Using street legal racing slicks on your daily driver?

[Atty]

Don't want to but I'm wondering how would day-to-day driving change? Would there be any difference in ride quality or anything?

Simply curious.

 

[EightySix Four]

Grip will be better on the right roads, but more dependent on temperature than normal tires... Driving characteristics are going to be highly dependent on tire pressure. mild puddles might as well be black ice.

The tires will not last very long at all.

 

[TridenT]

I would imagine they would be ruined after a mile of driving. :/

 

[Apex]

It really depends on the model.

If you go with the really extreme ones (ie. Hoosier A6, Kumho Ecsta V710, BF Goodrich g-Force R1, etc), they're really REALLY not going to last long at all. However, I doubt you're talking about these.

Most likely, you'd be looking into the more intermediate ones, like the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, Pirelli PZero Corsa (and Corsa System), Yokohama Advan A048, Toyo R888, Nitto NT-01, and the like. These are actually great choices for those who want maximum performance in the dry. There are plenty of production vehicles that come stock with these (ie. Lotus Elise w/Sports pack, Porsche GT3, Lamborghini LP550-2, etc).

These tires tend to be very quiet, since the tread blocks are huge. Sidewalls are stiff, but not really much more than your typical top end summer tire.

Dry grip is AMAZING when properly warmed up. Breakaway characteristics vary, but do tend to be worse than street tires. In other words... they stick and stick and stick until they let go, at which point, they're slide rather aggressively. This makes them more driver-skill intensive than normal street tires.

When cold, these tires tend to be pretty slippery, some more than others. The Pilot Sport Cup and Corsa are pretty bad in this regard.

Wet grip is BETTER (yes, not worse) than with street tires. However, this is only in wet. When it comes to deep standing or running water, the shallow tread depth and huge tread blocks tends to make hydroplaning very easy. Some models do address this (ie. The directionale front tires from the PZero Corsa System) though.

Treadlife is not great. They may last from 4000 to 8000 miles. However, they tend to cycle out before they run out of tread. This means, they harden and the traction goes WAY WAY down. WAY down... as in to levels worse than mediocre street tires. I'd put the real useful lifespan at about 1 year or 3000 miles, depending on usage.

It's important to heat cycle the tires properly right in the beginning. This helps their overall useful lifespan:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=66

If you're talking about drag slicks instead of racing slicks, that's another story. Sidewalls are very soft. Treadlife isn't great. Wet grip is horrible. Not pleasant to do anything but go straight in the dry.

 

[zerocool84]

I really think it's a stupid idea. If you can afford a car fast enough to even effectively use drag radials or anything like that, you'd have a whole different set of wheels/tires that you DD on and then your racing set. It's stupid to drive on something like that every day. Also anything slick is not street legal. It has to have some type of tread on it.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I really think it's a stupid idea. If you can afford a car fast enough to even effectively use drag radials or anything like that, you'd have a whole different set of wheels/tires that you DD on and then your racing set. It's stupid to drive on something like that every day. Also anything slick is not street legal. It has to have some type of tread on it.

Some type of tread is correct but it doesn't take much

BF Goodrich g-Force R1 are street legal

Not that I would want to drive them on the street.

 

[StageLeft]

All I do is drive our van on race tires. I switch them out about every 2k miles, best handling MPV in the state, no doubt.

 

[HannibalX]

Mickey Thompson ET Streets

Personally I wouldn't run semi-slicks on a daily driver, there are high-performance summer tires that will do a very good job in the traction department if that's what you're looking for.

 

[Gillbot]

If you ever get caught in the rain, you'll regret this decision.

 

[exdeath]

Real slicks = bad bad idea (and a reason to be pulled over and ticketed). Drag radials ok but not as much corner grip (soft sidewalls) and very bad in the rain. Nitto 555R is best all around drag radial that is all weather street driveable and bearable in the rain, but it's still scary in the rain and not as good as a regular street tire. They are made for traction on a warm dry day, that is it.

Plus you'll be lucky to get 10k miles out of them at MOST with something middle of the road like the Nittos which are designed to be as streetable as possible. Less than 5k on something like a MT or Hoosier ET street, which is more like a full slick, if you drive every day.

 

[halik]

It really depends on the model.

If you go with the really extreme ones (ie. Hoosier A6, Kumho Ecsta V710, BF Goodrich g-Force R1, etc), they're really REALLY not going to last long at all. However, I doubt you're talking about these.

Most likely, you'd be looking into the more intermediate ones, like the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, Pirelli PZero Corsa (and Corsa System), Yokohama Advan A048, Toyo R888, Nitto NT-01, and the like. These are actually great choices for those who want maximum performance in the dry. There are plenty of production vehicles that come stock with these (ie. Lotus Elise w/Sports pack, Porsche GT3, Lamborghini LP550-2, etc).

These tires tend to be very quiet, since the tread blocks are huge. Sidewalls are stiff, but not really much more than your typical top end summer tire.

Dry grip is AMAZING when properly warmed up. Breakaway characteristics vary, but do tend to be worse than street tires. In other words... they stick and stick and stick until they let go, at which point, they're slide rather aggressively. This makes them more driver-skill intensive than normal street tires.

When cold, these tires tend to be pretty slippery, some more than others. The Pilot Sport Cup and Corsa are pretty bad in this regard.

Wet grip is BETTER (yes, not worse) than with street tires. However, this is only in wet. When it comes to deep standing or running water, the shallow tread depth and huge tread blocks tends to make hydroplaning very easy. Some models do address this (ie. The directionale front tires from the PZero Corsa System) though.

Treadlife is not great. They may last from 4000 to 8000 miles. However, they tend to cycle out before they run out of tread. This means, they harden and the traction goes WAY WAY down. WAY down... as in to levels worse than mediocre street tires. I'd put the real useful lifespan at about 1 year or 3000 miles, depending on usage.

It's important to heat cycle the tires properly right in the beginning. This helps their overall useful lifespan:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=66

If you're talking about drag slicks instead of racing slicks, that's another story. Sidewalls are very soft. Treadlife isn't great. Wet grip is horrible. Not pleasant to do anything but go straight in the dry.

Ooooh I wouldn't be so quick to say that wet grip would be better on regular roads, unless you're talking about morning mist and such things. The true slicks won't have any side to side grooves to remove water, so with a normal amount of rain you'll slide off the road... (I'd imagine that even nitto nt01 and quasi-slicks like that wouldn't be much better) .

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Some type of tread is correct but it doesn't take much

BF Goodrich g-Force R1 are street legal

Not that I would want to drive them on the street.

They don't look like they would be legal in the UK...

Treadwear 40...

 

[Gillbot]

Real slicks = bad bad idea (and a reason to be pulled over and ticketed). Drag radials ok but not as much corner grip (soft sidewalls) and very bad in the rain. Nitto 555R is best all around drag radial that is all weather street driveable and bearable in the rain, but it's still scary in the rain and not as good as a regular street tire. They are made for traction on a warm dry day, that is it.

Plus you'll be lucky to get 10k miles out of them at MOST with something middle of the road like the Nittos which are designed to be as streetable as possible. Less than 5k on something like a MT or Hoosier ET street, which is more like a full slick, if you drive every day.

Nittos are not a drag radial, they are more of a sticky street tire IMHO. They are easily outclassed by ANY drag radial out there.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Don't want to but I'm wondering how would day-to-day driving change? Would there be any difference in ride quality or anything?

Simply curious.

What kind of car?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Most street-slicks have just enough tread to get through the DOT, and thus, are allowed for classes that require street tires. They aren't really made to be driven on the street as a daily driver. It's one of those "You can, but you shouldn't" deals.

More examples:
MT ET Street:

MT ET Street Radial:

MT ET Street Radial II

These tires are made to go from your house, to the strip, down the strip, and back home. Like the R1's posted above, you can tell that the tread goes from "This is a joke, right?" to "Barely legal."

 

[StageLeft]

"Barely legal."

My fave!

 

[DivideBYZero]

They don't look like they would be legal in the UK...

Treadwear 40...

++

 

[Elfear]

Sidewall flex is pretty bad with drag radials. They are made for going in a straight line and that's about it. I ran some BFG DRs for a year on my Camaro as a DD. They hooked up a little better than regular street tires on asphalt but were far and away better at the track where you have a cement pad to launch from.

What kind of near-slick tires are you thinking of? What kind of car will they go on? What are you hoping to accomplish with stickier tires?

Also FYI - Something to think about. In Utah (where I had my Camaro) they have a minimum tread depth of 3/32 (maybe 2/32) which you may find to be the norm with other states. Most of the DR-type tires come with that brand new so while they may be legal when you first buy them, they become illegal pretty quickly. Cops will notice it too. I got pulled over and the cop checked the depth using the old penny measurement (apparently from the edge of the coin to Lincoln's head is the exact legal tread depth). Just something to be aware of.

 

[Kadarin]

Back in the day I would drive around on the street with Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pro street legal drag slicks. These were DOT legal tires that were designed for street/strip use, and had pretty much no sidewall strength whatsoever. They were also a nightmare to drive on when the road was wet.

 

[jlee]

Most street-slicks have just enough tread to get through the DOT, and thus, are allowed for classes that require street tires. They aren't really made to be driven on the street as a daily driver. It's one of those "You can, but you shouldn't" deals.

More examples:
MT ET Street:

MT ET Street Radial:

MT ET Street Radial II

These tires are made to go from your house, to the strip, down the strip, and back home. Like the R1's posted above, you can tell that the tread goes from "This is a joke, right?" to "Barely legal."

Street legal when you leave your house...not street legal when you leave the track.

 

[Apex]

Ooooh I wouldn't be so quick to say that wet grip would be better on regular roads, unless you're talking about morning mist and such things. The true slicks won't have any side to side grooves to remove water, so with a normal amount of rain you'll slide off the road... (I'd imagine that even nitto nt01 and quasi-slicks like that wouldn't be much better) .

I would. I run DOT-R on my daily driver. Started with P-Zero Corsa (not the System), which were OEM. Then, after those wore out, went to the PS Cups. I've driven in the rain PLENTY of times. Remember, lots of cars have these tires stock.

Again, we're really taking about 3 distinct products, all called street legal racing slicks, or DOT-R tires:

1. High performance, virtually tread-less racing tires (ie. Hoosier A6/R6, Kumho Ecsta V710, BF Goodrich g-Force R1, etc)
2. Intermediate compound tires, with 4/10" to 6/10" tread, big treadblocks (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, Pirelli PZero Corsa (and Corsa System), Yokohama Advan A048, Toyo R888, Nitto NT-01, etc)
3. Drag tires (Mickey Thompson drag tires, BFG Drag Radials, etc)

It's important to distinguish really what the OP is interested in. IMHO, #2 is the only thing that makes (arguably) any sense on the street.

 

[bruceb]

You really do not want them on a daily driver. They will be more optimized for warm weather grip, be terrible in cold or even moderate rain. Also, they are a thinner tread thickness, so it will not take much on the road to cause a puncture.

 

[amdhunter]

All I do is drive our van on race tires. I switch them out about every 2k miles, best handling MPV in the state, no doubt.

lol :awe:

 

[shabby]

If you go with the really extreme ones (ie. Hoosier A6, Kumho Ecsta V710, BF Goodrich g-Force R1, etc), they're really REALLY not going to last long at all.

Driving those tires on the street is not going to wear them out since you will never heat them up going in a straight line. A single 60 second ax run will put more wear on them than driving to and from an event. I've heard of people driving 50 miles to an event and still getting upto 100 runs on a set of hoosiers.
I drove on a set of hoosier a6's to an event once, while the grip was nice i would not want to fool around on the street since these tires don't squeal and simply let go once you hit their limit unlike typical street tires.

 

[Apex]

Driving those tires on the street is not going to wear them out since you will never heat them up going in a straight line. A single 60 second ax run will put more wear on them than driving to and from an event. I've heard of people driving 50 miles to an event and still getting upto 100 runs on a set of hoosiers.
I drove on a set of hoosier a6's to an event once, while the grip was nice i would not want to fool around on the street since these tires don't squeal and simply let go once you hit their limit unlike typical street tires.

Driving them on the street doesn't wear them it. It heat cycles them out. They'll turn a hard, plastic consistancy way before you run out of rubber.