What Have You Found To Be The Best Street Slicks?

[gb33]

i gotta buy new tyres for rego an thought since im dishing out money i may as well get tyres that dont spin everytime i hit boost. what have you guys found to be the best street slicks, an if you have any links to supplyers web pages?

[trism]

as in semi slicks?

[lingeringsoul]

I use cheap shit tyres, never had a spin in my life. Just drive slowly.

[paulr33]

there are known gotchas when using semi slicks on the street - buyer beware

you obviously have some issues if you are have that much traction issues - i suspect there are other issues

[Pal]

semi slicks are approved for American roads, not australian. may get away with it, maybe not? and absolutely no good for the wet

Edited March 31, 2008 by Pal

[james12]

semi slicks are approved for American roads, not australian. may get away with it, maybe not? and absolutely no good for the wet

why are they no good for the wet? have you ever driven on some? what about wet weahter specific semi slicks? isnt the tread only in the tyres for wet weather driving anyway? im no tyre expert but ive driven an FC3S with wet weather specific bridgestone potenza 595 S something semislicks in the wet and they were mental

and also correct me if im wrong, but dont the lotus elise and or exige that are available as a road going vehicle in australia come out of the dealership with advan nevoa (not sure of the exact model) semi slicks?

Edited March 31, 2008 by james12

[Basti]

hi-po street tyre

semi slick

slick

now which do you suppose does best in the wet?

[Craved]

and also correct me if im wrong, but dont the lotus elise and or exige that are available as a road going vehicle in australia come out of the dealership with advan nevoa (not sure of the exact model) semi slicks?

yes they do, but that doesnt make them good in the wet

better off going for a tyre like the kuhmo ecsta

obviously this would be better in the "Suspension, braking and tyres " subforum

[Angus Smart]

I used to drive around on semi's all day and every day.

they are legal for on the road as far as i'm aware, as they are dot approved,

in the wet, it was often hard to lose traction in a 450hp gtr And in the dry... forget about spinning your wheels anywhere, even 7000rpm launches all you got was stick.

Now the bad points,

They will be alot harder on your drivetran, you could possibly even break things, your diff is going to get a worn out alot quicker and the tyres themselves dont quiet last that long..

this was bridgestone re55s or similar.

[rev210]

re's and the like are awesome tyres. They wear out real fast so as long as you have a decent budget for tyres then go for it.

[RB120WHY]

These guys give me 1.54 60 foot times and are street legal, so they are my everyday tyres. Just be careful with skids as i have used a pair in 8 quarter mile passes showing off. They come in plenty of sizes too. More grip in the wet than my old street tyres because of the compound gripping, but as i dont run them on the front aquaplanning is not an issue. Available at Rocket Industries

[Sydneykid]

These guys give me 1.54 60 foot times and are street legal, so they are my everyday tyres. Just be careful with skids as i have used a pair in 8 quarter mile passes showing off. They come in plenty of sizes too. More grip in the wet than my old street tyres because of the compound gripping, but as i dont run them on the front aquaplanning is not an issue. Available at Rocket Industries

They don't like corners very much, but great in straight line.

Cheers

Gary

[Sandeep]

federal 595rs or falken azenis rt615 seem to get good reviews... treadwear rating is like 180-200 for both so not too low. also they'll disperse water better which is good for a street car.

[djr81]

Don't use semi slicks on the road.

Why?

Because they are, in no particular order:

Noisy.

Stiff in the sidewalls which gives you a harsh ride.

Expensive.

Short lived.

Pick up every stone etc on the road & fire it into your paint.

And, um oh yeah A WASTE OF MONEY

A semi slick needs temperature to generate its grip properly. Other than driving like a complete fkwit on the road you will not generate these temperatures.

So you will never get the gain out of the tyre you wanted.

Just go and buy some good road tyres.

[gb33]

there are known gotchas when using semi slicks on the street - buyer beware

you obviously have some issues if you are have that much traction issues - i suspect there are other issues

yeh the camber on my rear wheels is out, im gonna buy ajustable camber arms of ebay http://cgi.ebay.com.au/REAR-Upper-Mount-Ad...1QQcmdZViewItem

have any of u guys used these items before? what do you think of them?

[Sydneykid]

As is quite common, the traction problem is not tyres. The usual suspects, lowered too much, too high a rear spring rate, no rear subframe alignment or camber correction. Simply replacing the upper control arms will only partially fix one of the problems and introduce yet another, bump steer. You need to correct both the rear upper control arms and the traction rods to avoid bump steer problems. There are better alternatives for fixing this problem than replacing the arms, try a Rear Camber Kit from Whiteline or Noltec.

Cheers

Gary

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

true to that Sydney kid...

I recently did a full comprehensive alignment on my 180SX at Wholesale Suspension after I installed new bushing in the front end on my own and decided to align every part I on the car.

Just after the alignment alone, I noticed less bump steer, more grip, less to zero tyre squeal around corners and mind you this is with just shietyy yokohamas.

For street use, don't bother with semis, unless you're going to track it, I would save the money and get offset bushing to correct camber on the front and rear and get a good alignment.

i.e. don't bring it to Bob Jane, or your mainstream shops, they're not capable of adjusting camber...

I asked, they said they couldn't do it.

[BHDave]

They can do it just fine. Once you tell them you don't care about tyre wear and you won't be back in 2 weeks complaining about bald inner edges they will do what ever you ask for.

My local bob jane adjusts my front and rear toe, front and rear camber and front caster. I wouldn't expect them to have the time or the gear to corner weight or adjust traction rods so i don't ask. It's the difference between $500 and $50 alignments

back on topic. I run rs595's on the front and rt215's on the rear. It's a waste of money, except for the odd time i get to the track and it's too wet for proper semis. If you have an aggressive alignment you will destroy the things driving on the freeway anyway.

As mentioned by djr, don't run a proper semi on the street either, they need heat to work properly, when they aren't hot they are worse than nankangs and will have you up a gutter before you know what happened. It happened to me when i was young and naive, i have a $250 rim repair bill around here somewhere to remind me not to be so stupid in future

[Spoolup]

Im running Toyo R888's on the rear. They are exceptional for grip, expensive but I can not get traction without them.

[gb33]

As is quite common, the traction problem is not tyres. The usual suspects, lowered too much, too high a rear spring rate, no rear subframe alignment or camber correction. Simply replacing the upper control arms will only partially fix one of the problems and introduce yet another, bump steer. You need to correct both the rear upper control arms and the traction rods to avoid bump steer problems. There are better alternatives for fixing this problem than replacing the arms, try a Rear Camber Kit from Whiteline or Noltec.

Cheers

Gary

i found a whiteline rear camber kit on ebay an im gonna give it a shot an see if a can get any better traction, but i dont fully understand how the kit works could you give me a rundown?