Ryan77

I'm installing my new 383 from AR Racing right now, and I'm thinking ahead to the spring. I'll need new rear tires no matter what. I'm currently running BFG Radial T/A's in 225/70/15's but I was going to upgrade to 255/60/15's for the rear. But, I've started to think about maybe getting a pair of street legal drag radials instead. I believe the stock 225/70 tire is about 26" tall, and I want to run the widest tire possible, so I was looking at the BFG drag radial in 235/60/15 (26.1" tall), the Hoosier quick time drag D.O.T. in 245/60/15 (26.1" tall), and the Mickey Thompson M/T sportsman in 26x10.5-15 (26" tall). All of them are street legal. The car is not a daily driver, but will probably be used for cruising atleast 5 days a week in the summer, and will see the drag strip. So my question is do you guys think these tires are worth it? Do work well on the street? Which tire do you guys recommend? Or should I stay with the radial T/A and just go 255/60/15 :confused:
Thanks in advance :cheers:


[Modified by Ryan77, 11:03 PM 3/4/2004]

CaptainMike

The sticky tires will obviously shoot you out of the hole better.......however, they are also more likely to help that 383 tear up something in the rear if it's stock. Go with the street tires and smoke em!! :D

GrandSportC3

There's no problem driving with them on the street other than that they wear down pretty quick...

I'd go with BFG Drag Radials 275/50R15...


[Modified by GrandSportC3, 11:38 PM 3/4/2004]

GrandSportC3

Breaking stuff is part of the fun...

Here's what I broke with slicks:

1) differential (posi case)
2) rear spring
3) rear wheel bearings

Other than that.. I got pretty lucky so far... :jester


[Modified by GrandSportC3, 11:40 PM 3/4/2004]

Sleper

I have a set of BFG drag radials and have run them on the street. They hook up great and only have a couple of small downfalls. One do not get caught in the rain :nono: They are quite slippery. Two they pick up lots of small stones and as a result many small chips on your fender lip. :sad: They do hook up great :D Good luck :cheers:

EDDIEJ82

Why not just buy two more rims and swap them out when you go to the track?

Ryan77

I was thinking of doing this, because I'm guessing these don't hook as good as real slicks, and thats ok because the rear end is stock right now, except for solid spicer u-joints, and hopefully I can avoid breakage for now. In the future I'll be going with a complete 12 bolt IRS setup from Tom's Diff's.

Olivier-- I wasn't sure if the 275/50/15 would fit without modifying the e-brake bracket, etc :confused:

PRNDL

I am thinking about buying a pair of drag radials myself, and here is why you will want to also. You always want to go quicker at the strip and make more power. Traction quickly becomes the major issue and the cheapest way to improve your 1/4 mile times becomes a set of drag radials. However, I would mount mine on a seperate set of rims and change them on race day. Driving to the track will be ok but fulltime would wear them out too quickly (I am pretty sure they have no mileage warranty ? ) and I have read many times how treacherous they are in the rain. :) MJ

GrandSportC3

It's a close call..... I used 275/60R15 tires on my prev. '69 (with 4 inch backspacing) and the e-brake line would rub a little bit against the tires.. It was nto a big deal.. but it's very close... Some people just re-locate the e-brake bracket to the top of the trailing arm.. I'm sure that a welder wouldn't charge you more than a few bucks to do that...

GrandSportC3

Well - I actually had my best 60' time with Drag Radials... My 60' times are more consistent with Slicks, but I never got into 1.50's with slicks because they broke lose... Drag Radials hook great, but if you lose traction with them - they don't gain traction back as easy as slicks.. For example - the worst 60' time that I had with slicks was 1.70.... and my best 60' time with slicks was 1.64...
With Drag Radials - I would get 1.59 - 1.65... but if they broke lose - I would only get 1.90's for a 60' time..

Ryan77

I think I'll get a pair and mount them on a seperate set of rims, and just run Radial T/A's in 255/60/15 on the street. I'll probably go with the 275/60/15 mounted on a pair of rally wheels in 15"x8" and move the e-brake bracket :cheers:

73jst4fun

P225/70R15 tires are actually 27.4" tall, P255/60R15 are 27.1" tall and are the closest wider tire to the stock size if your concerned in retaining the same ratio. The drag radials in P235/60R15 are 26.1" and 9.2" wide. You have to watch the width of these tires, they come close to the spring and struts.... :seeya

427V8

I have a pair of 275/60r15's that I run. nice tires!
I ran them on the street for a year, they are really NOT that bad in the rain...

The worst part about them is the soft sidewall, you can really feel the sidewall flax around corners. The rear end would just flop over but then it would STICK

WA 2 FST

Ryan,

I have run drag radials on a number of cars I've owned, and I currently run them full time on my C5. The BFG G-force DR (you're probably looking at the BFG T/A DR) has a tread pattern that is not conducive _at all_ to rain, and that's what I run, so that car cannot see any rain. The T/A DR isn't as bad, but as others have pointed out, it is best not to drive on them in the rain.

However, your car isn't going to see rain either, so who cares?

The Mickey Thompson and Hoosier tires will handle like crap, so I would rule those out unless they are for track only.

Another tire I would seriously consider (you'll need to see if they have one in the size you want) is the Nitto drag radials. They handle rain better, they handle dry better (meaning handling in general is not compromised like a normal drag-oriented tire) and they last a lot longer. The caveat is that they take a bit more heat to hook up, but you shouldn't have a problem.

They just started making a DR for the size I need with my C5 and I will be getting them this next time around. I have run Nitto DRs before and they are definitely a tire you can drive around with no issues on the street. If they made a 285/40-17 (what I have on my C3) I'd have them _tomorrow_.

If your 383 makes the power it should you will get frustrated on the street with anything less than a drag radial. Even if you're cruising. If I stand on the throttle at all in 1st I can smoke my 17" Z-rated tires deep into 3rd in my C3. So I find myself just rolling into it.

You may decide to get the extra wheels and mount them on there, but I'm betting you will be driving on them full time after you try them out. :)

Ryan77

Thanks for the replies.

WA 2 FST --- How often do you have to replace your drag radials? I probably only put around 5,000 miles on my car a year. I checked my Jeg's catalog, and found out that Nitto also makes there drag radial in 275/60/15 (27.8" tall). I know a guy with a 2003 SVT Cobra, and he said the BFG drag radials were one of the best mods he made to the car, and he runs them full time :cheers:



[Modified by Ryan77, 8:57 PM 3/5/2004]

WA 2 FST

BFG makes two different styles of DRs. The G-force ones are what I am currently running on my Z06, and they hook great, but I will not buy them again b/c they come with 4/32" tread, and will only last me 1500 miles...maybe. Granted, my car makes over 600hp (flywheel). Thing is, they actually hook ok in 1st (some spin, of course), but hook great in 2nd gear with the temps over 70^F outside.

The BFG T/A DRs should last longer than the G-force ones. These are probably the ones you are looking at in your size. The G-force tires are typically for 17-18" wheels from what I can tell.

I have run Nittos on that Mustang you see in my sig. Nearly 700hp (flywheel). Driving aggressively they will still last 4-5k miles exclusively in the city. If you do more highway driving, they'll last longer.

Nitto now makes some of these for the size I need for my Z06, so I will be getting them next time.

Jay M

this is a very timely post. I was going to ask the same thing today.

Would you use Drag radials on all four wheels, or just the back?

How well do they grip when they are cold? Part of the reason I want them is for street use. When I find some open road and punch it it is a little unnerving when the wheels start spinning in second gear.

If drag radials aren't for me, then what is the best street tire for good acceleration?

Thanks,
~Jay

Ryan77

Jay-- you should only need them on the rear, I don't think they would do you any good on the front, and would definately hurt the handling because of the soft sidewall.