Joe_G

The smaller wheels have a larger sidewall and that large sidewall absorbs the shock of the launch. Like wrinkle walls, only on a smaller scale. Also, smaller sidewalls do tend to lead to wheel hop.

LS1LT1

Well of course, if you take a car that's making enough power to be capable of low 1.4s on a 16" or 17" drag radial/slick and then put a 19" drag radial on it then yes, it might cut a 1.5x with ease on them.
Keep in mind that much of this discussion (and these projected results) are also skewed by the fact that these new 19" drag radials will also effect the final gearing versus most 16" or 17" (or even 18") tires as well.
I use both 17" drag radials and 18" drag radials on a semi regular basis and for a few different reasons I am still faster on the 17s. I can almost say without any doubts that my particular car would be at least slightly slower on these new 19" drag radials every time out.

dennis50nj

its a heavier rotating mass, that breaks stuff to get moving

njgreg

anyone pull the trigger on these yet? I plan on purchasing some tires within the next week or two and it's going to be between these or doing the 18'' widened wheel swap. I plan on having two sets of wheels and tires for the rear so we shall see how this works out. Do I need to be the guinea pig for these?

Greg

winters97gt

They are not in stock yet. I will the day they are stocked.

njgreg

sounds good to me, gonna go the cheapo route myself for the time being but I'll keep my eyes peeled on how others are running with these.

SpinMonster

Lots of breaks were reported by guys using an 18" on M6 cars even on 06 and 07 diffs. The sidewall in ratio to its overall diameter when its bigger, acts as a shock absorber for the lauch. This is why wrinkle walls exist. If the sidewall doesnt flex as much, the clutch is next in line to absorb launch shock. Once you upgrade to a good clutch (no slip) it adds that much more stress to the 1/2 shafts (I broke 2 of them), diff, and transmission. Auto cars and Z06 diff cars can get away with much more abuse in this dept. I recall my quote in 2007 being, "18" drag radials on M6's for prepped tracks, are a bad idea." There were lots of threads on the topic. Braciole was one of those guys. When you run out of things that slip (after your clutch gives out), the next thing that remains is: you hook and break, or it breaks traction, hence your oxymoron. Tall sidewalls hook with the sidewall flex reducing the shock.

The reason 18", 19", and 20" drag radials are scarce is because this well accepted priciple exists. Guys who insist on a 19" and a 20" drag radial are why the company is making them: demand. If there is a market, there will be a seller, but dont think because they make it that its optimum. They see a market and are going to sell it. If I own MT or BFG, I want you to buy a 700 dollar pair of 19" drag radials from me instead of a 500 dollar pair of 17's.

If someone cuts a 1.5-1.6 60' its going to be a car that would have gotten a 1.38 with a 17".

All this said, the new size is good for guys that need it to work to not have to get a rm widened or maybe they just like 19" wheels and those are valid reasons. I just dont think it should be portrayed as the new optimum size. It isnt. By the way, a 305/19 needs a 11" wide wheel for optimum.....but even that dismissable if you need it to be.

I like that the 18" rim in the back sits 8mm closer to the fender filling in that recessed look the 19" has in comparison. The 19" will bow out a bit on the 10" rim so that will sit out farther. The wider wheel (should you widen a 19" x 10 to 11" wide, will handle better because the tire doesnt fold in on the rim on turns. You can actually feel this if you have under 28psi on the 18" x 11". My friend runs a 9.5 and it does it much worse on his car. A wider wheel is a better fit so plan on a 19 x 11 for optimum.

I really like the idea of the tire being 27.5". The rear wheel well will fill in better.

There's a pattern here of the guys who want the 19 to be the best thing since sliced bread thinking that guys like me are attacking it. Im not. Im doing what I always do; reporting why things are done the way they are to save people from a 3000 dollar diff replacement and possibly breaking the trans output shaft because they dont want to believe smaller rim combos are safer on the track. I dont care what tire you buy and have no vested interest in what you believe or dont believe. I just dont get why so many here are defending something they didnt test yet (because they want it to work) and slamming guys who report factual observations from track results. I have no motivation to lie. Tires are a wear item. They last a few months. I own 19" rims and can use them next time around but I know they arent as good as an 18" tire.

SpinMonster

I'm way cool with opinions. I just like to know what is based on. Neither of my 2 broken 1/2 shafts occured on a launch. Both were on the street in 2nd gear and I gunned it (hoosiers on 19's). After the 18's and 200 more HP, I dont break. I stay at 28psi. That slight increase in sidewall is the safety. My C5 diff also rocks slightly to absorb that much more shock.

I've shared as detaled an answer with my experience so to those that heed, you're why I posted here. I respect your opinions and decisions and my motivation is that I dont want you to have a break and say that you wish you would have had someone tell you the facts before you lose a few thousand bucks.

winters97gt

Can anybody confirm the date that these tires will be released? Not what summit or anybody else says, but when we can actually buy them? Are they in production? I'm really needing tires as I don't want to put the 19 inch runflats on the car with 630rwhp, but don't want to wear down these 17's anymore.

Edit: I just emailed Shaun at Mickey Thompson and linked him this thread. I hope many of you higher HP, or geared/stalled vette guys are as interested in these tires as I am. The more tires MT offers for us, the better the vette community will be served.

Can't wait to have a tire to hook up on the street while retaining the stock wheels.

winters97gt

Looks like we have to wait. Got an email back, won't be released for a few more months.

FloydSummerOf68

Hm...well ok, just in time for my cam swap then

winters97gt

Easy for you. I'm adding power and rolling around town on mismatched wheels in the front and back with the 17 inch drag radials on c5's. Looks pretty redneck. I'm ready for the 19's to come out!!!

I don't think 650-700rwhp and runflats would work out too well.

MVP'S ZO6

Supposedly they're going to make a 20 inch version of this tire too. http://http://www.jegs.com/i/Mickey+Thompson/672/3727R/10002/-1

winters97gt

Yes, they planned on both a long time ago, but neither are on the street yet. I've been checking with them and will contact MT over the phone again tom.

MVP'S ZO6

They keep saying something about DOT testing. I mean how long does that kinda stuff really take??? They need to over stock these at first too. Because I know all the mustang guys and caddy guys are waiting on these too.

5 Liter Eater

They're not coming. They're not even breathing hard.

FloydSummerOf68

Well I've got Z06 fenders going on in the rear in the next two weeks and will be rocking 345s....no more waiting on thse 305s for me, lol.

winters97gt

bastard

ls3gotcha

m/t will probably release them in 2016 the way things are going. I spoke with the guys in the m/t trailer at the lsx shootout and they said it will be a good while before they come out. They had no other information about it and they were very short with me. I also fired an e mail to m/t about 5 months ago and got no reply. So in person or internet their customer service sucks.

Vito.A

A 275/40-17 drag radial on C5 Z wheels will hook much better than a 305/30-19 or even a 345/30-19. It's all in the sidewall.