Kouasupra

I just picked up a brand new set of Hoosier Drag Radial mounted on 18s for the rear. Never owned or driven these before so I'm curious if they are safe to drive to the local drag strip (15-20 minutes away). To be honest I hate to swap out my factory wheels at the local drag strip and leave them there unattended.

I would love some feedback. Thanks!

BTW, I was told to watch out for water and drive slow. Not to mention don't make any fast hard turns either. Lol

96collector

They're pretty safe just be careful when it's raining.

C5 Pete

Make sure you have at least 30psi in them while driving on the street. You can lower the pressure at the track, but bring them back up to 30+ before driving home. They will wear out very quickly otherwise.

Steve Haefner

If it's dry and not cold you are set! Let her eat, if its raining my advice wait till it stops and then drive home! Water and no tread / very little tread do not mix.

smokinstorm

We actually drove around on a set of 335's in 17" size for a while. They did fine but do not ever get caught in the rain with them. They hydroplane at very slow speeds but hook on dry pavement like mad.

okaythen

Good info thanks, I was thinking about changing the tires at the track but car doesn't have enough room!

Local track gets crowded and you won't get many passes, can I practice some launches on the street or will crap on the street ruin the tire? how about find a newer paved road with less road debris. Will a small pebble ruin the tire if you try to do burnout there? And do I really need to put some water on the rear tires everyttime I do burnout? thanks everyone new to drag radial and RWD here.

kazman

This is very true. No problem driving 100 miles to the track as long as its dry. In the rain they are very dangerous as stated they will hydroplane in an instant even at very low speeds.

robz

I recommend not practicing on the street for some of the reasons you mentioned and more.
The tire pressure and the burnout need to be correct before a proper launch and to simulate all that on the street won't be accurate. Then there's track prep, rubber and other factors.

okaythen

Thanks for that, local track doesn't prep but I won't be messing around with DR on the street.

Local track gets crowded I guess it will just take longer for me to get a hang of it, also it's a M7 and launches are very inconsistent. Heard one guy said the computer protects the clutch in M7 so even if your launches technique is good you might still get bogged down. In my experiences it's pretty true with street tires. Hard to launch this thing.

Eric Fischer

I drove 75 miles one way to the track and they are fine. They weigh considerably less than a MT drag radial and as a result perform very well at the track. Even though they weigh less they seem to be pretty durable and I have not had any issues driving around town.

I have gone a 1.35 short time in the combo in my sig with their 16" tire. And so far they hook up consistently.

Like others have said, stay away from the rain.

farmington

on my old 99 Z28 (11.88 @114) I drove it the last 3 summers on DR's only. Nitto 555r. Kept them around 24psi. If you keep too much pressure you will wear out the center. watch the wear on them. I have a set of Nitto 05r going on the corvette in the spring. will only put the runflats on if I'm taking any trips.