Panasport Wheels Options

[2-OH!]

Okay gang...Need some opinions...

I have a track to buy two New Panasports but they are not DOT approved...Meaning they are for the race track only...

Why can't I use them on my daily driver...

Not DOT approved, does it matter...Good enough for the track, good enough for a daily driver (in this case, not all components)

2-OH!

[lapuwali]

Not DOT approved means they simply haven't been tested. This may mean they're not good for street use (for example, they may be extra light wheels that would bend very easily in the first pothole), but it may also simply mean they haven't been tested.

Panasport (the company) went out of business long ago, and used to make a class of ultra-light magnesium wheels that would probably fold up if you just said the words "curb rash" to them. There were a number of wheels made by various companies that LOOKED like the old Panasport wheels for several years, and recently, someone bought the Panasport name and began producing wheels under that name. Most of the fake Panasports (and, I believe, the new "real" ones) are cast aluminum, not magnesium, and are generally going to be fairly stout. However, not all of the makers may have bothered with having them tested.

If they're not DOT tested but are TUV tested, or meet the UK Type Approval rules, then they're fine, as those tests are just as stringent (or much more so) than the US DOT tests. If they're not approved by any testing authority, they may still be OK, but you have no way of knowing w/o actually trying them.