Still can't repeat my 1.83 60 ft. with 235/60 drag radials ..keep getting anywhere from 2.06-2.48 60 fts. with them running 20 psi..I feel I can get better 60 fts. using my regular street radials at this point (which I might try as well)..thinking about buying a pair of Hoosier QT DOT pros 26x9.50x15 and next time I have a Pair of Mickey Thompson ET Drags that are the same size..I'm just looking for those 12.9X ET's consistently and I'd be very,very happy smile.gif

I'm consistant in the low 1.6's, and I'll tell you, it took me a long time to get there. Granted I'm running a leaf spring suspension, but you should be able to match that too. However, I'm running 275/60's at 18 PSI. When I first got the tires, I roasted them for a LONG time (much like what you do for normal slocks)...each time after that I just do a dry hop to clear off any junk. Works pretty good.

I should also add that if I hammer it off the line, I'll pull about a 2.2 60'...you should be able to do alot better.

Matt,I'm not going to give up on them yet..I have about 30 passes on them..I have to heat them up real good,at least lately.We'll see how it goes..all I know is I'm trying out some slicks too.

Which brand are you using? If it's BF Goodrich, you really shouldn't heat them up before each run, they won't hook at all (IMO).

They're BFG's..If I don't heat them good (like my 2nd run 2 weekends ago-I just dusted them off,which was spinng them for a about 2-3 seconds) I got a 2.48 60 ft and the car left the starting line spinning hard..best 60 ft. was a 2.06 that day and I heated them real good.When I got lucky with a 1.83,I heated them real good as well..

I have had 60's in the 1.85-1.95 average with my Nitto p275 60 15 Drag Radials. I have found that if I have about 20psi and heat them up real good they seem to hook halfway decent. I am a rookie, but I rarely have had a 2.0 and up 60 foot time. I also had the tires "cycled" before I got them. I am in the process of redoing my entire suspension, shocks, springs, and the SSM lift bars. I hope to improve my 60's in the 1.7x range this year.

my best friend runs consisant 1.60's with 275/60 drag radials in his 65 elky. one problem you have is the tire is pretty small, then next problem i see is the high gears. once you break the tires loose the wheel speed is too high to regain traction very quickly. it is harder to hook a 4.10 gear immediately off the line, but the wheel speed is slow enough to regain the lost traction. with the 2.73 gears, once traction is lost it is really hard to regain it.

I was never able to get a consistent hook. One pass a 1.96 the next a 2.20. The best I got was a 1.76 which I was never able to get close to again. I ran them for about 2-1/2 years before I finally gave up on them. Going to real slicks was the best thing I did for consistency. Like you I found they had to be hot to hook at all. I ran pressures from 12 to 24 finally settling on 14. ET Streets are reported to hook excellently. I haven't used them but if you want a DOT tire they are probably the best. The down side; you can't drive much on the street, they go away very fast.

Thanks for the info Pat (and everyone else)..obviously you've been there,done that and can relate.With the way the dr's have been performing lately,I'd probably do better 60 fts. with my street tires as I previously mentioned.

I run the same size DR on the Nova as you. For my setup I have been happy with the outcome. I am usually in the 1.9's with 1.85 being my best and 1.88 my second best. I don't have a posi which is part of the problem. I am sure I would be in the 1.6-1.7 with a posi. I found that 18psi has worked best for me personally. I also have to do a long burnout in order to get them to work properly. my worst 60 was 2.7 with these tires when I forgot to air it down. It seems the balder they get the better they work. I got maybe 15 passes left and my past 5 passes have resulted in the best 60 foots. Having said that I too have been thinking of trying out the quicktime Pro's since there not as wide as the ET streets.

Whats left of my Drag Radial (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/66chevyIISS/tire.jpg)

I was getting 1.88-2.0s with my 275x60 BFG drag radials at 30psi. And hope to improve that in the next week or so! :D

The 10 bolt 3.08 posi rear I have has no modifications. I'm afraid to look at the bushings, they probably are origional to the car. I've got a set of KYB shocks and a set of 'Drag Bags" to throw on and see what that will do.

Brad,thats about what mine look like..

Chris,Went to Etown again to impove on some times.Got the car in the 12:40',With pretty constent 60ft of 180's.But I do heat the snot out of them,I hold mine just shy of 3 secs. and power out of it.I think you may need to just put alittle more heat in them,Also I droped my psi to 18 as well.Hooked hard............


http://www.prestage.com/Member+Pages/1201.aspx

Chris,
I got 1.67 60 fts with my Nitto 555R 275/60-15 drag radials on a street driven, 3600 lb, SBC Camaro. Awesome tire...much better than the previously owned BFG DRs of the same size.
Wear is much better,too. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have a set of 14x7 BFG G-Force drag radials, I find that they hook best running 15-17 psi... I also have traction problems if I heat them TOO much... There must be a happy medium somewhere, I think I've found it now...

Jason,what are your 60 fts. ? What size? 14" What diameter?
Steve (one bad66) Congrats on the new best! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

When mine were new I'd get 1.7's...as they wore down I was pretty consistent high 1.6 low 1.7's and my best ever 60ft came with drag radials at 1.64...I was 60ft'ing in the mid-high 1.8's with Cooper Cobras. I most usually ran 16-18psi in the BFG's. I would heat them up pretty good,then power to the line. Don't give up on them Chris,,,try dropping the air pressure a little more.

I'm with Robert on burnout and air pressure procedures. My own bests with the BFG DR's are with nearly full tread at 18 lbs of air. I swap peddles off the line going to full throttle immediately. Out of 12 to 15 initial passes this season, I've only spun the tires once.

Chris, I have a feeling that your 2.73 gears are a big part of the traction problem...can't really come up with any ideas to resolve it, but I'd venture to guess that true slicks might help, but then again, you may see a bog off the line with a solid dead hook of a slick.

The tires are 215/60/14. My best 60 ft time that I can find a slip for is a 2.08 (I think that slip must be for my street tires though), but keep in mind it's an open rear. I couldn't find the time slips from when I had my slicks on the car. I imagine that once I get my posi in and my trany rebuilt the times will improve. The one thing I have found with these tires is, if you get the TOO hot they will get you very little improvment over your regular street tires.

mr4speed, what do you have for rear suspension? is it stock? the best traction aid i ever had was when i installed the SSM lift bars. i could 60ft 1.80's on regular radials with my 355 and a 10" convertor after i put the bars on. i agree with Todd on the slicks. unless you run a really short tire the slicks will likely hurt et rather than help it because when you're spinning the tires you get the rpms up on the motor, if it gets a dead hook with no gears it's going to take the motor some time to pull up the rpms. i know guys that are 60fting in the 1.30's on DR's, so i don't think the tires are the limiting factor for you. i'm waiting for the new M/T DR's to become available, then that's what i'm going to put on my car. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

M71,I have the stock F41 rear suspension (boxed arms,swaybar)and the extra braces.The M/T ET radials are available at www.jegs.com (http://www.jegs.com)
I don't want to change anything,other than tires in the near future..I've done a 1.83 before..I will try slicks,street tires,and my drag radials again the next test and tune I can get to.Guys,again..thanks for all the info graemlins/thumbsup.gif

can you fit all of those tires in your trunk? :D

This is the first I've heard of the MT ET Radials.. is anyone using them? I have a pair of 26" ET Streets, but they aren't really "street" tires because the rims I have don't have enough backspacing.
I currently run a p315/35 R17 BFG comp t/a on the rear, but, (and I've measured the tire at about 12.5"), I'm not sure if I could fit the 13" advertised by MT on the p325/60 under my fender, but I'd loose the g-forces for a more straight-line oriented tire.
When did the ET Radials come out? Success stories with them?


Matt

I don't know anything about them, but here you go:
MT Radials (http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=202489&prmenbr=361)

Chris, are you getting much weight transfer at all? I think you know what I'm hinting at. ;)

Also, what have you changed since achieving your best 60ft. time? Did you dial in a more aggressive timing curve since you got the distributor problem solved? I hate suggesting a more conservative timing curve. redface.gif

What RPM are you leaving at? I see so many people loading the suspension and the converter at the line. It just doesn't work very often on "street" cars like ours. Ask me how I know. graemlins/clonk.gif

I turn my idle up to about 1200-1400 rpms and don't load the suspension at all. That helped out quite a bit. I use M/T Sportsman Pro's and they can be finicky, so I know your frustration. I played with tire pressure a lot, till I finally settled on 14 - 14 1/2psi. That was in really hot weather, so I may have to adjust for these cooler temps.

I've never used DR's, but I'm sure we've got enuff guys on here to help you get this lil problem solved. :cool:

Justin,I leave off idle (I turn it up myself alittle,to about 1000 rpms or so in gear)..none of that preloading for me.Timing curve is the same 20* base,38* total by 3K
M71,lol..we got an extra car to carry some tires smile.gif

Chris,

Give me a call at work when you get a chance

Tom

Chris A big part of the problems your having are due to the track surface.
Last week at Englishtown, flooded with street cars, and probably little or no track prep becuase of the street cars, its no wonder you couldnt hook the drag radials.

Same with Lebennon valley, while i've never raced there, most of my friends who have didnt have many good things too say about the track prep.

1.80s for me with 275/50/15 BFG drag radials and my little 406/T350 with 2800 stall. best traction with 18-20lbs and new tires were probably better than they are now. changed convertors so I can't make an exact comparison.

Chris, tell us step-by-step, your procedure from entering (or not entering) the waterbox up to staging.

Screw 12.99's, I wanna see you hit 12.89! :cool:

They have to really cook to bite. I'm currently running et streets 1.60@ 60ft cars best was 1.55 on M&H race masters. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by 70_FathomBlueMalibu:
Screw 12.99's, I wanna see you hit 12.89! :cool: Justin,thats what I'm expecting with a 1.85 or better 60 ft.
I drive around the water,do 3-4 second burnout with the shifter in manual 2nd,then stage..thats about it.