I got a couple people asking me about SC1 / SC2, etc, so I will explain what I know. Since we are all track day junkies, I'm just gonna stick with the race-oriented Super Corsa's and not get into the street-intended tires that Pirelli also sells.
You have Pirelli SP's and SC's. The SP's look like the Super Corsa's, but the rubber compound is geared more towards street duty than track duty. That's all I'll get into about the SP's, because like I said, we're all track day junkies here, right?
They make SC's in two versions: DOT (street legal) and slicks (not street legal). From what I know, they are exactly the same, except one is a slick and one is a DOT tire. I have many miles racing on both the DOT's and the slicks - and assuming the conditions are the same, the slicks did not offer any more grip over the DOT. Then again, I am but a mere mortal rider (my phone is not blowing up from the factories asking me to go race for them), so take it for what it's worth. I only raced on DOT's because of WERA. You could not race with slicks in the 600 super stock class until this coming year. Anyways...they offer several different compounds. To make things more confusing, they also associate colors with the compounds. The break down:
SC 0 - White (super soft)
SC 1 - Blue (soft)
SC 2 - Green (medium)
In my humble opinion, the SC 0 is a total waste for track days. They are super soft and will wear out extremely quickly. Think of it as a qualifying tire...trying to get the best possible lap time for grid position. Some guys I know that race with them only get 2-4 sprints (6-8 laps each) out of them and they are smoked. The SC 1 is kind of a gray area. To be honest, I think it's over kill for a track day tire. The extra grip the SC 1 provides does not outweigh the accelerated wear over the SC 2. Again, this is my .02 cents and is no way "factual". SC 2's are the bomb. I got the most amount of miles with these. More than enough traction to race on, yet provides good longevity. Fantastic tires. Can't say enough good about them. Lastly, I'll quickly glance over working temperatures. The SC 0 and SC 1 need a hot environment to work well, and they will cold tear like crazy if you were riding at Summit in March. They have a smaller window of operating temperature versus the SC2. You can check the website/ ask Collin for more specific info, but basically, if it's not 70-80 degrees or hotter outside, it's too cold for the SC 1, and definitely for the SC 0. Riding on a SC 1 or 0 in the morning sessions at NJMP in March/April, and you'll destroy those tires in no time. SC2's have a huge window where they work well. They will work just as well in the hotter temps the SC 0 or 1 operate at, but at those temps, the 1 or 0 will still offer better grip.
OK...back onto the original topic at hand, the superbike pro...
The Superbike pro would be considered a hard compound. Like anything else, a tire is a balance between grip and tire life. You can't have the best of both. The question comes up all the time (not just with Pirelli, but all tires) - when do I need to upgrade tires? There are two main sides to this topic. To me, this is like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. Here's why:
You don't really *need* super sticky tires for a track day. It's very common for guys to do a few track days, then go straight from their former street tire to a race tire. What I've typically seen/heard is "Well I feel the back end breaking loose, I need more grip..." "Race tires would give me confidence to push the bike more..."
Side #1: Well I feel the bike moving around on me, if I had better tires, it wouldn't move around on me and I'd be more confident to go faster. If nothing else, even if my bike wasn't moving around, I feel better knowing I have stickier tires on my bike.
That's a good argument and I can't really refute that. Nobody else is paying for your bike repairs if you crash, so if you want to roll on tires that offer the maximum grip out there, then hell yeah, do it!
Side #2: Riding on super sticky tires while you have yet to [mostly, within reason] master the art of riding will simply mask your riding mistakes, and you'll still end up crashing from those mistakes - just later in the game and at higher speeds. I have seen /worked with several riders in Novice and Intermediate that were 100% convinced they "needed" slicks, because the bike is all over the place. The bike is all over the place because they are abrupt on the controls, they stab the brakes/throttle. They add lean angle while adding throttle...all of these huge no-no's. Simply put, they are asking too much out of their tires. Because they are riding on tires that don't offer as much grip as a race tire, they hit that 'ceiling' faster. Will a race tire fix their problem? In the mean time, yes. Will they crash if they continue to make the same mistakes and increase the pace? Absolutely.
Typed a novel to end with this TL;DR: The Superbike Pro slicks will offer all the grip you'll need to be "that fast guy in Advanced" at any track day with the side benefit of extended tire life.
