Any of you guys have any feedback on brands you have used. curious to the weight and times you have run with em.. Justyn
I tried them on my O/T 90s 3,700 lb. car, mainly because of the class I was running in required radials at the time. Didn't have much luck with them, 60 ft. in the 1.9s. Some people seem to think that the drag radials don't work so well on manual trans. cars, which mine is. Are you looking at the radials because you want something that can be driven on to the track? If not, I'd suggest looking at the bias-ply versions instead, especially if it's a stick car. cheers Ed N.
I sell Mickey and Hoosier. We have really good luck with them I sell TONS of the M/T tires. There is a problem now with getting them, though. Don't know the whole story, but they had some bad batches. The tires work... but expect a learning curve. I have a customer who has a 90 Mustang that runs 8.70s in the quarter on them... but he worked 2 years on the chassis to get it to that point. Don't expect to take an 11 second car and bolt these on and run the same.... burnouts are different... pressures need to be played with... its a whole new animal. That being said... depending on what you are doing and what type of chassis and power you have... they can be made to work very well. The easier route would be a cheater slick like the M/T Et Street. Reacts like a slick does.
Have a friend that has tried them all on his sub 11 second street car and he finds the M/T are the best. He runs about 12psi at the strip or on the street. He currently runs 10.9's on the motor and 10.4's with the bottle. The car runs 410hp ATRW.
I have a set of Micky Thompson E/T street radials and like them a lot. I would say they are the best drag radial on the market.
I got the M/T's E.T. street radials on my street strip car and they work very well. I've had them for a while now and when it comes down for max traction a little bit of water and throttle thet get very sticky.
Bfg drag radials work very well if used correctly. Most drivers make 2 mistakes. They run them at too little psi, and worse, they over heat them. A big smokey burn out causes them to melt and turn oily. They only need to turn ages times and launch. rent some of the 5.0 videos and watch the fast guys using them. They'll show you how it's done. Be sure to take note of the weather. They need to turn more on cool days than warm, like any tire, just not asuch as a real slick.
I've found the BFG drag radials don't like a "hit" as mentioned above with a stick car. Good choice for street car with a tight torque converter. But for something that really shocks the tires hard, keep looking. Good luck
I will be sporting a set at the HAMB Drags this year. I have to drop my dismal 2.20 60 foot and take back my "quickest drove there" crown from Kerry. I hope they last 3K miles...Anyone ever do any HARD miles on a set? I mean, like 12 or 14 hours at a time? -Abone.
I have a pair of the Nitto Drag radials for my nearly 5000 pound truck and have cut 1.8 sec 60ft times. Used them on other customers trucks and have been very happy with street manners and drag performance.
I ran BFG drag radials on my Chevy II for a while... It handled like a dream, but wouldn't hook for shit. I played around with pressure, and heat, and all that, and I couldn't make them hook. I asked a BFG tech about it at a show, and after hearing of my setup, and the things I'd tried, he said "maybe you should take some power OUT of it." of course, he also told me no matter what, never EVER go under 12psi in them. Two weeks later I was at a drag radial shootout at the local strip, and the guys running single digits on them all ran 8.5 psi. When it was time for new tire, I went with MT ET Streets, and with no suspension changes at all the car was leaving wheels up and going 2 tenths quicker! (But the handling is not nearly as nice as it used to be - especially at race pressures) FYI: this is a 3000lb (with driver), high 10 second street car (all motor), with a th400 w/transbrake, a 4000 converter, and a 4.10 geared 9".
Nitto 16" DR's: 1.7, long time ago 11.8@114mph na car M/T 325-50-15 DRs: 1.35 last year 9.4@144 turbo car M/T 28x10.5 stiff ET Drag: 1.38 10.008@133 nitrous car M/T DR's are the best, you just have to know how to set up your shocks and what tire psi to run.
This friend has a 90 something W TransAm with very healthy LS1 motor. He was using Nitto's and switched to the M/T street...............his 60's times went from 1.6 to 1.4 and he has about 5k miles on them and they still hook nice.
im going to run the bias ply wide white slicks on the 49 but in the past on my 66 falcon the only tire i could get to hook up was the M/T drag radial. it was a stick car with a 306 and some serious nitrous and daily driver. the tires held up really well with all of the long trips and power tours it was on.
And that, my friends, is why I'm gathering goodies for a digger. I know when I'm beat. ;-) I've got a nearly shot set of Hoosier radial slicks that were good for .4 over street tires.
Very good question. You've got feast or famine with the radials. BFG and Nitto will work fine. They react like a regular passenger car tire. M/T is way too soft and sticky... they get hot and want to come apart. One of my customers went 6 hours and the tire started to come apart. *EDIT* I called my M/T rep for his take on it... but I'm guessing he'll say the same thing. Of course if you askme I would tell you to buy M/T and some extra wheels and swap it out... because they would be the best to get you hooked.
did they seperate like the radial slicks that i had the problem with...? i have a friend that ran the bfg drag radials on his 502 nova...car was good for 11. teens / 20's driving it in ....but was only consistant for a couple weekends.....went to a m/t slick and gained it back....i ran et streets on my mini tubbed malibu wagon....worked better than the hoosier slicks that ended up on it....i ran the et streets on my pretty penny anglia for over a year...and still are on it ....it handled good with about 20 pounds in them ... brandon
For years I've run BFG Drag Radials on the track and street on both my cars. A couple years ago I switched to Mickey Thompson Drag Radials on my Turbo Regal that runs 10.70's. I give a big thumbs up to both and have driven thousands of miles on the street with them without ever having a problem. They are tubeless and steel belted so I've found them to be very durable. Nitto's may be fine, but I don't want to put any rice products on my cars. Paul
What I've gathered so far is that with that distance they heat up so much that the tread starts to come apart. I got a voicemail from my rep who said he didn't recommend driving them any major distance but didn't go into detail as to why. I'm trying to get with him to discuss it sometime today. From talking to people and the info I'm gathering... I'm getting the picture that driving these tires that length of time will make them useless. Everyone I talked to recommended using M/T at the track and using another tire to drive on. Stay tuned. *EDIT* Talked to my guy at M/T. He flat said don't do it. Any drive over 100-150 miles will heat the tires up enough to mess with the compound. A drive over that and expect them to just blow up. Seriously. He said that. No warning signs... just blow up. The tires are DOT approved but are specifically a drag only tire. A 20 mile jaunt here and there is fine. They will live a long life. But they are so sticky and soft that any lenghty trip will kill them (or possibly you) in the process. If you can't do a second set of wheels on the trip due to room... what about shipping some? At that point I'd probably recommend slicks. Easier to hook with. If you have to do this on one set of tires, like I said, I'd look to BFG. You'll probably have better luck with them. Good luck!
We run Mickey Thompson drag radials on a 1969 camaro @ 3545 lbs and stock suspension, we had a best et of 5.20 1/8 with a 60 ft of a 1.30 with the rear tires. If you would like to see some video clips go to www.modifiedstreet.com or www.bellracing.ws and click on the results page! Thanks, Stretch.
I noticed you popping up on all the "fast cars" threads....Are you getting ready to build something??????? Well, beings this thread popped back up, here is my real world experience. I mounted a set of BFG Drag Radials two weeks before teh HAMB Drags in August. I drove to Joplin from S Carolina in the heat and rain and they performed perfectly. (suprisingly good wet weather manners.) I ran 35lbs in the tires and ran 80-85 mph for 14 hours the first day. I felt them for heat at every gas stop, and they were fine. At Mokan, I dropped the pressure down to 20, did a very small burnout, just enough to clean em off, and ran an 11.49 @121.5. My 60ft dropped from 2.20 to 1.75, which dropped my et from 12.20 to 11.49. I only had to get out of the throttle once as opposed to about ten times with the old tires. I think there was more 60 foot in her if I would have fooled with it and made some more runs, but I pussed out, as I had to make it home with out risking blowing anything up. Total round trip including a side trip to see my Momma, was just short of 3000 miles, with no problems whatsoever. Also, I have driven her every single day rain or shine this year, still no problems. The only down side is they are a bit short for my car..they look a bit funny...Other than that, I'm REAL happy with them. -Abone.
They look like this..a little short for my car, but great other than that. They still have easily 3/4 tread after probably 4000 miles.. -Abone.
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