Hello! I have just been beaten AGAIN by my friends Camaro. I am burning the tires halfway through second gear, so he's pulling faster at the light. Before I do any mods to the car, I wanna make sure I can hook the thing up. Just wondering what you guys suggest for a good street / strip or drag radial tire. I wouldn't wanna change tires and rims from 'racing' to 'daily driving' because I don't put a lot of miles on the car. Just something that'd give a lot more grip, but still function for everyday use, like the occasional showers and dirt and whatnot. Thanks a lot!! I've just got the stock setup in the rear, and stock GN rims. Thanks!
You have several choices:
- BFG Drag Radials - sticky, look like a radial. Kind of pricey and wear VERY quickly (you'll be lucky to get 7K miles of street driving out of them). Can be a bit finicky about traction at the strip.
- Nitto Drag Radials - same idea, radial looking and sticky. Wear is better than BFGs according to reports and better in the rain
- Mickey Thompson ET Streets - almost a slick. Two or three little grooves that fuction as DOT legal "tread" and stiffer sidewall than a slick. Great traction, but wear quickly and probably not much better than a slick in rain.
- Hoosier QuickTimes - fully treaded tire, much like the drag radials, but not radials. Sticky and often used as dirt track tires. Decent wear and full tread. Bias ply though.
Hope that helps!
Thanks a lot Ken! I was looking at the BFGs, they seem like a good deal. I'll pick up 4 of them and score that free G-Tech performance meter. They're cheaper than the Nittos. I don't drive much in rain (if at all) but need a DOT tire. The 275-50s fit on stock rims/rearend right?? I know it's a tight fit, but I know people have gotten street tires that size on, so I'm hoping the drag-radial is the same. Thanks again.
Pretty tight on the stock rim (7")... better on a 8" or 8.5" rim. Might want to consider the 235/60s, although the 275s should work.
Jerod,
You could also try a set of recap tires. I got a set through Bowling Green Customs. The are regular radial sidewalls, but have a soft #46 compound "cap" on them, the part with the tread. They also have a Mickey Thompson tread pattern on them. They are a DOT tire. They don't really stick out when people look at the car from the side, but once they catch the tread design, they get very interested. I have to admit though, I haven't had a decent amount of practice launching my car so I can't really give you an honest opinion about their ability to stick, but they seem to stick when they get warm. Though with my car, I can still blow them off with just a deadstop full gas pedal to the floor run, usually around 5psi. I've had them on the car about three years, but it doesn't get driven as much as it used to, but I'd say they have atleast 2500 miles on them and still seem to have quite a bit of tread. Best part for me was, they're only $85 a piece, so for that price I figured I could buy two for the same price as one BFG Drag Radial. I've had no real problems in the rain with them, nothing more than I would expect with radials and a decent amount of boost. Just another option for you, but of course, for the best E.T.'s, slicks are the best way to go. I pulled a 1.8 60-foot with stock sized regular radials before I changed most of my car's setup, now with the sticky tires, I've only pulled a 1.9, but like I said, I need more practice. Hope it helps,
Scott
I have a pair of 235/60-R15 BFG Drag Radials mounted on stock GN rims. What I have learned this summer is that these tires will hook-up decently, but only if I heat them up pretty good before I launch. When I tried to stage with just a short burnout, they would spin really easily, even with less than a 0psi launch. If I heat them up, I can launch at 0psi or more and they will hold, even on drag strips that are known for not hooking up. Just last weekend I pulled a 1.94 60' on a stock suspension with air bags at a less-than-ideal track. That's not a great time, but on this same track, I couldn't do better than a 1.90 60' with 8" slicks. So I would say that these "little" BFG's hold their own.
Regards,
Mike
After 3 sets of 275/50's I switched to 275/60 BFGDR's. The 275/60 BFG's are a little narrower than the 275/50's (though 2 inches taller) and actually rub the frame a little less on the stock wheels than the 50's.
They hook a lot more consistanly than the 50's and I've managed mid 1.6 60ft times with 24 psi in them. I thought the taller tire would slow my car down a little in the 1/8th mile, but I actually picked up almost .1/1 mph.
The only downside is speedo is off a few mph.
BFG drag radials are the best for the Buicks. I got those on my two cars. 235/60-R15 on my white one and 275/60-R15 on my black one. Its possible to do 60' 1.60 and lower with the 275/15. So i dont think they are that bad!!!
My Research Indicates that Nitto doesn't have drag radials for 60 series and up. So, if I'm correct, the choice for us guys who have stock rims is the 235/60R15 BFG Drag Radial.
Am I correct?
I had the BFG drag radials in 235/60/15.I now have Nitto's in 275/50/15 and thee is no comparison.My car would just destroy the BFG's and the Nitto's really hook up good.I have them on the stock gn wheels.I had a very slight rub on the passenger side frame so I put aluminum brake drums on and now there is no rub anywhere.Bruce
I've seen 275/50 BFG DR's on stock rims, but its really pushing it. I don't think it lets the whole tread sit very 'flat' on the pavement.
I'd add to Ken's list of options the Hoosier Quick Time Pro. Basically, Hoosier's version of the MT ET Street. Haven't tried them, but I've heard lots of good things about them.
I've been able to pull a best of 1.76 for a 60 foot with the recaps I mentioned. And it seems I have no problems getting low 1.8s and high 1.7s, all the time, and still need practice, not to mention fixing a tranny problem. Just a comment on what Bruce said though. I don't think that comparing a 235/60/15 BFGDR to 275/50/15 Nittos is a fair comparison. I could be wrong, but isn't the Nitto a bit bigger tire in that comparison? And the more meat on the ground, the better your chances to hook up, atleast I would think. And how much practice and tire-heating was done? In other words, how hot did you get the two tires? And where were you testing? For instance, I can pull 1.7s at the track,with just a quick spin to get the water/dirt off of them. But my car will destroy the same tires, with practically everything else the same, ie boost, fp, weather, car weight, chip, and even tire pressure, on the street. It starts spinning them at about 5-7psi and doesn't stop well until second gear. Comparisons and personal experiences are great, just try to give more details to help everyone put things in context. No flaming intended.
Hello, I just bought a 1987 Grand National. It has several modifications and will run 11.5. It has an Auburn Pro series pos traction rear end and currently has 245/50R16 BFG drag radials all the way around. I have been told that if I go back to the original 15" grand national rims I may get even more speed out of the car as it will return it to the original gear ratio. I need advise on tire size and what kind of tires, and if switching the size of the rims will help performance. Thanks in advance Steven
Take a look at:
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/suspension/Tirechart2.html
You'll see that the 245/50-16 tires are about .4" shorter than the stock size (25.65 vs. 26). It's not the size of the rim, it's the overall tire diameter that matters.
I doubt you'll see a lot of difference in just the tire size issue, but you'll see a lot off difference in a sticky tire vs. a street only tire. Also, a 15" tire will have more sidewall for an equivalent overall diameter, which means more "wrinkle" in a slick or soft DOT .. which equates to better off the line traction.
So, if you aren't running the car at the strip, the tires you have a probably OK size-wise. If you are going to replace the rears, do with the 255/50-16s in a drag radial (Nittos or BFG) and you'll get a sticky street tire.
It all comes down to traction, unless you have the car finely tuned and are looking for that last hundredth at the track.
Ken....I think the rim size does make a bit of difference...the smaller the rim, while maintaining overall tire diameter, the more sidewall is present to "wrinkle".
Not sure if that is very good English but.......*g*
Ummm... that's what I said Steve... 2nd paragraph
Oops, so much for the speed reading course!
I used a set of 275/50-15 550R Nitto Drag Radials this year and they worked well. I 60 footed at 1.762 and ran a 11.87@115. Rain control was good (Better that BFG) but have to be careful not to spool too much
They fit like a glove on 15x8 rim w/4.5 backspace. I am going to slicks next season. I was impressed with the Nitto. Excellent street traction...