Looking for opinions here.

Last Friday I took my car to the strip in complete street trim just for fun and ran a 13.35 @ 124.67... Obviously, I have no traction. :p

I'm considering buying another set of strip wheels & tires. However, I'm limited to 16" or larger wheels to clear my back brakes. I'm thinking of picking up some cheap 16 x 10 steelies and running either 295/15/16 ET Street Radials or 26x11.50-16 ET Streets.

Thoughts on both? I've done some research but found nothing conclusive in terms of comparisons. I would not drive to the track on either of them but swap them when I arrive. I'm personally leaning towards the radials but I'd like to hear advice either way... overall stick, feel, expected life, etc.

Thanks!

Never used at the track but...
A pair of M/T 295/65-15 ET Street radials are my full time street tires. Actually work very well...now on my 2nd pair...and got decent mileage out of them
I wouldn't even consider running the bias ET Street version on the street. Sidewall is much softer than the radial version.
BTW...a 295/65-15 is about 30" tall.
If you're looking for strip only tires, why not a full slick??

Never used at the track but...
A pair of M/T 295/65-15 ET Street radials are my full time street tires. Actually work very well...now on my 2nd pair...and got decent mileage out of them
I wouldn't even consider running the bias ET Street version on the street. Sidewall is much softer than the radial version.
BTW...a 295/65-15 is about 30" tall.
If you're looking for strip only tires, why not a full slick??

Im with Bill on this one. I saw your other post and such impressive MPH from your car! Much more to improve in ET can be had by the ET radials. They are making some interesting sizes in 16" versions now which is good!

I think a magazine did a comparison between a 28*10.5 et street and a 275/60/15 et street radial. the radial posted a better '60 and a higher mph because the tire didn't waste torque wrinkling out of the hole. if i remember right it was about .0015-.01 quicker in the '60. the radial also likes more tire pressure too. instead of 12-15psi you run about 18-22psi. more stable on the top end. they had a '70 nova going 8.20's on that same tire, crazy!!

I borrowed a pair of MT DR's and was really impressed. They rode great, and no sway on the big end.

Good info.

Appears that I read their sizes wrong on the ET Street Radials.

Looks like my best options would be either a 275/40/17 (26" tall) or 255/50/16 (also 26"). 275/40 would obviously be the way to go for width, the 255/50/16's are a bit on the narrow side IMO. I could pick up a pair of 17 x 9.5 wheels for them which are easy to find.

26" tall tires are going to be the best setup for me as I run somewhat tall 3.42 gears for freeway manners and long distance cruising; at 125mph in 4th gear on my current 26.1" street tires I'm going through the traps at only 5500rpm. So I certainly don't want to go any taller on the tires.


If you're looking for strip only tires, why not a full slick??

Find me some full slicks in 16" or 17" that are 26" tall and I will certainly consider them! I can't fit 15" wheels due to brake clearance. There are are plenty of road race & autocross slicks that match that criteria but they don't work so well for drag use... and searching at M/T and Hoosier I didn't see any 16" or 17" full slicks in those size ranges.

Your gonna be hard pressed to get a drag radial to work when it's a 16 ot 17" rim diameter and only 26" tall. The sidewall is gonna be very short which also makes it very stiff. Not what you want for proper traction. You need some sidewall wrap/deflection to absorb the energy/shock and allow the tread to stay in contact with the track surface.

The more power your combination makes, the worse this situation becomes.

Even slicks that short will struggle if the engines making any power.

Like my experience on the weekend if you are going to race, buy slicks!!! They will hook harder and there less tempermental.

Dave

Gokou- look at Summit and search for M/T's and look for the 295/50R16 drag radials. They are in production from when I last heard. Should look pretty sick and have some nice sidewall too!

The M/T Drag Radial is not made for a manual tranny. The side wall does not handle the shock of a clutch as well as the ET Streets. I called M/T tech for info after I had my problems.
I could not get my Drag Radials to hook better then a 1.7X 60' and this was treating the car like a baby. If I did try and apply lots of power off the line my 60' was as bad as 2.30s. If the radial goes into any sort of hop or shake, there is no recovery.
These are my experiences. I dumped my Drag Radials for the ET Streets.
For me it was a massive diffrence.

Notice in my video the 1st to 2nd shift. This was with the Drag Radials...running a 12.35 @ 114.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXPEPPrs9i8

The M/T Drag Radial is not made for a manual tranny.

I need to try the ET streets. I have had the same problem. I just go up in smoke off of the line.

Troy.....Look at the Nitto 555R 315/35/17's. They run narrow for 315's and are really more like 295's than 315's. They would fit perfect on your 17x11's and would give you a bunch more traction. Plus they last like 10K. But if you want drag only tires then 16's on ET street radials are the way....


The 315 Nitto's on 11's have NO buldge over the rim lip....they will fit your ride will no fender lip rolling! They are a good 20MM narrower than BFG's or MT's DR's in the 315/35/17 size. On the nitto site they say the section is 12.1 and BFG's is 12.6.

Well, looks like I'm going to have to eat my own words (somewhat.)

While my back brakes will not clear a 15" rally (which I tried years ago) they will clear a 15 x 8 Weld Drag Lite. A friend brought one over tonight. There's only .125" clearance from the wheel hoop to the caliper and the inside bead of the wheel is probably .150" away from the p-brake linkage-- but it fit. Couldn't go any wider in 15" as these wheels didn't have much backspace and were somewhat close to the fender lip. To go wider I'd need more backspace and thus a larger diameter wheel to clear the caliper & p-brake linkage.

Unfortunately it looks like I have very limited choices in 26" tall slicks that will fit safely on an 8" wheel... but it looks like a 26 x 10.50 ET Street will work. Think it would be worth my while? I think I might even know someone with a pair I can borrow.

Yes, go with the 26" ET streets.
As has been mentioned, any sort of radial, be it a slick or a drag radial, won't work well with stick cars.

All the stock elim stick guys run the bials ply tires.

You will have to experiment with the leave. Any clutch slip leaves will just hurt the clutch, pressure plate and flywheel.

I would suggest a clean of the tires (go around the water box) for the first time. Pick an rpm, then leave. Don't slip the clutch. Adjust from there. If the car spins bad, then do a burn out.

You will find a sweet spot. And the car will love it!

Have fun!

Ron

Well, looks like I'm going to have to eat my own words (somewhat.)

While my back brakes will not clear a 15" rally (which I tried years ago) they will clear a 15 x 8 Weld Drag Lite. A friend brought one over tonight. There's only .125" clearance from the wheel hoop to the caliper and the inside bead of the wheel is probably .150" away from the p-brake linkage-- but it fit. Couldn't go any wider in 15" as these wheels didn't have much backspace and were somewhat close to the fender lip. To go wider I'd need more backspace and thus a larger diameter wheel to clear the caliper & p-brake linkage.

Unfortunately it looks like I have very limited choices in 26" tall slicks that will fit safely on an 8" wheel... but it looks like a 26 x 10.50 ET Street will work. Think it would be worth my while? I think I might even know someone with a pair I can borrow.

I run the 26x11.5x15" ET streets and they work very well. I drive them on the street at full pressure with no problems. If I air them down they stick so well it'll pull the front wheels. Great tires.
Mike