Running semi slicks in the rain bad idea?

[silviaz]

Hey all, I noticed on my car in the rain when I drive and if I give it a little bit of acceleration, the back end will start to kick out. Makes it dangerous as I can't merge onto an intersection safely, and if I give it too much gas my car will probably spin out. I know being rear wheel drive does affect things but was wondering how much of a difference semi slicks make compared to regular tyres? The research I did was mixed, saying semi slicks are more for drifting but the rep for the company said they can be used for both. I've also had a wheel alignment recently, and my tyres are near new. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by silviaz

[The Bogan]

What tyres are you calling semi slicks?

Semis on front and back, or just back?

In saying that, you need to drive to the conditions, be gentle on the throttle

Have another set of rims with "good" all seasons grippy tyres on them for inclement weather or when your just cruising around

Think about the people that you may crash into and possibly injure, or kill, if you "spin out" driving on a public road in the wet, also thinl about how effective your braking is on a wet road with semi slicks, this is why I don't run motorsport type tyres when it's wet on public roads, the risk is to high

[silviaz]

2 hours ago, The Bogan said:

What tyres are you calling semi slicks?

Semis on front and back, or just back?

In saying that, you need to drive to the conditions, be gentle on the throttle

Have another set of rims with "good" all seasons grippy tyres on them for inclement weather or when your just cruising around

Think about the people that you may crash into and possibly injure, or kill, if you "spin out" driving on a public road in the wet, also thinl about how effective your braking is on a wet road with semi slicks, this is why I don't run motorsport type tyres when it's wet on public roads, the risk is to high

It's all 4 tyres, they are these type tyres https://valinotyres.com.au/products/greeva-08d - so from what I've gathered you recommend I change tyres to get tyres with a regular tread pattern?

[GTSBoy]

Who the f**k are Valino Tyres?

Run something decent, like AD09, RS4, etc. Something with ~180TW is good for the street without being too sketchy in the wet. I flog my car in the wet.

You also need a proper LSD.

[The Bogan]

7 hours ago, silviaz said:

It's all 4 tyres, they are these type tyres https://valinotyres.com.au/products/greeva-08d - so from what I've gathered you recommend I change tyres to get tyres with a regular tread pattern?

They are not semi-slicks, they seem to be a cheap long life tyre with some marketing 

They have a 380 tread wear rating

The RS4"s on my SS have a 200 tread wear and are OK in the wet if you don't drive like a pork chop

If they are that bad in the wet I would bin them

I cannot see them actually being really good in the dry with that high of a tread wear rating, the RE003's on my Yaris would probably be better than them with a tread wear of 220

[robbo_rb180]

7 hours ago, silviaz said:

It's all 4 tyres, they are these type tyres https://valinotyres.com.au/products/greeva-08d - so from what I've gathered you recommend I change tyres to get tyres with a regular tread pattern?

Not a semi slick, they are a long life drift tyre. Marketing hype.

7 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Who the f**k are Valino Tyres?

Run something decent, like AD09, RS4, etc. Something with ~180TW is good for the street without being too sketchy in the wet. I flog my car in the wet.

You also need a proper LSD.

Japanese drift tyre company.
The above listed are quality Semi Slicks and are great in wet weather.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Get a proper diff too.

[silviaz]

2 hours ago, The Bogan said:

They are not semi-slicks, they seem to be a cheap long life tyre with some marketing 

They have a 380 tread wear rating

The RS4"s on my SS have a 200 tread wear and are OK in the wet if you don't drive like a pork chop

If they are that bad in the wet I would bin them

I cannot see them actually being really good in the dry with that high of a tread wear rating, the RE003's on my Yaris would probably be better than them with a tread wear of 220

Ah ok, not sure why they say semi slicks on the website, the tread pattern looks like it? But yeah even if I give it a bit too much gas (which is not much) the back end will slide. I have to very carefully work my way up to speed. 

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, robbo_rb180 said:

Not a semi slick, they are a long life drift tyre. Marketing hype.

Japanese drift tyre company.
The above listed are quality Semi Slicks and are great in wet weather.

Great in wet weather you mean for sliding or as in grip well in wet weather?

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Get a proper diff too.

I've heard good things about LSD's but are they are must in your view?

[The Bogan]

Read some stuff from tire rack in relation to dry and wet weather tyres

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/category.jsp?category=PERFORMANCE

If it asks for a area code, type in 90210 which is a area code for Beverley Hills

 

 

[GTSBoy]

39 minutes ago, silviaz said:

Great in wet weather you mean for sliding or as in grip well in wet weather?

He was talking about the tyres I listed, not those frightening teflon shitters that you posted.

[GTSBoy]

38 minutes ago, silviaz said:

I've heard good things about LSD's but are they are must in your view?

For anything more than 50% of stock power, yes.

[silviaz]

17 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

For anything more than 50% of stock power, yes.

Ah ok makes sense, cheers.

[silviaz]

Looks like I'll be upgrading to some proper street tyres, Yokohama or Michelin, cheers guys!

[Watermouse]

5 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Get a proper diff too.

Do you have a recommendation for a shop that does a good job of installing LSDs in our gtt around Sydney/Newcastle?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

5 minutes ago, Watermouse said:

Do you have a recommendation for a shop that does a good job of installing LSDs in our gtt around Sydney/Newcastle?

I've taken my cars/diffs to Smithfield Gearbox & Diff and my mates to there too.

They know their Nissan shitboxes inside out 

Smithfield Diff & Gearbox

(02) 9604 8887

https://g.co/kgs/vtFyF8

 

[Watermouse]

1 hour ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

I've taken my cars/diffs to Smithfield Gearbox & Diff and my mates to there too.

They know their Nissan shitboxes inside out 

Smithfield Diff & Gearbox

(02) 9604 8887

https://g.co/kgs/vtFyF8

 

Awesome thank u so much mate

[Murray_Calavera]

On 10/27/2023 at 7:01 PM, silviaz said:

Hey all, I noticed on my car in the rain when I drive and if I give it a little bit of acceleration, the back end will start to kick out. Makes it dangerous as I can't merge onto an intersection safely, and if I give it too much gas my car will probably spin out. I know being rear wheel drive does affect things but was wondering how much of a difference semi slicks make compared to regular tyres? The research I did was mixed, saying semi slicks are more for drifting but the rep for the company said they can be used for both. I've also had a wheel alignment recently, and my tyres are near new. 

Lots of good comments in this thread, I'll just throw this bit on top. 

With semi's in the rain, there are a few things to think about - 

* Getting temperature into the tyres is really important for making semi's hook up. Driving in the rain on a cold winter night will be very different to driving in the rain on a hot summers day. 

* Semi's wear fast, tread depth has a big impact on how well they will hook up in the wet. Semi's don't have sipes so they need all the tread depth they can get to help evacuate the water. 

* Not all semi's will work in the rain, regardless of temp/tread depth. Think Ventus Z214 vs Nankang NS2R. If you want to use them in the rain, I'd want to get some real world examples of them working in the wet first. 

I've used Nankang NS2R 120TW year round in wet/dry conditions, in the rain on a hot summers day up here in QLD, it's a fantastic tyre. The best tyre I've driven on in the rain. I could actually put power down which amazed me. 

On a cold day in the wet, they couldn't get enough temp into them to become optimal, however I wouldn't say they were dangerous. Think closer to a shitty street tyre rather then death trap lol. 

I'd also say go with the advice above, get a set of good street tyres, something around Michelin Pilot Sport 4S quality level. Once you start making more power, you could consider going to semi's if you think the cost/performance ratio makes sense.

[silviaz]

8 hours ago, Murray_Calavera said:

Lots of good comments in this thread, I'll just throw this bit on top. 

With semi's in the rain, there are a few things to think about - 

* Getting temperature into the tyres is really important for making semi's hook up. Driving in the rain on a cold winter night will be very different to driving in the rain on a hot summers day. 

* Semi's wear fast, tread depth has a big impact on how well they will hook up in the wet. Semi's don't have sipes so they need all the tread depth they can get to help evacuate the water. 

* Not all semi's will work in the rain, regardless of temp/tread depth. Think Ventus Z214 vs Nankang NS2R. If you want to use them in the rain, I'd want to get some real world examples of them working in the wet first. 

I've used Nankang NS2R 120TW year round in wet/dry conditions, in the rain on a hot summers day up here in QLD, it's a fantastic tyre. The best tyre I've driven on in the rain. I could actually put power down which amazed me. 

On a cold day in the wet, they couldn't get enough temp into them to become optimal, however I wouldn't say they were dangerous. Think closer to a shitty street tyre rather then death trap lol. 

I'd also say go with the advice above, get a set of good street tyres, something around Michelin Pilot Sport 4S quality level. Once you start making more power, you could consider going to semi's if you think the cost/performance ratio makes sense.

Yep that's the one I'm thinking of getting, cheers mate! Great info there.