below at official lap times from Ferrari for their cars at Fiorano. The 355 Challenge blows the 360 into the weeds on a small track similar to Lime Rock (at least in lenght).

Ferrari 360 Challenge - 1.22.4
Ferrari 360 N-GT - 1.16.9 (1.17.5 w/out ABS)
Ferrari 355 Challenge - 1.26.5 (1995 w/out wing)
Ferrari 355 Challenge – 1.25.0 (1996 w/ wing driven by Larini)
Ferrari F50 - 1.27
Ferrari F40 - 1.30
Ferrari 360 – 1.30

The 360 Challenge cars have run 58's in practice in 2001 without the chicane (was added by Grand Am for qualifiying and race). Don't know if you ran the chicane or not but looking at the Fiorano lap times a 360 C is a whopping 8 seconds per lap faster than a 360 street car. You can maybe put 2 seconds of that down to tires but the other 6 seconds is suspension, weight, and brakes.

I can conceivably see you maybe doing a high 1:02 or low 1:03 if you are an extrodinary driver but a 1:01 flat seems optomistic when the fastest 355 Challenge guys do 1:00 minute flat (or in Matt Karson's case 59 sec.). The 355 Challenge times at L.Rock were without the chicane.

If you had brake and suspension upgrades or maybe some motor modifications then it would be possible but a R compound street tire is not going to make up 5 or 6 seconds over a regular street tire.

Was the tire even shaved? An unshaved R compound is even closer to a regular street tire.

Please don't take this as some pissing contest. At the end of the day we are all just wanna-be F1 racers (me included). However, I constantly see laptimes and claims made on this board that seem inaccurate at the least and sometimes just plain lying (not saying this is the case here). I have people swearing they are doing 2:10's in street cars at the Glen but somehow they can't break 2:20 when I am there.

As for hanging and pulling away from a 355 Challenge you are simply a better driver. Don't get caught up in the "I passed this car" syndrome. Much better to know "who" you are passing, not "what" car. Most Challenge cars being run at track days are not pushed hard.

At the Labor Day FCA event there were at least 10+ 355 Challenges and lap times varied from my friend Tom's 2:06 and my 2:08 to middle of the pack drivers doing 2:12-2:14's and plenty more running near 2:20's. A 15 second per lap deficit on a 355 C is like running the car on 6 cylinders.

If you look at my Challenge videos at my website (www.flatoutracing.net) you will see that I have run bumper to bumper with 333's and F40LM's, however they were being driven by people of average ability. A well driven 333 or F40LM ought to peel the pain off my car.

Anyway, would love to see the video and if you somehow did manage a bona fide 1:01 I want you as my endurance teammate in Grand Am next season.

Regards,

Jon

PS. I/O Port makes some great camcorder mounts (for both street and race cars) that work well.

 

I found more detailed information abaut the different PZero Corsa tires. Sorry it is in italian...

I am very interested by any experience with the new system on track AND road.
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John, what is the road noise level like compared to the normal Pzeros or the Pilot sports?
When u used them in the rain... how heavy was the rain? Was there any feeling of aquaplaning when going over water pools? lung

 

I just read this thread -- does anyone have experience with Michelin Pilot Sports on a 355?

I have a '97 355 Spider with the original P-Zeros on there, and need to replace them. I have Pilot Sports on my M3, and was impressed enough with the tires to put them on my Viper. The difference that the tire change made in the Viper from the early stock Michelins (circa 1995) was amazing!

I imagine going from the original 1997 P-Zeros to either the new Corsa or the Pilot Sports is a meaningful upgrade, but I've heard mixed advice from shops out in LA regarding which new tire is best as a replacement for the 355.

 

To clarify my last post -- I never need the tires in rain, and they're 80% for aggressive street use.

 

The new Michelin Pilot Sport 2 that Porsche uses on the GT3 is a apparently a great tire, much better than the Pilot Sport which was only average. If you drive very low miles every year, do some track driving, and want truly awesome stick with not bad wear considering, you might like the Toyo RA-1.

Gary