Just A Quick Question

[3LGODZILA]

as title says, im looking at buying some rims but they got semi slicks on them, can i drive on the road with them or are they for track use only.

[Chris89]

Yes semi slicks are street legal. However wont last as long as your normal tyres.

[3LGODZILA]

how less of a life span we talking here, just for rears, and not much burnouts or drifts

[Ehgriez]

alot like 3 times less than normal tyres.

Apparently they work alot on heat cycles as well, so how ever often they heat up then cool down again.

However that being said a mate ran them for a year or so before they wore out.

[ossie_21]

Just about pointless to use on public roads, especially with winter on the way.

[inthisglass]

would all depend on your driving style

[Dsturbd]

how less of a life span we talking here, just for rears, and not much burnouts or drifts

Just want to run on the rear ??

[R DIRTY 3]

Exactly what tyre are you looking at?

If its a true semi slick expect to get maybe a couple thousand km out of them.

Heat cycles do affect as well so the tyre might actually be useless long before the tread depth is low.

[bnr#@]

What semi slicks are they? If they the right size/condition I may be interested in buying them off you if you want...

[djr81]

There is alot of nonsense around about semi slicks. From my experience I have formed the following opinions:

Yes they are street legal. Good luck convincing the policeman who just pulled you over of that fact, however.

They go not have a great deal of tread depth - added to which most cars will rapidly degrade the outside of the fronts - so what tread depth you have will not be legal for long.

You can happily drive them on the road. I drive from Bunno to Wanneroo & back.

R comps (proper ones, not Federals or Falkens) need heat to develop all of their available grip. None the less even when cold they will outperform most road tyres in the dry.

They last a reasonable amount of time on the road. Certainly if you are running your car on the road & periodically on the track most of the tyre wear will occur on the track. On the upside however R comps last much longer than road tyres when driven on a track (unless you are a numpty on the track). Old R comps are just a waste of everyones time.

You will not heat cyle tyres on the road - not unless you are being stupid.

The down side of running R comps on the road are:

They are noisy as hell.

The tramline like a bitch.

Their stiff sidewalls make the car uncomfortable over bumps etc.

They pick up every little rock/stone/anything and fire it into your paintwork.

You have to keep adjusting the pressures from track to road & back again.

I am less than convinced they will be helpfull if there are puddles on the road.

Do not put R comps on one end of your car & roadies on the other. That is just a recipe for having an accident.