BustaWrench › Answers › When should I switch to wet tyres in iRacing?
The short answer
If the racing line is dry you are on slicks — even with a damp patch off-line, wets will overheat and go off. Bolt them on when the track is visibly wet: standing water, spray kicking up, or radar showing rain. Coming back the other way, once a dry line is forming across more than half the track width, start thinking about slicks — but pitting too early shreds a set in two laps.
Slicks feel greasy for the first lap and then bite hard, so do not panic if they feel loose early. If you can see spray from the car ahead but the track looks dark and shiny, you are still on slicks — be smooth and stay off the puddles.
Wets are genuinely quick in the wet: they move water, they do not grain, and they will let you brake later than you think. The trap is that they overheat fast on a drying line, and one dry lap is enough to get the rear stepping out.
The crossover, the point where slicks become faster than wets, is not a fixed number. It depends on track temperature, how much rubber is laid down, and how much water is actually on the racing line.
A workable rule of thumb: if you can see a dry line forming that is more than half the track width, start thinking about slicks.
Pit too early and you will destroy a set of slicks in a couple of laps. Stay out too long on wets and you will lose seconds a lap and cook the rears.
Being a lap early on slicks is generally the better side of that trade than a lap late on wets.
The exact crossover is track-specific and changes between tyre model updates. Ask a coach for the current picture on your track rather than carrying a number over.
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