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Organized Drag Racing and AutocrossDrag racing and autocross discussions and questions. Techniques, tips, suggestions, and "what will I run?" questions.
I've been running slicks on my car for years now but I am tired of lugging them to the track and my set of 28x10s are about shot. Im beginning to look at different radials but being that I would like to pick up a set of 4 weld rims too, so I will be on a tight budget. But that aside I would like to get them ordered in the next few weeks. At least the DRs and back set of rims.
I have ran the Micky tomp. Drs before and liked them. I had to drive them in light rain once and needless to say that was a tricky ride home. But my main question is has anyone had any luck with these nittos? Will they compete when were talking 1.60+ 60s and will they handle a bit better if i get caught in rain on the way home from the strip? Also at best my car is only capible of running low 1.60s 60 foots at best. The 28x10s i have now are way overkill. But I got a killer deal on them a 2 years ago.
I had a set of Nitto 555R's on my stock 16" wheels. I'm usually around a 1.75 60'. They were obviously a huge improvement over my old street radials, but there were several occasions where I lost traction. I can't say if it was track conditions or what. Some days they would hook like glue, and yet one time in finals I spun like crazy. These are supposed to be the best DR in the rain. I found them to be pretty scary in the rain.
I recently switched to the Mickey Thompson ET Streets (S/S not out yet in that size), again on my stock 16" wheels. So far traction has been great. They handle fine on the road, but I haven't had them in the rain yet. Looking at the tread design, I expect they'll be even worse than the Nittos in the rain. I've heard the life is shorter on the MT's but I can't personally confirm this.
My suggestion would be to go with the MT's for the traction and wait out the rain if needed.
Mark,
If you plan on driving it in the rain to and from the track I'd say Nitto 555r. I've read where they're good to up about 450-475hp. They need a little more of a burnout than other drag radials, but not a big bun out because it will cause the tire to get slimy. I've driven the nitto 555r in rain plenty of times and never had a problem with them. The nitto 555r are best by far in the rain. I had the MT ET Street and they were scary in any amount of water. Nitto 555r has the best tire wear out of the drag radials too.
I had MT Drag Radial and they were hooking like crazy. I absolutely loved them. I never tried them in the rain as the car is a toy that comes out only on sunny days. However, on cold days in spring and fall, they would lose traction on cold pavement. I was running them at 28psi. I tried them at the track at 18 psi and I almost stalled the poor 305 on the starting line because I got surprised how hard it hooked.
I stored the car for the winter and did not remove the tires! They warped badly and had to be replaced. The run out was almost an inch. My fault as I did not follow MT instructions on storage
I now have Nitto 555R. They are more street friendly. I actually had them in the rain 2 days ago as I got surprised by the weather. They were fine but I was driving very relaxed (no hard acceleration or cornering). I find they stick less than the MT. I need to heat them up with my line lock to get better traction. Like jichniow said, it's hit and miss. Sometimes they hook like hell and sometimes they surprise you and spin. Of course when the sun is beating the pavement during hot summer day, they hook great. It's all about the right amount of heat.
I had MT Drag Radial and they were hooking like crazy. I absolutely loved them. I never tried them in the rain as the car is a toy that comes out only on sunny days. However, on cold days in spring and fall, they would lose traction on cold pavement. I was running them at 28psi. I tried them at the track at 18 psi and I almost stalled the poor 305 on the starting line because I got surprised how hard it hooked.
I stored the car for the winter and did not remove the tires! They warped badly and had to be replaced. The run out was almost an inch. My fault as I did not follow MT instructions on storage
I now have Nitto 555R. They are more street friendly. I actually had them in the rain 2 days ago as I got surprised by the weather. They were fine but I was driving very relaxed (no hard acceleration or cornering). I find they stick less than the MT. I need to heat them up with my line lock to get better traction. Like jichniow said, it's hit and miss. Sometimes they hook like hell and sometimes they surprise you and spin. Of course when the sun is beating the pavement during hot summer day, they hook great. It's all about the right amount of heat.
Best of luck!
Well listing to others I'm sure leaning towards the mts.just because of the constant hooking at the track.
But now I have a friend that has a set of 4 weld rims that are dual bolt pattern damn good price on them too. The fronts are something like 15x3 for front runners. I would want mts street legal tires up there. But the back rims are 15x10s! Very wide. I always ran steel cheepo 15x8 rims with a 28x15x10 slick. No rubbing issues but it is tight. Anyone push the limits and see if a 15x10s rim combo fits without major bashing of the inner fender wall? I tried this wide rim before but it had 28x10.5 slicks. It was too tight. But If it was a 28x10 it may have worked. I've never had to bash in the inner fender area or remove the bump stop. I'm a new bee there.
get the 10's specially if u may add the transbrake, u will need to do a lil hammering depending on the tire u run but its not much and or hard to do
and for front tires get nexon sb802's
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-165-80-15-NEXEN-SB-802-RADIAL-TIRE-/131534288559?hash=item1ea00df6af&vxp=mtr
i bought mine from tirebuyer.com on ebay for like 63 bucks each with free shipping
I run the Nitto555R 275/60-15. 1.60's 60' times, 11.40's @ 118 mph.. IIRC my best 60' was 1.62 and worse was 1.69 on them
Drives great in the rain really for what they are. My car was a daily driver for many years with the Nittos and never had any scary moments in the rain with them.
They do like a little more heat in them than M/Ts, and they seem to want a little more air pressure. I race at around 20-24 psi depending on track cond. and street use at 28-30 psi.
I run the Nitto555R 275/60-15. 1.60's 60' times, 11.40's @ 118 mph.. IIRC my best 60' was 1.62 and worse was 1.69 on them
Drives great in the rain really for what they are. My car was a daily driver for many years with the Nittos and never had any scary moments in the rain with them.
They do like a little more heat in them than M/Ts, and they seem to want a little more air pressure. I race at around 20-24 psi depending on track cond. and street use at 28-30 psi.
Thanks for the feed back everyone. Due to the budget I'm on I'm going to roll the dice and go with the nitto 555 drag radials. Those things save me about 65 bucks as a pair over mts.
Thanks for the feed back everyone. Due to the budget I'm on I'm going to roll the dice and go with the nitto 555 drag radials. Those things save me about 65 bucks as a pair over mts.
Nittos arent in the same zip code as mickeys. They hooked half as well as bfgs when I had them. And bfgs are about half as good as the mickeys. I made 2 passes on nittos and sold them because they were barely any better than my 17" summitomos. This was on a h/c lt1 car witha t56. 245/50/16 nittos. The bfgs were 255/50/16, which is basically the same size.
555r are a good street tire as said. Def decent in rain unlike all the others but you sacrifice traction thats for sure
Some pics of the rims I look to buy. The 15x10s will work. The 10.5w slick just fits in there. So im going too make the purchase on these rims. Got a good deal on them off a friend. I like the look of them. I just need to polish them up a little.
Cleaned up the rims and tossed them back on. I just need to get 1/2 lug nuts for the welds in the butt end. The back have moser studs. And also some caps as I did not get any for the rear rims. But they looks a ton better afters some mothers polish! This little V6 sorta looks like a race car..... Now i just need to swap out the front tires and make the purchace on the new Drs. Ive decided Mickey Thompson are the best way to go for me.
09-02-2015, 03:22 PM
