Hey guys,
I am considering switching to drag radials, as I am tired of changing tires at the track. Do any of you have experience with the new Mickey Thompson drag radials. Is the traction similar to the slicks? I have a low 11 sec. car that has excellent traction with the slicks. Will I be giving up lots of traction with these drag radials. I once had a pair of Nitto drag radials on another car and they spun badly at the track.
Thanks,
Daniel

Sorry to thread-jack, but, I am curious about these as well. Are they "street tires suitable for the track" or "track tires you may want to take on the street to get gas?"
I know a bunch of guys that run ET streets on the street, but for more of a compromise? Are the ET drag radials more "stick them on for the track or at the track" or drive there with them?
The concept seems interesting, although I have heard very mixed reviews from the guys at the mustang sites, esp the big-power forced induction guys..
Then again, hearsay..


matt

If your car didn't work good with Nitto's then it isn't going to work any better with the M/T drag radials. I used BFG drag radials when my car was still a 9 sec 1/8th mile car and did not like them at all. A friend of mine tried the M/T's on his 9 sec mustang and took them off after a few races and sold them. I would deffinitely stay away from them with a low 11 sec car.

Don't know about the others,,,but I've had 1.64-1.67 60 ft. times with the BFG's,Nittos are harder,thus more tread life and less traction, A buddy of mine switched to MT drag radials and didnt like them,he's going back to BFG's. We've had cars in the drag radial class run 5.30's-5.60's on drag radials, they can be made to hook.

I've had/have all three tires in question...
My personal favorite (and present street tire) is the M/T ET Street Radial. It actually does a pretty decent job for street only duty considering the TQ of a 540. ;)
However, I do race this car with slicks.
My next favorite is the Nitto 555R which I have raced on. Best was a 1.67 60'(different car).
Least personal favorite is the BFG Drag radials. Couldn't get those things to bite until they were bald, which took less than 1K miles. :(
If you can get by with a non radial, the M/T ET Streets are the best of the DOT, IMO.

My son put a pair of BFG Drag Radials and skated the entire quarter mile. I know some of the Mustangs do very well with them but they didn't work on a 540 Chevelle at all.

I think they can obviosly be hooked on some pretty fast cars as you have stated some guys are running in the 9's maybe even 8's in the quarter. I don't know if they are the most consistant tires to use with a big c.i. big block heavy car. Also maybe not the best tires for use in bracket racing where consistancy is the concern. As with any setup the setup must be optimized. A setup optimized for slicks is not one that will likely work with drag radials.

I know a guy at our local track the uses the BFG's on a Turbo Charged Buick Grand National. The car runs 7.40's in the 1/8th, but you gotta figure this car doesn't hit the tires no where near as hard as a 400+ c.i. big block in a 4000 lb Chevelle. He also uses them up pretty quick as they need to get a fair amount of heat in them in the burnout box for optimum traction from what I hear.

Well, I must have an incredible suspension setup if I'm the only one that can hook well on BFG drag radials tongue.gif :D .

I've had excellent luck with them the past two seasons. So far the best 60' has been a 1.433 leaving off the footbrake at 2000 rpm. Typical 60's are in the 1.46 to 1.48 range.

Everything I've heard of the ET Street Radials is that there better than the ET Drag slicks...same hook, but more efficient down the track due to the less rolling resistance of the radial.

My main concern with the M/T radials is that for a dual purpose use car, there life expectancy is not gonna be very good...at least that's my prediction. Any tire that is that soft to hook real well just isn't gonna have a good wear resistance.

More than likely my next set of tires will be the M/T radials. With a new engine setup for 2005, with more power and torque, I've got my work cut out for me in the traction tuning department (on drag radials).

At the Worlds Fastest Shootout in Orlando
every car in DOT, with the exception of maybe 4 had the new M/T drag radials on.

Walking through the pits,there were brand new sets of BFG`s everywhere for sale.

Can`t give an opinion as to how they compare to the ET Drag but I can say some of those cars leave with 4 ft under the fronts.

The compound is different too, they have a distinct almost acrid smell in the burnout smoke.

I doubt they`ll last long on the street.
A local guy just put a set of the M/T ET radials (325/15) on his 70 chevelle a couple days ago, be interesting to see how they hold up.

Originally posted by BigRed-L72:
The compound is different too, they have a distinct almost acrid smell in the burnout smoke.
I noticed that! :D

i know 2 guys that just bought et radials. 1st one has a 71 nova 477 10 teens with mid to low 1.40's 60 ft 2nd is a 91 mustang with a 347 and a procharger 9.30's with 1 30's 60 ft snd time out with the car. they both love them. both had et street bias before. ill be buying a set in the spring

can these radials be had in a 28x15 with a 10" tread?

http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/17482.html?

Originally posted by sheetmetal:
can these radials be had in a 28x15 with a 10" tread? Dave, the 325/50-15 measures 28" tall, 10.5" of tread and has a section width of 13" mounted on a 9.5 to 10" wide rim. That is the very size I've run for the past two seasons.