8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

I burned all the way through 100' before the engine went boom....Weights broke free went up and knocked the rotor out about 90 degrees.....I need to hook up better...however I'm not sure if I should use slicks or drag radials...My rims are 17" and the speed shop says I should purchase 15" rims with slicks it will give me better times and speed through the quarter....my friends say put some drag radials on your 17" rims and go from there. I'm very confused at this point....any of you guys with experience in tire choices for drag racing.....please give me some input before I purchase the wrong combo....Thanks for your help :seeya Cappy

jpee

If your motor is stock just go with DRs it will be a lot cheeper than getting rims & tires..

As for ET it dont matter if 15 or 17" its the OVERALL diameter that counts, most 17" tires are 26" tall... If you get a 15" rim you have a large selection of tires..

give us an idea of what's done to your engine... what was your MPH last time you made a full pass...

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

Red96Coupe,
Thanks for the reply....I'm running the Bill Mitchell 415ci, and I have not made a good run on this engine yet.....however I did have a Beck Racing 383 in her before this engine....best pass was 13.4 @ 106 MPH....This new engine is way more powerful than the Beck 383. My sixty foot times are in the 2.088....I'm burning way too much. The last run I made on the 415ci engine I burned 100' or more.....I've checked on BFG Drag Radials 275-40-17 priced about $175.00 each here in Hawaii....The Nitto Drag radials are a bit higher $235.00 each. I have a friend with a mounted set 7" wide MT slicks on 15" rims both for $300.00 ......Slicks may cause a problem since they have to be mounted at the track...They also may cause things to go boom.....I watched a Cuda launch with slicks and he was hooking very well out of the hole....So i have some tough choices to make regarding tires.....any help in this area would be greatly appreciated....Thanks again :seeya Cappy

jamiejamison

If you don't mind changing tires at the track and have a way to get them there, then go with slicks. I ran BFG drag radials and Nittos for 2 years until I spun off the road with just a little road water. I now have a little trailer and slicks. The plus is you will always hook up and the're cheaper in the long run. My BFGs lasted only 4000 miles and the Nittos lasted 7000 miles. LOL Jamie

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

jamiejamison,
Thanks for the info.....I'm really not looking forward to the tasks of changing tires out at the track, however this may be the safest way of running without doing the wall again......I do have some friends who live close to the track. I may have to make these changes over at their house before heading out. Slicks are going to be a whole new ball game.....what's the best tire pressure for these type of tires? :seeya Cappy

DeenHylton

Cappy, how much HP are you running? I don't think a 7" wide slick is enough except for maybe 400 HP or lower. Do yourself a favor and get a 9" wide at least. A street drag radial will need to be wider than that to have the same effect as a race slick. We've found 13# pressure (with tubes) to be optimal and a 9" wide will handle up to about 525-550 HP. Without major mods you can squeeze up to a 28-15" X 10" slick under a C-3 using a stock factory wheel and off-sets. Deen

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

DeenHylton,
I have the offset trailing arms on this car....don't know how much this will help in tire selection and size of rims.....Engine will be making more than 530 HP and close to 550 TQ when the new heads and roller cam are installed....at the present time I'm making 494 HP and 495 TQ..Almost 500 HP and TQ.....I thought 7" slicks would be too small for this amount of power...You validated my thoughts....so the 7" slicks are out...Now its back to the drawing board...Thanks again for the information. :seeya Cappy

QuickVet

i dont know the answer to your tire problems but i am running the stock 15" rims with a set of Hoosier Quicktime Pros and they work fine without any modification. If you need the size i can find out for you.

How do you like the Bill Mitchell products? I have been looking at their rotating assemblys for a while now. are they quality?

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

QuickVet,
I had a Beck Racing 383 Max Velocity Stroker prior to the Bill Mitchell 415ci .......It's like day and night in performance.....Very "powerful" engine..."Frightening" would be a better word.....I'd hate to even think what the power would be like in their 427ci or Racing engines.....I would recommend their engine to anyone who wanted a small block with big block power. The only problem I had so far was the weights inside the distributor broke at their pivot holes....they flew up and caught the rotor....@ 5200 RPM Big fire ball and Boom sound :D I took the distributor back to the performance shop where I bought the engine and they will return $$$ for the distributor since I installed my HEI MSD I had sitting on the bench....I could not find any springs inside the distributor...which seems very strange....I was very careful not to loose or drop any parts since I wanted the shop to see all the pieces.....I even collected all the tiny pieces of plastic from the rotor cap....NO SPRINGS????? I may be ordering their Forged rotating assembly to replace what's in the Beck Racing 383...I don't think the Beck had Forged Steel Crank etc. parts as claimed....I'll find out shortly when I tear this engine down......I'm going to try a set of drag radials and a set of slicks to see where my best time will be, then go from there....Thanks for the input.....:seeya Cappy

Maurice

Must be some good friends! I bet they would let you try their drag slicks if you wanted :D

Scott and I are going back out on Friday night, Scott will have Norris' drag radials on. I have fixed my problems....should be a great night with some new best times. You should join us and try to get your friends by the track to let you borrow their slicks!

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

My good friend,
I'll swing by early enough to install slicks....I'm not going for that wild ride again....I may swing by Thur and make some trial runs on your private drag strip behind your house just to gain my confidence back....If that's okay with you?????? :seeya Cappy

Maurice

Come on down! The drag strip is always open!

DeenHylton

Cappy, sounds like you have some friends that will let you test their tires...couldn't ask for anything better than that! With off-set T-arms I'd buy 10" wide rims and run a 28-15 X 11" slick just incase you feel the urge to add a shot of NOS at a later date. My Quarter-Junior software shows the 11" slick will hook on a 600-625 HP launch (shows slippage on a 650 HP launch). You'll find a 29" tall tire will rub the frame at the T-arm pivot point at the top end of the track so I'd stick with 28 inchers...Deen

Maurice

Here is the first time he "tested" them :)

mackeyred96

:lol: :lol: :lol: