25" tall Drag Slick tires for FD rims ?
06-03-06, 01:17 AM
#1
25" tall Drag Slick tires for FD rims ?
For drag racing purposes, it would be nice if any company made a slick tire or Drag radial (like the ET street radials) that have a 25" tire diamater that fits our stock 16" wheels because our stock tire diamater is 24.85" . I have the 255/50/16 (26x10.50R16 eq. size) ET Street radials, and I don't really like the taller tire because it makes my car slower compared to running the stock tire size or my 18's with 25.3 tire diamater.
The taller tires slows down the acceleration alittle just like a lower gear ratio would; and a smaller tire or higher gear ratio is usually beneficial on the drag strip for faster times and mph right? I was able to reduce my 1/4 mile ET from 12.3 down to 12.03 (after many days of practice with the new tires) because I can get a 1.7 60' time with the ET tires I have now instead of getting 1.8 60's on my street tires or on my 18's (and probably alittle better driving now too).
BUT on my stock 16" tires and 25.3" diameter 18" tires I was going 115-116 mph, best was 116.8. Then I got my 26" diameter ET street radials and I've been getting mostly 113-114 mph on average, I did get one run that was 115 mph, but on average I'm not going as fast as I did before these tires and I have to think it is because they are much taller. I think the car feels faster after I take off the drag racing tires and put my 18's back on, and those wheels also weigh alot more than the stock wheels I use drag racing, so it seems the taller tire slows me down more than the heavier 18" wheels.
Anyone else have this same experience when using a 26" tall drag racing tire?
Let me know if anyone knows of a slick tire near 25" tall that would fit the stock 16" wheels, please.
I did find a 24.5"/8.5"-15 M&H Racemaster Drag Slick tire that I think would be a much better tire size than the 26" tires, but too bad they don't make that size for the 16" wheels, and I dont' really want to buy expensive 15" wheels right now to fit those tires (I know you have to also grid the brake caliper to fit 15's).
I know a 26" tall slick will have slightly more tread area contact to the track compared to a 24.5" tire with the same air pressure, but those 24.5" tires should still do a good job, much better than the stock street tires I was still able to get 1.8 60 ft's. The car should accelerate faster down the track with the 24.5" tire reducing the 1/4 mile time and increasing the MPH.
I got the ET Street radials so I could drive to the track with them on the car (more safely), instead of the ET streets. If I could get a 24.5-25" slick, I'm thinking I would probably rather have those and take them to the track somehow, not mounted to the car driving to the track.
Let us know if you have any comments or suggestions. Sorry this is soo long, I type fast and have been thinking alot about all this lately. Thank you!
The taller tires slows down the acceleration alittle just like a lower gear ratio would; and a smaller tire or higher gear ratio is usually beneficial on the drag strip for faster times and mph right? I was able to reduce my 1/4 mile ET from 12.3 down to 12.03 (after many days of practice with the new tires) because I can get a 1.7 60' time with the ET tires I have now instead of getting 1.8 60's on my street tires or on my 18's (and probably alittle better driving now too).
BUT on my stock 16" tires and 25.3" diameter 18" tires I was going 115-116 mph, best was 116.8. Then I got my 26" diameter ET street radials and I've been getting mostly 113-114 mph on average, I did get one run that was 115 mph, but on average I'm not going as fast as I did before these tires and I have to think it is because they are much taller. I think the car feels faster after I take off the drag racing tires and put my 18's back on, and those wheels also weigh alot more than the stock wheels I use drag racing, so it seems the taller tire slows me down more than the heavier 18" wheels.
Anyone else have this same experience when using a 26" tall drag racing tire?
Let me know if anyone knows of a slick tire near 25" tall that would fit the stock 16" wheels, please.
I did find a 24.5"/8.5"-15 M&H Racemaster Drag Slick tire that I think would be a much better tire size than the 26" tires, but too bad they don't make that size for the 16" wheels, and I dont' really want to buy expensive 15" wheels right now to fit those tires (I know you have to also grid the brake caliper to fit 15's).
I know a 26" tall slick will have slightly more tread area contact to the track compared to a 24.5" tire with the same air pressure, but those 24.5" tires should still do a good job, much better than the stock street tires I was still able to get 1.8 60 ft's. The car should accelerate faster down the track with the 24.5" tire reducing the 1/4 mile time and increasing the MPH.
I got the ET Street radials so I could drive to the track with them on the car (more safely), instead of the ET streets. If I could get a 24.5-25" slick, I'm thinking I would probably rather have those and take them to the track somehow, not mounted to the car driving to the track.
Let us know if you have any comments or suggestions. Sorry this is soo long, I type fast and have been thinking alot about all this lately. Thank you!
06-04-06, 02:09 AM
#4
I found some Hoosier D.O.T. Drag Radials in a 225/50-16 size, these tires seem near perfect for what I am looking for, they have the smaller tire diamater of 24.9" instead of the more popular 26" drag tires made by most other companies like the popular ET Street 26x10.50-16. The Hoosiers are very similar to the MT ET Street Radials I have now(purpose/function/looks), they have the smaller diamater I was looking for, and they fit our 16" stock wheels so I wouldn't have to buy 15" wheels to run the M&H 24.5/8.5-15 slicks or the MT ET Drag 24.5/8-15 slicks, both those are nice sizes I think because they match the stock tire diamater better, I was considering getting the M&H tires but now I would rather get the Hoosiers and use the stock 16" wheels (save money). The M&H tread width is 8.5", the ET Drag tread width is only 7.7"
The Hoosiers are only a 225 tire, but don't be fooled by that number because the tread width is actually 8.5", this is more similar to the tread width of a 245 street tire. The popular and highly recommended ET Street 26x10.50-16s only have a 8.4" tread width (as stated on their website), so these Hoosier 225/50-16 drag radials are actually just as wide as the ET Streets most or many people use on their RX7. My 255/50-16 ET Street Radials I have now actually have a wider tread width of 9.7", so I will be losing some tread width if I get the Hoosiers, but I think I should still get just as much traction or not noticeably less compared to the tires I have now, and not any less traction than if I had the ET Streets since they have the same tread width. Since my car doesn't have a huge amount of horsepower, I can't image the Hoosiers not performing as good as the MT ET Streets, I would think you would need alot more horsepower to notice much of a traction difference between all these MT, Hoosier or M&H drag racing tires.
The M&H drag slicks would be nice I think, but then I'd have to find a way to get them out to the track since you wouldn't want them mounted when driving to the track, and I'd have to spend more for 15" wheels. I guess they could perform alittle better since they are a real drag slick, not a radial, and would absorb more of the drivetrain shock/abuse when lauching and shifting since they are wrinkle walls. But I think the Hoosiers is a better choice since I could drive carefully to the track with them mounted, they are a Radial which people say increases your MPH in the 1/4 mile compared to slicks, and they should provide enough traction for 1.7 or hopefully less 60 ft times.
One other huge factor, the Hoosiers only weigh 18 lbs each, the ET street radials I have now weigh 28 lbs, that's a huge weight difference since I will be taking off 10 lbs from the outside of both wheels which will considerably reduce rotating weight, this weight difference alone should make the car accelerate noticeably faster, combined with the smaller tire diamater also I think the Hoosiers should make the car accelerate a good bit faster. Don't you think??
I can't wait to finally break into the high 11's and I'm confident this tire change should easily do the job!
I also hope all this info may help someone else looking to buy a set of drag racing tires, I've spent many hours researching all these tires, too bad I didn't realize the tread width of the 225/50-16 Hoosiers or I would have bought them first instead of the ET Street Radials, I probably overlooked them because of the 225 number because I wanted something wider than a normal 225 street tire, I know I did look at the Hoosiers before.
The Hoosiers are only a 225 tire, but don't be fooled by that number because the tread width is actually 8.5", this is more similar to the tread width of a 245 street tire. The popular and highly recommended ET Street 26x10.50-16s only have a 8.4" tread width (as stated on their website), so these Hoosier 225/50-16 drag radials are actually just as wide as the ET Streets most or many people use on their RX7. My 255/50-16 ET Street Radials I have now actually have a wider tread width of 9.7", so I will be losing some tread width if I get the Hoosiers, but I think I should still get just as much traction or not noticeably less compared to the tires I have now, and not any less traction than if I had the ET Streets since they have the same tread width. Since my car doesn't have a huge amount of horsepower, I can't image the Hoosiers not performing as good as the MT ET Streets, I would think you would need alot more horsepower to notice much of a traction difference between all these MT, Hoosier or M&H drag racing tires.
The M&H drag slicks would be nice I think, but then I'd have to find a way to get them out to the track since you wouldn't want them mounted when driving to the track, and I'd have to spend more for 15" wheels. I guess they could perform alittle better since they are a real drag slick, not a radial, and would absorb more of the drivetrain shock/abuse when lauching and shifting since they are wrinkle walls. But I think the Hoosiers is a better choice since I could drive carefully to the track with them mounted, they are a Radial which people say increases your MPH in the 1/4 mile compared to slicks, and they should provide enough traction for 1.7 or hopefully less 60 ft times.
One other huge factor, the Hoosiers only weigh 18 lbs each, the ET street radials I have now weigh 28 lbs, that's a huge weight difference since I will be taking off 10 lbs from the outside of both wheels which will considerably reduce rotating weight, this weight difference alone should make the car accelerate noticeably faster, combined with the smaller tire diamater also I think the Hoosiers should make the car accelerate a good bit faster. Don't you think??
I can't wait to finally break into the high 11's and I'm confident this tire change should easily do the job!
I also hope all this info may help someone else looking to buy a set of drag racing tires, I've spent many hours researching all these tires, too bad I didn't realize the tread width of the 225/50-16 Hoosiers or I would have bought them first instead of the ET Street Radials, I probably overlooked them because of the 225 number because I wanted something wider than a normal 225 street tire, I know I did look at the Hoosiers before.
Last edited by tom94RX-7; 06-04-06 at 02:12 AM.
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