Scottd

Ive finally reached the level of power in my car that Im happy with. Im running a moderately modified 454, dome pistons, roller cam, carb, exhaust, blah blah blah. I LOVE ripping the tires loose, but its getting old. Id like to dump the clutch from 3/4 depressed and NOT have the tires just smoke out from under me.

I know a set of giant sticky tires may help, but Im kind of at the max end of what my rear end and transmission will handle and I dont want something that will hook up so quick that it will snap my axles.

Any suggestions for a middle of the road performance gain that will give me 50% more traction but not jeopardize my drive line?

Im currently running mid grade tires. Nothing special, just whatever fit my budget when I put them on 3 year ago.

labhound

Hmmm, that's kinda like having your cake and eating it to.
What gears do you have?, maybe wider and more sticky tires.

bluedawg

Your rear end is the fusable link in the drive train, a set of drag radials with a softer rear spring would help, but it would more than likely fry your differential. What rpm are you dumping the clutch at?

7t9l82

I agree with Tha dawg. I have aftermarket half shafts and drag radials, I don't see a street tire hooking up nearly as well.

Scottd

Its been a while since I checked my gears, but IIRC they were 3.5 somethings.
While I dont watch the tach when I dump it, Im guessing its usually around 2200-2500 rpm. May be a little +- either way.
So it sounds like my only real option here is to go to a better street tire (while avoiding slicks to avoid blowing the rear end).
If I have to choose between loosing traction and blowing up my diff...well, I do still enjoy smoking my tires and Im not racing for any competitions here. Thanks for the input guys.

BEVO76

Maybe this is where the new Mickey Thompson ET Street S/S come into play.

jb78L-82

What size and type tires do you have? I would imagine that if you are breaking the tires loose at 2,200-2,500 RPM then you must have really hard tires OR you are literally smashing the throttle to the floor at that RPM. My 355 L-82 with AFR heads, 10.2:1 compression, and roller cam (.525 lift) with a 4 speed and 3.70 gears will not break the tires loose easily at 2,500 RPM BUT I have 255/45/17 ZR ultra high performance summer only tires that are VERY sticky. I roll into the throttle since I am not interested in replacing my diff/half shafts, just yet. With my former 255/60/15 BFG TA tires (S rated tires), I could fry the tires at any RPM....those tires were like driving on ice...

63mako

Easy fix. Change over to a McLeod Soft-lok clutch assembly. Only problem is the price. Comes with aluminum flywheel, disc, pressure plate http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mc...0-07/overview/

cv67

Get the Mickey Thompsons and slip the clutch some instead of dumping it you should be fine. Even when they are cold they can still spin but they "catch up quick". A "stickier" street tire, never seen anyone happy with them. Reg radial or drag radial take your pick

fishslayer143

Tire spin is Gods way of saving your expensive performance parts..If you get stickier tires, with big horsepower, you will quickly see what I mean

centuryoldracer

I had a customer that I built a 580 ish horse 468 in a 69 vette, and he broke the stock 4 speed trans in literally 2 days, so I did a 5 speed conversion, and about 2 months later the car came back on a flat bed that we had to use a floor jack under the rear end to get it off, and move it. I thought the trans was broken again, but nope. It actually broke the rear end carrier in half, and the rear was completely locked up. If you are nice to it, it will last for a while.

7T1vette

Learn to manage the throttle and clutch during 'hot' starts. Once you are able to limit tire spin with street tires, you may be happy with what you have. If not, go to the street slicks. If you get tires that are too sticky, you will have to beef-up the rear driveline components to keep the car intact.

ramair_bryan

Long ago.....I had some rock hard radial t/a's on our 70 transam.
One day I put some race tire/wheels on for auto x-ing.
All of a sudden....I needed more horse power, more brakes,
Stiffer steering........It was embarrassing......
Felt like it got the wheels up though.

96 lt-4

I used to run Nitto Drag Radials on the back of both of my Big Block Dodges for two reasons.At street pressures they would still slip a little but would accelerate much faster.It kept me from doing needless burnouts which saved me money on expensive tires.Drop some air and get them hot at the track and they still performed well enough for me.Granted both of mine were automatics but it still applies.One was a high 11 second ride and I still have the other which was a mid 12 second ride last time at the track(almost seven years ago).

I will say a bias bly tire is more forgiving on a manual trans car than a radial as it cushions more of the "shock" applied to the tranny and rear end.Not as practical for the street.

roscobbc

With a 2.20 1st gear, 3.08 rear-end, 285/40/18's I 'never' drop the clutch (for all the reasons others have mentioned) but 'ease' the clutch-in and 'feather' the gas until the car is rolling avoiding wheel-spin - then hit the loud pedal, getting the front-end up in the air a bit and the rear-end squatting down a few inches and with the associated chassis weight transfer you'll get the initial additional traction you want without too much risk of braking things.