moespeeds

I'm flying out to San Diego next week to pick up a track prepped C5 I bought. Ultimately it will ship to me out here in NJ, but I also have a place in Phoenix, about 400mi away. After doing the deal in San Diego I'm flying back to Phoenix to spend 4 days there for bike week. I was thinking of just driving the car from San Diego to Phoenix, about 400mi. It'll be a great drive and I'm excited to drive the car. It's been 8 years since I sold my Z06. The thing is the car has a set of slicks on it. Obviously I will not make the drive if there is any rain on the way, but if the weather is nice, what do you guys think?

Git Er Dun

Can you?...probably. Should you?...probably not. It's your tires so do what you want with them but having them sit at x heat temp and heat cycle for 400 miles will probably just heat cycle them out. If they are old tires and you were going to buy new ones anyway, then I would say have at it and find out haha

Aardwolf

I keep mine street legal and drive to tracks. I have not had trouble so far. I really didn't think slicks were that bad in the rain and I've even drove in the snow. For me I would be more concerned about any safety or street legal issues than slicks.

moespeeds

Car is street legal, tires are coming off anyway as soon as it gets to NJ...

Black89Z51

Just pray it doesn't rain.

jlutherva

If you are buying new tires in NJ, why not just take an extra day and buy them and get them mounted in SD?
You can purchase them on Tire Rack or other online stores and have them delivered to an installer in SD.

In an event, enjoy your new toy!

Jim

c4cruiser

Another thing to consider is legal tread depth. You could run afoul of some LEO who sees that there is no real "tread" on the tires. Depending on the laws of CA and AZ, you could get a ticket or even be stopped from driving the car until you install tires that meet tread requirements. Most states say a 2/32" tread depth is the legal limit.

Personally, I would not even consider a trip of that distance with slicks, even if they were brand new. Consider renting a trailer to haul the car back. If the car is set up for track use, you may find the suspension will not be conducive to a comfortable ride and track alignment setting might make the car a handful to drive on roads where heavy traffic has created ruts in the road surface.

parkerracing

I'd buy DOT tires before I left SD. I'd be worried about a puncture in the middle of nowhere and not be able to get one, let alone four tires.

63Corvette

I would make arrangements IN ADVANCE with a Discount Tire at the Seller's hometown, to purchase street tires and have them mounted prior to your arrival. The Discount Tire people will SHIP your slicks to your destination for you, so they will be there when your arrive home.

autoxer6

I have put hundres of street miles on with Hoosier A6 tires. As long as there isn't much toe (1/8" or less) then I wouldn't worry about it. It will only be 1 heat cycle if you dont stop and let them cool. Wear will be very minimal if you dont have toe. When I would drive to track with Hoosiers, I would set my rear toe to 0 then put it back around 3/8" at the track.

Sidney004

A piece of cake. I have driven literally thousands of miles on slicks(non DOT) to and from the track in the last 10 years, I do set the cold pressures at 33-35 psi to minimize edge wear on the highway. At 55 or under, they are driveable in the wet in an emergency. They don't magnetically attract nails and cops aren't out on patrol specifically looking to pull drivers over based on the thread depth of their tires. You don't need to embrace religion and the sky won't fall, its no big deal.

GT Racing Tires

What brand of slicks are on it? Pirelli, Dunlop or Michelin I would not do it. If they are Hoosiers or something similar you should not have any problem except maybe the law. I know we talked on the phone. Call me again and I can help you with some scrap DOT's if you buy a set of tires.

Vette5.5

I wouldn't drive that kind of distance on pure racing slicks, as you never know what the weather's gonna do. I drive 150 miles to track days on Hoosier R6's, and glad I did some light grooving. Coming home, basically went through a flash flood, and was bad enough. Also consider insurance. If you slide off the road and hit a tree, you may not be covered.

VGLNTE1

I use them as normal tires. Your fine!

dbratten

It will be an easy trip on the freeway. I have run thousands of miles on slicks and Dot Rs. Only real wear would come from toe as already mentioned. Set it to zero and head out. Worst case you can fix a puncture but I've never had to.

Alludc

dont forget, theres lots of desert between the two, hot desert concrete. youll want to be wary of flats and blowouts, and of course the Po pos. are these a6 style slicks, or road racing slick slicks. a6s will wear out fast on ya, especially if its cambered.


in 3 weeks there will be the San Diego National Tour...I bet theres no shortage of guys there who have taken off their old beat up hankooks or goodyears to replace with a fresh set. I bet you can find some if you hit Craigslist or the local autox forum in SD.

too bad you werent goin from phx to SD, id sell you a set of mine.

Timz06

I have done things like that but was younger and stupider...


I would at least make sure you had a spare that could fit on any corner, my biggest worry would be getting stuck out in the desert somewhere.

You'll probably be ok, but it's not really a 'good idea.'

Tim

moespeeds

I'm not even really sure what I'm worried about. I've ridden my motorcycle thousands of miles around the remote areas of AZ, UT, and NM, alone, at night, in the rain, etc. If I had a little more time, I would have just ridden my motorcycle the 400mi each way to do the deal, no sweat at all. Not much different, if you get a flat, it's a mess for sure, but not the end of the world. Thanks for all the input guys. I'll decide once I get my eyes on the car but I'm most likely just going to do it. It'll be a really pretty drive, I'll post some pics up here.

MJM

I guess that means I should wash the car? Or at least take the numbers off of it.

moespeeds

Definitely don't wash it, its about to go on an open car carrier. I'll help you pull the numbers tomorrow night!