Hey, so I have a supercharged '07 vette on regular street tires.

Im getting a pair of mickey thompsons with rims only for racing at the

track, and ill be putting the regular tires and rims back on after racing.

questiong is:

Can I use the new Mickey Thompsons with the new rims withouth the tire pressure sensors? is that going to cause a miscommunication with the car?

thanks!!!

 

Sensors are cheap and they will save you a bunch of hassle.

 

true!! do you know if the car automatically catches the signal of a new sensor or I have to take it to a chevy dealer?

thanks for the reply!

 

You will need to have someone set the new TPS to the ecu. I bought new rims and tires with new TPS installed and went to America's Tire and they used their electronic tool to set mine up. It just takes them a few minutes.

 

What pressure are you going to run in the DR's on the rear???

If it's less than 24psi then you might have problems - some people do, some don't.

I don't drag race, so I've never had to deal with that situation - i.e., running with a real low pressure.

When the TPMS gets reports from the tire pressure sensors of a pressure below 24psi, you'll get a "Low Tire Pressure" message on the DIC.

The TPMS is programmed to protect you when it detects a loss of pressure in a tire, and it may go into a "limp mode" where it pulls power when you try to accelerate rapidly or turn aggressively - different model years may act a little differently.

If you still have your street tires with sensors on the front, the TPMS will get signals from them almost immediately when you start to drive faster than 20mph, and it will be expecting signals from the rear sensors - which aren't there if you're running your DR's with no sensors. The TPMS may invoke the limp mode almost immediately in that case.

If you don't have any sensors at all, the TPMS will be listening for signals from the sensors for a period of time before it may go into the limp mode - 60 minutes for a 2005-2006; 30 minutes in a 2007-2008; about 20 minutes in a 2009+.

So....you may have problems:

• Almost immediately if you have sensors in all 4 wheels, and you're running less than 24psi in your DR's
  
  
• Almost immediately if running sensors up front and none in the rear
  
  
• After a period of time (30 minutes in the case of your 2007) if you don't have sensors in any wheels

If I were a drag racer, I'd have a set of DR's for the rear and a pair of skinnies for the front - without sensors in any of them!!!

You should have 60, 30, or 20 minutes of engine running time before the TPMS may go into the limp mode, and that's plenty of time to start up, drive over to the burnout pit, line up and stage, launch, and complete your run before the TPMS has any problem.

Even running roadcourse track events with no sensors should be okay with a 2008 or earlier - you'll have about 30 minutes in a 2007-2008, and 60 minutes in a 2005-2006, and unless you're running endurance events longer than that you won't have any issues. If you only have 30 minutes, you may want to shut down on the grid and restart close to taking the track so you have the full amount of time.

All of the above is based on having the last known pressures displayed in the DIC. When you take off your street wheels and put on a set of track wheels with no sensors, the TPMS will "remember" the last pressures reported by the sensors in your street wheels. And those will be displayed until that 60, 30, or 20 minutes is up, then it will display "xx psi" for all tires.

If you disconnect the battery (or otherwise lose power), those last known pressures will be lost, and you'll probably have limp mode problems almost immediately.

Hope that info helps with deciding how to run at the drag strip.

I'd recommend that you try some launches on the street with your street tires up front and your DR's on the rear - you may not have any problem running like that, but if you do, get some other wheels for the front and don't put sensors in them either.

Good luck, and let us know what you find works good for you!!

Bob

 

Looks like BEZ06 has done his research!

 

I think most go without sensors. I've driven around without bothering to program sensors after swapping wheels and never encountered limp mode.

Post in the FI section. You may get more responses about running your setup.

 

As I said, you probably won't have a problem for the 60, 30, or 20 minute time period that applies to your model year.

Even after you get the "Service Tire Monitor" message, the AH won't give you problems unless you're accelerating or turning aggressively - like on a track.

If you have no sensors, for that time period for your car you'll be able to put the AH into the Comp mode or turn it off completely, but when you get the "Service Tire Monitor" message you won't be able to select Comp or turn off AH completely, and if you were in one of those modes the AH will automatically come back full on, and the limp mode may come into play if you drive very aggressively.

For street driving, you generally won't be driving aggressively enough to invoke the limp mode - unless you're driving so insanely and illegally fast and hard that you're a safety menace to other traffic on the roads!!!

But.....as I mentioned earlier, some people encounter problems, and some don't, and different model years may act slightly differently.

Bob

 

Have '06 and swap out street setup for MT ET's w/o TPMS. Drive 1 hour to Baytown and have to push "reset" when DIC lights up with error on rear wheels. Spend the night launching at 3800 rpm running 12 flat ET's and 123 mph trap. Car in full race mode (Traction Control and Active Handling off). Drive home at midnight, again hit reset when DIC lights up. No issues at all. Install street setup on rear next day and DIC finds the TPMS on the rears and off we go...

 

Hey jss06c6 - that's exactly the real world experience we need to hear!!

Thanks for the good info!

Bob

 

THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES!!!!