Mickey Thompson 345/35/18 ET streets II
 

Since I was so frustrated with the GY run flats, I decided to go with a smaller sized rear rim (18x12) and use MT drag radials... And I have to say, this is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life when it comes to the cars!!!

The weather here in NY last night was ~29F and windy. I decided to venture out and see if it these tires are worth the money!! Initially I did a 40mph 2nd gear pull... The car was straight as an arrow and it almost felt like a 4wd Z... Then I grew a bit more balls and did a 1st gear 20mph pull and I have to say this felt like a totally different animal!! Straight down the road with no drama and only thing that I noticed that I need to pay a bit more attention to is when I shifted from 1st to 2nd the car did get a bit upset in the back.... Besides that I can't complain about much!!

If any of you gents have the same setup please share your thoughts and experience with this setup along with feedback on the life expectancy of these tires.

Thank you very much for looking and appreciate all of your feedback!!

i have the same tires they blow away my old nittos, a small spin of the tire and it hooks like crazy. im very happy. the way i drive there not gonna last to long. the most important thing about hooking the tire is a really good alignment helps keep the car strait.

That what I have been hearing about the life of these tires... I have a local member that is using these tires in his TT GTO and they seem to be holding up pretty good.... I think he has about 3~4k on them with around 10 passes at the track. Let's see how it holds up on my Z!!

Do they even need to be warmed up much at track at all? They were hooking very well on the street with temp around 29F!!

95% of my runs have been with street tires. However, I did borrow a friend of mine's 17" MT's and they were great. If....I ever invest in a set of DR's the MT's would be my main choice. Mainly because I ran BFG's for 5 years with my C5 and have tried them with my C6 too. MT's , IMHO are the way to go.

I actually have BFGs in my Supra and they have lasted me a whopping 11k.... numerous track passes along with a tons of highway pulls... I think I will be switching the supra to the MTs as well soon since the BFGs are in their last leg... This coming season is gonna be one busy one for me with supra and vette going to the track every weekend.:D

This is good stuff to hear, especially since I have a set of brand new M/T 345/35R18 ET Radial II tires on some CCW LM20 rims ready to test out some time :thumbs: The new fronts are Nitto NT05 265/35ZR18

http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/a...hoes/nrtf1.jpg

You will love them.... I was very surprised at the results.... the car hooked 1st gear... now that I am putting all the power to the ground the car feels like a whole new animal!!! Only downfall is now that the sidewalls arent as stiff as the GY runflats abrupt lane changes could be a bit nerve wrecking!!

You know as I read this ...I'm very tempted to get a set of MT's....:willy: I just can't afford them right now..:rofl: Oh well, who knows??:cheers:

PS will I see you digivex at E town in a few weeks???

I sure hope so...
I am going through withdraw!
My car is still in the shop, but should be completed soon :)

Me and a few other vette owners will be at E-town on March 6th.... Feel free to join us....

I will get a set of these next as they are softer than the BFGs.........but I have been through a few sets of 345 BFGs. Those did fine once I figured how much burn-out time they needed.
Here is my testing to date:
My best 60' times on my 97':
New MT ET Street Radial 275/40/17 on C5 OEM 17 x 8.5 Magnesium wheels = 1.47 60'
Worn out 26 x 11.50 x 16" Mt ET Street on a 16 x 10 CCW drag pack = 1.51 60'
New 26 x 11.50 x 17" Mt ET Street on an PWO Y2K 5 spoke 17 x 8.5 = 1.53 60'
1/2 worn (3/32” tread) 26 x 11.50 x 16" Mt ET Street on a 16 x 10 CCW drag pack = 1.53 60'
1/2 worn 345/30/18 bfg dr on HRE 545 18 x 12 wheel = 1.49 60'
HRE 18 x 12 545 w/ 345/35/18 EXPEDIA S-O1 (9/32 tread) street tires = 1.75 60'

I have over 450 passes on these set-ups together and at different tracks....

My best 60' times on my 00' vert:
Topline 5 spoke Y2K chrome repos 18 x 10.5 +58mm offset rims w/ new MT ET Street Radial #3784R P315/30R18 26X12.50R18 = 1.69 60'

Topline 5 spoke Y2K chrome repos 18 x 10.5 +58mm offset rims w/ new 275/35/18 BFG G-force TA drag radial = 1.69 60'

I have over 150 passes on these set-ups together and at different tracks....


A few pics:
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c5/30s/index15.shtml

Just play with the pressure and if you have a heat gun..........have a friend check the tire temps after some burnouts.... 345 BFGs like 180 on my 97' :D
Good luck!

Nice info there..... I guess that is what they mean by test and tune.... I will have to play around and see what works with this Z. Running 35psi and a cold concrete highway yielded a no nonsense pull from 20mph in 1st.... I cant imagine what these tires will do at the track...

good choice!! I just put my second set of ET SR IIs on my car... I got 6000 miles and ~45-50 passes out of the first set....

this is what was left

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/958...1002201220.jpg

I've found on the 265/10/18s - 17psi works best, wil more side wall on the 345s I'd think 19 at the track would be good

WOW you got your money's worth out of those tires.... good stuff!! I might switch over my Supra to these tires as well.... BFGs are good but its time to make a change....

You can't beat the Mickey Thompson Drag Radials. I've seen many broken rear ends because of them. They hook like no other radial tire out there. I've been running them on my Mustangs for years. Love em. I have been looking at putting a 18x12 on the rear of my Z06 just so I could run these tires, and they are 1/2 the price of a 19 inch street tire.

:iagree: Love the MT ET Street's....

just want to share something . if you have a manual trans car i would stay away from the 35 series drag radial. i have found that on my zr1 with 430rwhp the sidewall is too short to take the shock from a manual trans. i switched to the 275x40x17 hoosiers and my 60 ft went from 1.86 to 1.49. jmho

Tim - what size tire were you running that had the 35 aspect ratio?

a 345/35 has a pretty decent sidewall

how much more tire height do you get going from 35 to 40? drag radials seem to me to have a somewhat stiff sidewall compared to slicks,can't argue with your results 1.86 to 1.49 big improvement ...what were the tires w/the 1.86 60ft?were they same height?are the hoosiers drag radials?I'm not being a smart azz, appreciate you sharing info.just trying to figure out if sidewall played that big a part in getting a.37 improvement in 60ft or are there other factors that play into it. can anybody comment on this.would like to get my 390 RWHP 116-118 mph Z/06 to 60 ft in the 1.6 to 1.7 w/BFGDR most were 1.85 to 1.90 I have MT street rad going on car hoping they will get this car to get some decent 60ft's...any stick shift cars using MT?is the key a taller tiref/manual trans cars?

These 345/35's just plain work. They are 27.5" tall with 4.5" sidewalls.

The 275/40-17 is a 26" tall tire with 4.5" sidewalls as well.

Here's a testament to the 345/35's hooking:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-a-c6-zo6.html