Aggressive tire choices

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Feb 1, 2006 | 08:19 PM

leaftye

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From: San Diego, CA "leaf" "tee" "e"

Aggressive tire choices

I'm looking for monster meats to put on my C5 coupe. I'm in SoCal, so I don't have to worry about rain. Tire wear isn't a big deal as long as they're safe on the street.

What do you think about this over Z06 wheels?

Front
Nitto NTRII-Extreme, 275/40ZR-17

Rear
BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radial, 295/35R-R18

Other info.....slightly lowered with Z06 alignment specs. T1 bars.

Why??? There's autocrossing and 1/8 drags at Qualcomm Stadium, Qualcomm is literally next door to my office (I can jump off my building into the parking lot), and I'm one to take advantage of my good fortune!

Eugene

Feb 1, 2006 | 08:53 PM

spazzyfry123

Instructor

Joined: Jan 2006

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From: Buford Georgia

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's! Amazing tire

Feb 1, 2006 | 08:57 PM

peter pan

Life Time NCM #2196

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From: Converse TX

I have the extremes in the front and the NT-01's in the back and I really like them

Feb 1, 2006 | 09:38 PM

YELLOHHH

Le Mans Master

Joined: Aug 2001

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From: Colesville MD

Quote:

Originally Posted by leaftye

Why??? There's autocrossing and 1/8 drags at Qualcomm Stadium, Qualcomm is literally next door to my office (I can jump off my building into the parking lot), and I'm one to take advantage of my good fortune!

Eugene

Autocrossing and drag racing are like running sprints or playing football. Sprinters and football players don't wear the same shoes. Sprinters wear running spikes and football players wear football cleats, which are different from soccer cleats, etc.

Point is, use a drag radial for drag racing and use an autocross tire for autocrossing. Drag radials will be TERRIBLE for autocrossing, to the point you may kill yourself, and autocross tires won't be great at the dragstrip becuase even though they are a soft tread compound, the sidewalls are very stiff. Use the right tool for the job.

Feb 1, 2006 | 09:46 PM

leaftye

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From: San Diego, CA "leaf" "tee" "e"

Yellohhh, I think I get part of your points, but that's why I'm mixing my tires. My T1 bars introduce a lot of understeer with stock size tires, so I wanted the Nitto's to help that, and improve turn in. I don't really have a problem with oversteer, so I'm fine with less than optimal tires on back, but it would be nice to get a better launch, so drag radials seem like a good idea on the rears to me...

Are you saying drag radials will roll over or otherwise fail while autocrossing? I know I may be giving up rear grip, but I suck at timing my braking, and need to pick the apex better, so I'm thinking this really may help out......and I'm autocrossing, how much danger could I really be in??

I don't get your point on autocross tires sucking for drag racing since front tires are little more than dead weight in a drag race...

Feb 1, 2006 | 09:58 PM

YELLOHHH

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From: Colesville MD

Drag radial sidewalls are so soft, that when I drive to the track on them, I'm very careful around turns. Even changing lanes can be scary. The back end is VERY loose with them in anything other than a straight line. The stock runflats would be better for autocrossing than drag radials. The sidewall will colapse if pushed hard in corners, which will create immediate oversteer. There are some people who drive around on drag radials all the time, but I bet the don't push corners very hard, like you would be in an autocross.

When I said running autocross tires at the dragstrip is bad I meant running them in the back. Sure, they're sticky, but they don't flex, so you can get wheel hop. I remember seeing a video of Lou from LG run his World Challenge car at the dragstrip. On his road race tire, with a very hard suspension, he was getting sideways the whole 1/4 mile! Also, running a wide, soft tire in the front on a drag car will really hurt trap speed, and e.t. to a lesser degree. Ideally you would run a narrow hard tire with alot of psi in it at the drag strip, and a wide, soft tire for autocross or road racing with normal psi in it.

Feb 2, 2006 | 02:25 AM

leaftye

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From: San Diego, CA "leaf" "tee" "e"

I now understand and agree with you on drag radials. I still drive pretty hard on the street the road is clear, nevermind the level things go up to in an autocross. I guess I'll just get dedicated set of drag radials for drag days only. Too bad, I thought I actually had a pretty sweet combo. If the sidewalls of the drag radials were as stiff as normal tires, I'd probably have exactly what I was looking for.

Spazzy, thanks, but I already have gsd3's on my rear, and I'm not satisfied at all.

Peter pan, that sounds like a good combo...I'll look into those NT-01's more. It actually sounds like my best bet yet.

Yellohhh, thanks for setting me straight.

Feb 2, 2006 | 10:00 AM

YELLOHHH

Le Mans Master

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From: Colesville MD

Like you, I only drive my car in good weather, about 5-7k miles per year. My next set of tires will be Toyo Proxes RA-1s. Great for aggressive street driving and autocrossing. I have a second set of wheels and tires for the drag strip. You can buy wheels cheap these days.