I just tried switching from Slick tires to Semi-slicks for my Mazda 323, which allowed me the extra PI to fully upgrade the fuel system, leading to a greatly increased acceleration. Thinking I had sacrificed some handling to get that power (and wet road grip), I compared them, and the lateral G ratings for the same car equipped with either Slicks and Semi-slicks were the same (1.21 Gs for 60 MPH/1.35 Gs for 120 MPH). Can this be true? How accurate are the stats on the Performance Screen?
Obviously, if the two setups handle the same, I want to use the second one.
I’m not a tuner but I apply other people’s tunes to my cars on a daily basis. In my experience none of the reported stats or the performance graph makes any sense. I’m almost certain it’s all wrong and misleading.
My best guess based on a lot of tuning experience: all the numbers that the tuning menu reports are calculated using a standing start with completely cold tires. Slicks are actually worse than semi-slicks in this state (which is true to real life equivalents). However once the tires have warmed up, slicks will out-perform semi-slicks.
So it’s not that the tuning menu is inaccurate, it’s that the assumed conditions are flawed.
Well from actually racing in game I don’t think the tires make much difference I have raced using slicks and semi slicks and normal road tires all in the wet and dry to be honest there seems no difference they all seem to grip equally well.
The main difference between Race tires (semi-slicks) and Slicks is traction. Meaning lateral g isn’t improved by much and a combination of Race tires + weight reduction/chassis reinforcement can result in more lateral g than a Slicks build.
Slicks allow RWD and FWD to handle more power and greatly improve braking.
From my experience Slicks are not useful beneath S900 builds (only exception being A800 FWD cars). Even in S1 many AWD builds are faster on Race tires using the free PI for more power/less weight.
Basically a S2 upgrade.
My A-Class 2013 Clio and Peugeot 207–not to mention my earlier 323 tune–handle like a dream on dry city streets, and I attributed it partially to the slick tires. I only went to Semis for the 323 because of some races in the rain.
To be honest I don’t think they have bothered with the difference in grip between wet or dry roads, the only difference is the visual appearance beyond that they seem the same.
I checked my stats yesterday in game, and my max acceleration G is 999,999,999!!! I think this may be a slight exaggeration… I mean, I do have many builds with launch/acceleration at 10, but I don’t think that they could generate that much G force
Since I have driven the same car in the tight street races of Guanajuato with both Slicks and Semi-slicks, I would say that the tires are close in performance except when pushed to the limit, where the Slicks show their superiority. The Peugeot 207 is amazing on Slicks, allowing me to turn under other cars in the middle of a turn very deftly–or even weave between them. To be honest, I haven’t tried it with Semis.
The 323 is very controllable and easy to correct on Semis. I believe in that case, it was better to use the Semis to earn the superior acceleration. In its current form, it’s even competitive on faster Sprint tracks.
The lesser tires are definitely worse. I have tried to scrimp on tires for B-Class cars, and they definitely require more careful driving and are less forgiving of error.
The only thing I trust is how it feels when I’m racing it. Side to side grip is good, but the tracks and routes have a lot of banking and natural camber anyway if you know the way. So it’s more about keeping the wheels straight and turning as little as possible anyway. This is why its such a good game if you wanna drive with more power and less aero
lateral g’s and grip are not the same thing, lateral g’s more important, slick tires overrated, semis with full front width or weight reduction = better for less pi
