How much faster are track day tyres compared to the best road tyres? The German publication Sport Auto have produced the answer by taking seven of the best maximum performance road tyres and three of the best track day tyres, and placing them all through the same testing on a Toyota GT86 (225/40 R18).
Road VS Trackday Tyres
The Toyota GT86 isn't the most powerful of cars, with the 2 litre NA engine producing just 197 bhp. This means the car won't take advantage of the higher grip levels of semi slicks as much as a more powerful heavy car, but the increase in performance was still noticeable.
Dry Handling
Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
87.10 Km/H
Toyo R888 R
86.80 Km/H
Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
86.70 Km/H
Continental Sport Contact 5
85.70 Km/H
Pirelli P Zero PZ4
85.60 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Sport 4
85.10 Km/H
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
84.90 Km/H
Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo
84.70 Km/H
Kumho Ecsta PS91
84.50 Km/H
Toyo Proxes Sport
83.50 Km/H
The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyre was the fastest semi slick in the dry lapping the handling course with an average speed of 87.1 km/h, an average of 2 km/h faster than the Michelin Pilot Sport 4.
Dry Braking
Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)
Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
32.80 M
Toyo R888 R
33.00 M
Michelin Pilot Sport 4
34.40 M
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
34.40 M
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
34.90 M
Continental Sport Contact 5
35.00 M
Pirelli P Zero PZ4
35.20 M
Kumho Ecsta PS91
35.50 M
Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo
36.50 M
Toyo Proxes Sport
37.40 M
Dry braking is a key advantage for track day tyres, which have a softer compound and less tread pattern to increase the tyres contact patch with the road. The Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R proved best in this test, stopping the Toyota in 32.8 meters, where the road Pirelli P Zero took a further 2.4 meters, stopping the car in 35.2 meters. The biggest surprise of the dry braking test wasn't the advantage of the semi slick tyres, but that the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 matched the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, both stopping the car in 34.4 meters, an impressive result for the road bias Michelin.
Wet Handling
Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Michelin Pilot Sport 4
78.50 Km/H
Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo
77.50 Km/H
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
76.70 Km/H
Continental Sport Contact 5
76.00 Km/H
Kumho Ecsta PS91
75.60 Km/H
Pirelli P Zero PZ4
75.50 Km/H
Toyo Proxes Sport
73.90 Km/H
Toyo R888 R
70.80 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
67.40 Km/H
Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
66.40 Km/H
Wet testing brings the advantage back to the road tyres. All three semi slick tyres finished at the bottom of the wet handling and aquaplaning tests, with the Michelin track day tyre proving to be the most useful in the tests. Still not a tyre we'd want to fit for year round use in the UK.
Wet Braking
Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)
Toyo Proxes Sport
32.00 M
Michelin Pilot Sport 4
32.60 M
Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo
33.60 M
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
33.60 M
Toyo R888 R
34.50 M
Continental Sport Contact 5
34.60 M
Kumho Ecsta PS91
35.60 M
Pirelli P Zero PZ4
36.80 M
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
39.20 M
Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
39.60 M
The wet braking tests reversed the dry braking tests, with the test winning Toyo Proxes Sport stopping the GT86 in 32 meters from 80 km/h, where the Toyo R888R track day tyre took a further 2.5 meters, stopping in 34.5 meters.
The comfort, noise and rolling resistance tests were again dominated by the road tyres, with the track day tyres giving up noise and comfort for increased steering precision and speed.
The Results
Please note, due to limitations in our database, we've had to group the track day and "normal" tyres together in the overall results. In the magazine they were rated separate, but they did undergo the same tests.
