Jump to content
SAU Community

Semi Slick Potenza 540's?

Ronin 09

By Ronin 09,
in Engines & Forced Induction

 Share

Recommended Posts

Silver-Arrowz Grand Master

Silver-Arrowz

Posted
Posted

Couple of the guys in NSW use semi's at track days. They cut hell mean times but fatz gives them a good go with his falken (driver insanity is wat makes the car fast there). I know majanal uses 540's on his rear but not sure what up front. Duncan and Merli use d01j's. Current lap record at eastern creek is Merli with his gtst at about 1:55 or 1:52.... can't remember.

Roy Grand Master

Roy

Posted
Posted

I was surprised how much grip the DJ-01s have in the wet. I dont have huge hp so that would help my case. All things considered in a straight line grip is as good, if not better then Falken 451s i use to use. However they are skaty in the wet when going around corners.

So as far as wet road traction i dont see any reason not to use them (Dunlop/Bridgestone/Yokohama etc). However road noise, wear. tramline all over the road, stiff sidewall and increased harshmess in ride, and expense means i wouldnt consider using as every day tyre.

Ronin 09 Grand Master

Ronin 09

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the replies guys. I basically want more dry traction (i don't punt THAT hard in the wet) without going to a wider rim (too expensive).

For the money, i think the 540s are pretty good - i can get them for around 180 each in a 225/50 16.

Does anyone have any idea how long they will last if street driven as well? I would be thinking around 5000 - 8000km - any experience would be really grateful.

Ender Community Regular

Ender

Posted
Posted

I think if you drive them easily they would last 10,000km no probs...

If you are going to drive easily ...put normal tyres on...you wont notice the difference....dont spend the money for semi slicks...

If you are going to drive hard....then buy the semi slicks...but they wont last long...

The point I am trying to make is...unless you have endless money supply (which you may have) get a second set of rims to have the semi slicks on and put them on when you want to hoon....

Cheers...

Guest INASNT

Guest INASNT

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by Ronin 09

My mechanic has a mate who is organising a track day for his friends.... i'm inviting myself along but i don't think he'd like it very much if i said "hi, here i am with a bunch of mates"

sorry inasnt :D

:D is it at sandown or philip island? and is your mechanic donald from evo r?

RPMZ Contributor

RPMZ

Posted
Posted

Ronin 09 ...... Currently I have 540s on my car and previous to that I had DJO1 Dunlops. Both tyres are great but I¡¦d be leaning towards 540s. However DJO1 I got second hand (from Mick Doohans car that he rolled in Targa on 1st stage), where as Bridgestones I bought new a few months ago. Dry & wet weather performance in great. Much better breaking, acceleration and around the twisties you can't compare especially once you got a bit more heat into them. Even when cold they still perform better all around compare to a street tyre. The launch also improved a lot as I can slip the clutch from higher revs before the tyres start spinning. I think I could do sub 2 second 60¨ on the street.

When I took the car around Sandown I was amazed how well they gripped the road, and how much later I could break. Once you got a bit heat into them they are phenomenal.

However my suspension is set up more for those tyres than an average car as I run a bit of camber, 3 degrees front and 2 degrees rear with 300% stiffer suspension than stock, shortened body struts, konis etc¡K.. Also since my 240Z weights about 1100 kg they are quiet, but the same tyre a little wider (255) on GTR was a bit noisy.

Can¡'t go wrong with both tyres, but they are only worth getting if you abuse the car on regular basis, do a bit of twisties or circuit work. Driving in traffic on them is a waste as they are a purpose designed tyre. I found that rears won¡¦t wear out as fast as you won't be wheel spinning as much. If you don't drive too hard they will last. You only wear faster on the track, where you warm up and let go very soft.

The best price FOR 540s I found at:

BRIDBESTONE TYRE CENTER, AIR PORT WEST

1/93-95 Matthews Ave, Airport West Vic 3042

Ph. 03 9330 4133

Paid $360 each for 18x235 compare to everywhere else nearly $500 each.

BTW......... I don¡'t I'll ever go back to street tyres, especially since the semi comps are on my 2nd (weekend) car.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • joshuaho96
      R34 25GT Engine Light 21

      By joshuaho96 · Posted

      No, code 21 is very straightforward. It can only be the things described in that diagnostic flow. In fact it has no way of knowing that the spark plug resistance is out of spec.
    • brillo
      Leak from Tokico BM50 Brake Master Cylinder

      By brillo · Posted

      Hi, SteveL Thank you very much for your reply, you seem to be the only person on the net who has come up with a definitive answer for which I am grateful. The "Leak" was more by way of wet bubbles when the pedal was depressed hard by a buddy while trying to gey a decent pedal when bleeding the system having fitted the rebuilt BM50 back in the car, which now makes perfect sense. A bit of a shame having just rebuilt my BM50, I did not touch the proportioning valve side of things, the BM50 was leaking from the primary piston seal and fluid was running down the the Brake booster hence the need to rebuild, I had never noticed any fluid leaking from that hole previously it only started when I refitted it to the car. The brake lines in the photo are "Kunifer" which is a Copper/Nickel alloy brake pipe, but are only the ones I use to bench bleed Master cylinders, they are perfectly legal to use on vehicles here in the UK, however the lines on the car are PVF coated steel. Thanks again for clearing this up for me, a purchase of a new BMC appears to be on the cards, I have been looking at various options in case my BM50 was not repairable and have looked at the HFM BM57 which I understand is manufactured in Australia.  
    • Gantai
      R33 GTST Steering Rack (49001-19U05) Rebuild?

      By Gantai · Posted

      PXL_20250828_063541093.TS.mp4
    • Gantai
      R33 GTST Steering Rack (49001-19U05) Rebuild?

      By Gantai · Posted

      Well the install is officially done. Filled with fluid and bled it today, but didn't get a chance to take it on a test drive. I'll throw some final pics of the lines and whatnot but you can definitely install a DMAX rack in an R33 with pretty minor mods. I think the only other thing I had to do that isn't documented here is grind a bit of the larger banjo fitting to get it to clear since the banjos are grouped much tighter on the DMAX rack. Also the dust boots from a R33 do not fit either fyi, so if you end up doing this install for whatever reason you'll need to grab those too. One caveat with buying the S15 dust boots however is that the clamps are too small to fit on the R33 inner tie rod since they're much thicker so keep the old clamps around. The boots also twist a bit when adjusting toe but it's not a big deal. No issues or leaks so far, steering feels good and it looks like there's a bit more lock now than I had before. Getting an alignment on Saturday so I'll see how it feels then but seems like it'll be good to go       
    • PranK
      R35 GT-R production ends after 18 years

      By PranK · Posted

×
×
  • Create New...