I am going to try my hand at drifting in couple of weeks and was just cursious to what tires I should use to burn up?

I was thinking of using my Nitto 555RII's up front for grip and either my Nitto 555's or Kumho 712's in the rear.
I do have some old tires on my stock Formula wheels, but I don't know if they are in good enough condition to heat up and slide with, they might end up popping on me. Maybe I could get some used tires for the Formula wheels?
what do you guys think?

 

CrazyHawaiian would definitly be the authority on this topic, but I'd say don't use anything that expensive since you'll be going through them pretty quick. I've been through used kumhos, used dunlop sp 8000's and a crappy set of futuras (all were only used as rears), and I haven't gathered enough experience/skill to tell any difference. Then again, I've never participated in a sanctioned event.. my experience is limited to practicing in parking lots.
Hope you have a good time, and definitly get some pics up!

 

Hey thanks for the props man, I wouldnt consider myself an authority but I can definately try to help out. Tire selection is one of the most important things for the sport of drifting, and to be honest it will probably take some experimentation to find the right setup for you. The common misconception is that drifting works best with slick tires or tires with no traction, I'll tell you straight out this is false. Drifting does involve a loss of traction, but even while the tires are spinning there is still some ammount of traction, thats what keeps the car from spinning out. The trick is to find the correct balance of contact patch and compound versus your power level and weight of the car (which will affect your momentum/inertia). Your drifting style also plays a role into what setup will work for you (all throttle, or all braking). Not enough traction in the front and you'll have problems understeering. Not enough traction in the back and you'll have problems spinning out. Too much traction in the rear and you'll have problems with the car re-gripping and ending the drift when you don't want it to end (which can cause accidents). Tire compound generally reflects the ammount of traction you have, in this sport is will reflect on how consistent the tire performs. It is optimal to have a tire that performs consistently so you have a base to work off of while learning your limits. If the tires performs differently every time you go out it makes it hard to progress because you're constantly changing your style to adapt. This is why its generally accepted that the better compound tires out there are better for drifting, the contact patch is what really needs to be experimented with. The tire sidewall is also important, the stiffer the sidewall the more responsive the tire is. There is a noticable difference between drifting with 55+ sidewall tires and 45-, when the sidewall flexes and stretches under stress it won't be as responsive during transitions from right to left, and sometimes this can throw you off. This is one of the reasons stretching tires over wide wheels is popular in the drifting scene. Part of it is the look (which is what some people want), but stretching the sidewall also makes it stiffer, and thus more responsive (which is what other people are after). What it all comes down to in the end is #1 balance is key, and #2 your contact patch will depend on your level of skill. Guys that are good (go fast) run larger contact patches, guys learning use smaller contact patches.

For my stock 89 IROC-Z with stock 16's, stock suspension, and a stock L98 I thought a good tire setup was 245 in the front and between 225 - 235 in the rear. I started out with the 225's, and ended up sticking with the 235's after a while (245's in the rear was too much for me with stock L98, car would re-grip when I didnt want). But gotta keep in mind that my style is a 50/50 mix of throttle and braking. If you were doing more WOT drifting then 245's might work better, or vice versa if it was more braking then 225's probably better. After modifying the IROC-Z, dropping some weight, and making a little more power I'm at the point now where I run 235's in the front and 235-245's in the rear on 17" wheels (8.5 - 9.5" wide) with 40-45 sidewalls. When the car reaches the 350whp mark I'll probably be changing this to 245-255's in the rear and maybe step the fronts up to 245's. If I can make the car lighter then I can run a smaller contact patch but these cars are kind of heavy. Experimentation is key!

The best way to experiment is to make friends with your local tire shop and get a free run at the used tire trash pile. Usually a tire shop will have to pay to dispose of tires, sometimes you are doing them a favor by taking them. But on the other hand it can be a liability issue (so is getting them mounted). With the right hookups and an extra set of wheels you can experiment for basically free, this is how I found what works good for me (I tried between 195-275 wide on the rear hahah). This way you can find the right contact patches you like, then move on to good compound tires (hopefully). To this day I still run used trash tires because I cannot afford new ones every time I go drifting. So when I find a good set of good compound tires in the right size, its gold man. What you're hoping for is someone got a nail in 1 tire and replaced all 4 (so 3 of them are good, 4 if you patch the nail hole). Lastly, don't worry about the tire popping, expect it. if you didnt blow the tires up and drift away on the rim making sparks then you didnt do it right.

 

cool, thanks for the tips.
I am going to try this sunday to practice some controlled sliding, and see how it works.