Tires with consideration to drag racing

dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
I am going to need a set of new tires soon, especially if I am going to be driving any long distances drives to a SyTy meet. One set of my tires is from 2002 (even though I bought them in 2005 :rant: ) and are hard as a rock. My other set is from 2005 and are retreads (green dots). I have been driving on the retreads, but I am start to rethink that those might not be the best idea to be driving down the track at 115mph+ given the age of the tires. The green dots don't handle that well at all.

My truck has run high 11's and should easily be running mid 11's this summer assuming I don't break anything. For any tire that I use, dry traction is a big consideration. I relatively don't care about tire wear, but I have to be able to actually drive my truck in the rain if I get caught in a storm going to a meet.

I like the look of a clean set of stock wheels, but the tire selection is very limited. On Tire Rack, there are 2 summer performance tires in the stock 245/50 R16 size. (255/50 R16 have even less selection) From the reviews, it looks like the BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 is the better choice over the Firestone. It has a treadwear of 340 but I would prefer a lower number closer to 200 or even less. Am I going to be able to hook up with BFG's or do I have to seriously think about buying a different sized rims so I can use different tire sizes with stickier tires?
 
Six-is-Enough

Six-is-Enough

Use to do a little Boost
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

I have Bf Goodrich sport comps on my stock rims. My truck will break them loose on a hard boost launch. I am sure yours would to. You would be giving up some 60 foot performance. IMO.

I have some 16 x 8 4th gen Camaro rims with drag radicals mounted on that I change to for the track. Mine are old style bf goodrich drag radials. Mickey Thompson has some new drag radials that are suppose to be good in the rain, If you don't want to do the tire swapping at the track thing.

I use to have some Nitto drag radials on a 4th gen Camaro that did okay in the rain, but needed substantial burnouts to work at their best.
 
GarnetTy1473

GarnetTy1473

Donating Member
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

I have Toyo drag radials on mine. Although I haven't driven on them yet, they sure do look good on my truck. I don't know if anybody has any experience with them on here at all, but by looking at the tread design, they look like they could be decent in the rain. Hopefully mine aren't flat spotted from sitting too long. But more than likely they will be once my truck is actually drivable.

http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-tq-DOT-drag-radial-tires?cat=11
 
TNPhoon

TNPhoon

1of28
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's on my Ty w/ stock wheels.

As far as track performance, dunno. Truck isn't in good enough shape to run it down a 1/4 mile.

But they stick pretty damn well on the streets.

Only have about 600 miles on mine so not much to go off of, but from what I have heard, they grip really well, but wear pretty fast as well. But I also think they may be discontinued?

Wish could be of more help.
 
D

Damian

Member
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

BFG KDWS, great tires all around. Expensive, but work great.
 
dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

The BFG KDWS and Goodyear F1 GS-D3 are both discontinued in the 245 & 255 tire sizes for the stock rims.
 
mattw

mattw

Active member
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

Dave, what did you end up doing? I need tires too and I was just being lazy and letting you find the best set to buy and where to get them from... If you ordered some please shoot me the details..
 
dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

mattw said:
Dave, what did you end up doing? I need tires too and I was just being lazy and letting you find the best set to buy and where to get them from... If you ordered some please shoot me the details..
Click to expand...

Short story, I haven't made a decision yet.

Longer version of where I am.

I am leaning towards buying a set of BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 and see how they hook. Don W. uses Khumo A/S tires and from what I can find are harder tire and he still get 1.6 60' with them. Even if I lose a little traction, I could easily add another 1-2 psi of boost to run 11.5's (roll bar limit). If they don't work, I would buy a set of Mickey Thompson DR for my 2nd set of rims.

The Federal Tires that were recommended look like they may be a stickier tire, but they are cheap Chinese tire. That goes against my personal philosophy, so they are out.

I am half tempted to buy a set of Mickey Thompson DR and use those as my street tires since I usually average about 1000 miles year of driving if I don't drive to the Nats. I would then look for a set of rim/tires just driving to a meet. I was think about a set of common Corvette rims/tires, that I could easily buy and sell.

I also really like C5 Z06 rims; it is probably my favorite Corvette wheel on a Syclone. I would want 4 17" x 9.5" rims. So I would have to piece together used sets or even a buy new wheels from GM. The knocks offs supposedly 6-7 heavier each, so they are out for racing. The other problem with those rims is the tires choices. 245/45-17 tires which have lot of tire options aren't recommended on the 9.5" width (I don't want the stretch look :roll:) The 255/45-17 have limited tire choices, 255/40-17 has lots of choices but is too short (25.0") of a tire for drag racing and would force a shift into OD. I don't like the way 275/40 track on a SyTy and 265/40 are super expensive (and may have tracking issues). I would most likely buy 255/45/17 in BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2, which leaves me with the same street tires as the stockers. I do like the ability to rotate tires, but this option is a lot more expensive than using my stockers or even refinishing a set of stock wheels and it doesn't open up many more tire options.
 
GarnetTy1473

GarnetTy1473

Donating Member
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

dgoodhue said:
I also really like C5 Z06 rims; it is probably my favorite Corvette wheel on a Syclone. I would want 4 17" x 9.5" rims. So I would have to piece together used sets or even a buy new wheels from GM. The knocks offs supposedly 6-7 heavier each, so they are out for racing. The other problem with those rims is the tires choices. 245/45-17 tires which have lot of tire options aren't recommended on the 9.5" width (I don't want the stretch look :roll:) The 255/45-17 have limited tire choices, 255/40-17 has lots of choices but is too short (25.0") of a tire for drag racing and would force a shift into OD. I don't like the way 275/40 track on a SyTy and 265/40 are super expensive (and may have tracking issues). I would most likely buy 255/45/17 in BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2, which leaves me with the same street tires as the stockers. I do like the ability to rotate tires, but this option is a lot more expensive than using my stockers or even refinishing a set of stock wheels and it doesn't open up many more tire options.
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That's what I have with 275/40/17 Toyo drag radials. I went with the 2001 Z06 wheel, which were made by Alcoa. Slightly heavier than the 2002-04 wheels which were made by Speedline. But, the 2001s are slightly darker in color, which matches the cladding better on my truck, and possibly stronger. Figured might try stronger since they are on a heavy brick. They are hard as hell to find. I'm trying to find another set to put some street tires on. Might be pointless since who knows when my truck will drive again. I was able to buy 1 pair off of one of the Corvette forums. The other pair, I had to buy a complete set with the 18" rears to get the front 2. Sold the 18s back on the forum, and actually made out pretty well so that the pair of 17s I got were pretty darn cheap.
 
dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

My experience is from using the 275/40 tires/wheels from my 86 Corvette. I put them on my Typhoon which had a completely rebuilt front suspension. (Shocks, ball joints, bushings, tie rods, idler and pitman arms.) and it tracked every road irregularity like crazy I hated it. My Corvette was nothing like that with those wheels. At that time I wasn't into doing my own alignment so maybe that is it. I had shop do the alignment to the stock specs. It was perfectly fine with the stock wheels. I have been in other SyTy with tracking issue with big front tires as well.

I figured that the 275's were beyond the limits of the truck steering & suspension. I assume that is why GM updated the 88 corvette with the zero scrub suspension to accomadate the 275 though I never noticed any issue with my 86.
 
D

Damian

Member
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

dgoodhue said:
My experience is from using the 275/40 tires/wheels from my 86 Corvette. I put them on my Typhoon which had a completely rebuilt front suspension. (Shocks, ball joints, bushings, tie rods, idler and pitman arms.) and it tracked every road irregularity like crazy I hated it. My Corvette was nothing like that with those wheels. At that time I wasn't into doing my own alignment so maybe that is it. I had shop do the alignment to the stock specs. It was perfectly fine with the stock wheels. I have been in other SyTy with tracking issue with big front tires as well.

I figured that the 275's were beyond the limits of the truck steering & suspension. I assume that is why GM updated the 88 corvette with the zero scrub suspension to accomadate the 275 though I never noticed any issue with my 86.
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It really depends on the tires you are using. Directional tires tend to track the road more than asymmetrical tiresor just regular tires. My KDWS NT dont track at all and they are directional. Im also running 275/35/18 on all 4 corners. So I wouldnt put all the blame on just the width of the tire to be honest. You might be right about the stock steering and that wide of tire, but mine drives better with these tires than it ever has and this is my 3rd set of tires on her.
 
wildphil

wildphil

I Love My Ty's
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

I have 275/40/17 Continental DW tires on my black Ty. It drives great. I have no tracking. The ride and control is just like it should be.
 
dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Tires with consideration to drag racing

I never did check the viscous coupler and it did have high miles. It was fine with the stock 245 tires. I probably only used the 275 for 1000 miles and went back to the stock wheels & tires.
 
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