28" slicks...need advice

[turbov6joe]

I'm looking for advice from those of you that run or have run a 28" tall slick on the TTA with the stock gearing. I'm looking for info such as: Will they fit without rubbing, maximum width used, any downsides to this tall of a tire, will the stock wheel's offset be ok, any MPH increase over a 26" tire etc...??? Unfortunatley no one makes a full on slick in 26" tall, so I'm considering the 28". Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! With my #6 pump converter I should have no problem getting out of the gate in a hurry, but don't want to kill the top end pulling that tall of a tire. I know with the GN the switch from 26" to 28" gave me a few MPH.

 

[Lee_Burough]

I don't know....But, there is some useful info in these posts:

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=87748&highlight=28

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20207&highlight=28

28" tire works on a TR. but the TTA gear ratio is a bit different, as you well know.

 

[postal]

I run MT 28x9's. They are actually only 27.1" tall. They fit fine and work pretty good. The best time I ran on my old set up was with a pair of 29.5 x 9's. Those rubbed up inside the fender well because of being to tall. When I finally get my new set up running right I'm going to try those tall suckers again.

Heres some thing that I have never understood. Alot of GN guys will say that if they go from the stock 3.43 to a 3.73 gear that their cars will slow down. To me that sounds like they went the wrong way with the gearing right? TTA's tend to run good for the mods done to them and we run 3.23's....

Alot of people think taller tires and/or a lower number gear ratio will make the car soft out of the hole. My best 60' time on my old set up was with those tall 29.5's.(also my best mph, et, every thing) This was not due to better traction. The car wasn't spinning with either height slicks.

My guess is this: The turbo cars like the taller tires or gearing. The gear we should be able to accelerate the hardest in is first gear. This is also the gear that puts the least amount of "load" on the motor. The taller tires help to "load down" the motor and this seams to help you come up to set boost quicker. So now you have good boost, the motors loaded down more, and you're still in 1st gear which will allow the car to be accelerated hard.

You guys ever get tired of my rambling?

HTH: Jason

 

[turbov6joe]

Postal,
I agree with ya on the load idea, the turbo motors like the load to get to and keep the boost up. I also agree with the gear ratio thing. I think the idea with the TR's and 3.73's was to allow them to run a taller than 28" tire and not kill the gear ratio too bad. Basically a 3.73 with a 28" tire is like a 3.42 with a 26" tire....6 in one hand, a half dozen in another. As for our cars, a 28" tire with the 3.23's is prolly like a 3.08 or so....The taller tires help put a larger contact patch down and help to lessen the impact on the driveline when launching real hard....especially off a T brake! Right now I use 26x11.5x16 MT's street ET's with pretty good results considering they are OLD and a tad dry untill I put the heat to them Right now I can get a LOW 1.6 short time with a 10-15 psi launch, but would rather get the same 60's with less boost....easier on the driveline for sure. I would like to try a 27" or 28" tire this year for the added MPH, but don't want to deal with rubbing. I just installed 2 airbags which brought the rear up considerbly even with just 20/10 psi, that might help prevent rubbing??? I have a sweet connection for MT's which makes it hard to buy any other brand because of the $$$ savings...almost $100 saved for the set. Because MT doesn't make a 16" slick in a size we can use, it looks as though the Steet ET's will be it again this season. Now that I think about it, I might just try the 27" tire and call it good. This should be a good median for what I want to accomplish. Thanks to all for their opinions!

 

[postal]

I got a set of 15x7" wheels from an early or mid 80's firebird. They look similar to our stock wheels except satin instead of the gold webbing. I painted the webbing gold so from a distance they look like they match the front 16's. When you get close the only reason they look bad is because I'm the worse painter in the world! I picked these wheels up off of ebay for $60 shipped for the pair. Then I also drilled them for rim studs. With the 28 x 9 et drags mounted on them they arent close to rubbing any where.

HTH: Jason

 

[turbov6joe]

Hmmm, that might be an option as well???

 

[postal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43955&item=2469416954

that like what I bought but not as good of a price.

HTH: Jason

 

[postal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43955&item=2468311524

thats cheap but its only one

Jason

 

[Bobtempest]

Any hope of the 28x11.50-16 ET Street fitting on stock wheels with both side airbags?

Rob Hinson