whats the difference between drag radials and slicks?

[chefma70]

i just went to the local track for the first time and wanna get into it.

i wanna get a set soon and was wondering what is the difference?these are for my track days only not dd.

should i get slicks or radials?

i have three brands in mind mickey tompson,nitto and hoosier what do you recommend getting.the size i will need is 275/40/17.is it a good idea to only get a rear set and have street tires for the front is that normal or stupid .im new at this so be easy.

these are gona be for my na for now..but im going on boost soon so i want good tires for a 57 trim ct26.:naughty:

 

[Supracentral]

Drag radials and slicks are very different animals.

From a traction perspective, slicks hook much harder. They however are far more "unstable" at high speeds. You also don't want to use them with a raidal front tire, it can make steering through the traps very dangerous.

Drag radials however behave much more like a street tire, just with better traction off the line. They will also work fine with your stock front tires.

This is on Mickey Thomson Drag Radials:

http://www.supracentral.com/private/drag/aap1.mpeg

I doubt you'll need much more.

 

[tissimo]

Ones a radial the other is a bias ply tire.

 

[gaboonviper85]

Stock up on diffs, transmissions, driveshafts, and control arms...LOL

 

[KicknAsphlt]

M&H makes a kick-ass drag radial as well. Guys in my truck club have had pretty awesome results with them. Just keep in mind, that their tires are rated wider than they actually are...so a 245 for example in their tire is narrower than a regular street tire of the same rated width.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Drag radials and slicks are very different animals.

From a traction perspective, slicks hook much harder. They however are far more "unstable" at high speeds. You also don't want to use them with a raidal front tire, it can make steering through the traps very dangerous.

Drag radials however behave much more like a street tire, just with better traction off the line. They will also work fine with your stock front tires.

This is on Mickey Thomson Drag Radials:

http://www.supracentral.com/private/drag/aap1.mpeg

I doubt you'll need much more.

Chris Anderson... Is that Ck?

 

[KMinAF]

Check out the sticky on "how to drag race your Supra" I found a lot of good info on tire sizes, suspension set up etc posted on that thread.

 

[Supracentral]

Chris Anderson... Is that Ck?

No, different guy, same name.

This Chris Anderson was my business partner at AAP/Supracentral.

 

[frontierguy25]

It all depends on what you want to have up front and what your goals are for the track. If you want to keep your street tires up front then go with a drag radial. With the Bias ply tires like the MT ET Street's or slicks, it is much much safer to run a set of skinney's up front with bias ply tires as well.

I have put much thought into this and my car is my everyday car that is not super fast and my goal is mid 11's. I have just got a pair of weld prostars with some MT radials the wheels are 15x8 and the tires are 275/50/15's. I went with these because there is much more sidewall to flex and help with the launch and not shock the drive train as much.

If you get the 275/40/17's you will wheel hop a lot and really shock your drive train. Get some other wheels, shoot even sawblades work great and then get some tires to go on those. You will also go through a set of nittos or MT's in about 4k-6k miles. So get another set of wheels and tires for the track.

If you look on Mustang forums you will always find some one selling a set of wheels and tires for cheap!! Just make sure that you get a set off a 5 lug mustang from 88-2004 will work and at least a 5" back space.

http://mickeythompsontires.com/strip.php?item=ETStreetRadial

These tires are what I have!

 

[suprahero]

I have the Nitto 555r's. They're better than regular street tires, but nowhere near as sticky as a slick. The video SC posted was one of the best drag radial runs I've seen. My best 60' was a 1.84 with my drag radials, but I"m usually more likely to get a 2.0 or 2.1 60'.......I've got lots of practice to do before the Texas meet so I"m hoping for better launches.
I've heard the MT drag radials are much better than the Nitto 555r's. Good luck.

 

[chefma70]

these tires will be for track days only wont ever be used on the streets .

now i have about 160-170 hp.i will be doing 5 or 6 runs at the max with this power.my real goals are 350 - 400.i will be starting my build within this year

radial or slicks...... for my power goals and for a few runs just for fun before i go on boost?

 

[suprahero]

I think the radials will work well for you, but that's just my opinion. The video Mike posted was on drag radials and it was making a little more than 170rwhp............:biglaugh:

 

[Supracentral]

I think the radials will work well for you, but that's just my opinion. The video Mike posted was on drag radials and it was making a little more than 1170rwhp............:biglaugh:

Fixed that for ya! :biglaugh:

 

[TheNewRed]

Fixed that for ya! :biglaugh:

Nice

 

[suprahero]

Yikes..........that's just a little bit more horsepower than most NA's make.........:biglaugh:

I'll bet it's even in the top 1% of all supras.

 

[Supracentral]

It was 1,339 RWHP when they featured it in Sport Compact Car. It's the highest horsepower car they've ever had to plot a dyno for.

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/e..._horsepower_performance_dyno_chart/index.html

This pic is worth 1,000 words:

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/e...rsepower_performance_dyno_chart/photo_01.html

 

[suprahero]

Is there more to the story than the bit about the horsepower graph? Maybe I missed it. I'd like to see pictures of the car and also a story about the car and not about the graph, although it was well written. I saw a story about three quick silver MKIV's and a black MKIV. Did I miss yours Mike?

 

[Supracentral]

Is there more to the story than the bit about the horsepower graph? Maybe I missed it. I'd like to see pictures of the car and also a story about the car and not about the graph, although it was well written. I saw a story about three quick silver MKIV's and a black MKIV. Did I miss yours Mike?

http://sportcompactcar.automotive.com/67198/0508-sccp-aap-motorsports-toyota-supra-turbo/index.html

 

[suprahero]

That is a cool article. I've often thought the weak link while racing a supra woud start with the axles. They look so skinny when I was swapping rearends on my car.

Did you always run the two speed power glide in the car? I want to put a th350 in mine so bad I can't stand it, but I'm not tooo keen on the 1:1 final gear.

 

[Supracentral]

That is a cool article. I've often thought the weak link while racing a supra woud start with the axles. They look so skinny when I was swapping rearends on my car.

If you think they look skinny on the MKIII, take a look at a MKIV. The MKIII ones are MONSTERS compared to the MKIV ones. Before we had our custom billet axles made, we considered modding MKIII ones as an upgrade.

Did you always run the two speed power glide in the car?

Yes, we always ran it. It was a purpose built drag car from day one. The glide is the best box for that class, weight, hp and the speeds we were looking for.

I want to put a th350 in mine so bad I can't stand it, but I'm not tooo keen on the 1:1 final gear.

There are plenty of options out there these days, depending on how much money you're willing to spend. A gear vendor overdrive will turn a two speed glide into a decent 4 speed and will turn a TH350 or 400 into a six speed.

http://www.gearvendors.com/

They will hold over 1,200 horse.