Drag racing - Performance Forum

Forum Post / Reply
You must log in before you can post or reply to messages.
Drag racing
Wednesday, March 02, 2005 11:07 PM
anyone ever try put some really small tires on before going out to the track? A really small tire like a 175 14 55 should give you some good accelaration. If you heat them up real good before racing i think you could run a bit better time. What do you guys think?

Re: Drag racing
Wednesday, March 02, 2005 11:14 PM
unless they were slicks and had really sticky rubber... i believe you would spin them like crazy.... so there for your accelaration wouldnt be to good




Re: Drag racing
Thursday, March 03, 2005 6:53 AM
^^^ I agree.. w/o softer tire compounds they wont heat up like you're talkign about and grab.. they'll just spin & spin & spin.. they wont hook up like you want or are refurring to. My 17's w/ Proxies FZ4's hook up REALLY well at the track on my wheels that i run all teh time.. I dont really even have to heat them up all that much toyo tires are a softer ruber compound than some other brands out there. I think Yokohama and pirelli are softer compounds too and hook good as well. The actual key that i've found for after market wheels & tires.. is to find a combination that is the same general size and weight (or lighter than) as your stock wheels & tires. Such as mine.. my ADRs w/ the tires are a tiny bit smaller than my stockers and weigh whut feel liek not much lighter or the same weight w/ the tires. they feel lighter than my stockers tho. But IMHO that's the best way to run, that way it wont throw off your speedo (too much) and it's got the general size wheel/tires combo that the stock car was emant to run. Hope this helps ya



Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
-Saint Augustine
Re: Drag racing
Thursday, March 03, 2005 7:36 AM
The smaller tire diameter is good for giving you more effective gearing and the smaller rim and tire diameter will reduce the rotaing mass allowing you to accelerat quicker. The problem is that all those gains would be lost by the smaller contact patch of the narrower tire. That coupled with the tread compound on just about all 14" tires is that they so hard for longer tread life, it wont conform to the track surface to bite, and heating a compoud like those only makes them slicker.

A shorter diameterwill give you quiker lauches, provided you can get traction, but you will lose some trap speed, unless the gearing really high(numerically lower, i.e. 2.84:1). Also the lower rotating weight will help with the acceleration. You would want the widest tire that can fit to get more contact patch for more traction, so you don't spin.

A softer compound will help the most, as far as tires go. High performance street radials are okay, just do a very short spin with them to make them a little stickyer, but not too much or they will become slick also. Drag radials are even better, just spin them enough to get a small puff of smoke and they'll stick really good. Dont go through the water box with either of those tires though, the water will just make them slicker. The best tires,of course, are drag slicks, take them though the water box and give them a good spin(not like John Force though), enough to get a small to moderate puff of smoke and they will really bite hard.





Re: Drag racing
Thursday, March 03, 2005 7:57 AM
Awsome guys. I guess it wouldn't be a good idea for the strip. But for a rolling start it should be alright.
Re: Drag racing
Thursday, March 03, 2005 9:06 AM
yeah, on the street it would be ok.. b/c the streets arent ususally as slick as a box on the strip. the pavment's really slick on strips so harder tires just dont bite well, but they will on regular paved streets.



Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
-Saint Augustine
Forum Post / Reply
You must log in before you can post or reply to messages.

 

Start New Topic Advanced Search