best traction tires in 17"???

[turbo john FL]

was looking for what kind of tires and results anybody running 17S has had as far as traction i know 15 s are suppoed to be better for drag racing , but for a street car with 17 s looking to find a good compromise. i still want the car to hook up ! would hate to sit still smoking em off

thanks for any input here, JOHN

 

[JP87GN]

WHy not do drag radials then? I know Nitto and BFG make 17" DR's

 

[turbo john FL]

this is a every day driver. so i do not know i am in florida and we wil be coming into rainy season. will drag radials have any traction problems in the rain??? guess i am hoping for a best of both worlds in a tire

 

[Bescurred]

I have Kumho 712's on my car and they don't hook for shioot. Its a start. Being in Fl I wouldn't put drag radials on it. Why chance it?

 

[jsta6]

275/40/17 Nitto 555 DR's in South Florida here.

I have no problems running DR's in the rain...When they have tread. I ran 100mph in the rain on my DR's with good tread.

When the tread wore out, and they were slick or near bald, I was lucky to be able to go 40mph in the rain.

Traction at the track was no problem with the DR's. It was the sidewall that was the killer. 40 series tires equaled 1.9 60' for me.

I have since bought a bair of 275/60/15's for the track.

 

[turbo john FL]

jsta6
so traction with the 17's is a big compomise . even with running drag radials. how do the drag radials hold up mile wise down here. between use and the heat?i am just tormented about staying with 15's for the traction or 17's for the looks

 

[jsta6]

Traction is great with the 17" DR's. It is just that there is no sidewall to flex when launching off the line at the track. So the "soft" compound of the DR tire lets me leave with like 7lbs of boost, but becuase the sidewalls don't flex, my 60' times sucked.

So that is why I bought a pair of 15" wheels and 275/60/15 tires to use the one or two times a year I go to the track. I will leave with the same 7lbs of boost, but my 60' should be a lot better.

I would say that 17" DR's on the street are fine, since you can't luanch with any real boost on the street anyway, because of all the dirt and sand that is usually on the street. You are certainly not going to leave with 7lbs of boost at a traffic light.

Right now I have 17" non-DR's and they chirp all the time. With the DR's I had, they hooked up great.

The Nitto 555 DR's lasted me about a year and a half. Which is pretty good, I think. Better then the BF Goodrich, or so I have heard.

 

[Red Regal T]

I was very pleasantly surprised when I used these tires in a 16". Street traction was better than I had experience with anything else and they're cheap and W rated. Here it is in 17" and 26" tall.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compa...=1&pagemark=1&manufacturer=Sumitomo&x=54&y=10

 

[turbo john FL]

thanks guys for the input. how did these work for you on the road during the afternoon rain rituals down here ?? jsta6 what kind of mileage would you say you put on the car in that year and a half??

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by turbo john FL
thanks guys for the input. how did these work for you on the road during the afternoon rain rituals down here ??

These are street tires, not drag radials. Should be as good as any on wet streets.

 

[JDSfastGN]

Overall your giving up a lot traction wise on 17s unless your track is prepped very very well. I run 315/35/17 nittos and can light them up at will under 40 mph. On a warmer day depending on the road type, they may hook and surprise me but overall they are no where close to my old 275/60/15 nittos. I've had two runs at the track on the 17s and both were spinning low 1.80s. A little more heating and i think low 1.7s are doable but without that sidewall flex like stated earlier its pretty hit or miss. So far they have been great in the rain though, just like my old 15" nittos were

 

[jsta6]

Originally posted by turbo john FL
thanks guys for the input. how did these work for you on the road during the afternoon rain rituals down here ?? jsta6 what kind of mileage would you say you put on the car in that year and a half??

As long as there is tread on the tire deep enough to channel the water out, you should have no problem in the rain. Like I said, when the Nitto 555 DR's were new, I could do over 100 in the rain on the highway.

After about a year and a half, or about 10,000(?) miles, the tread started to wear out really fast. They were kind of bald in the middle and had tread on the sides. I couldn't drive at all in the rain. I still have them in my shed.

 

[turbo john FL]

so, jsta6 and jdsfastgn
you are still running the 17's on the street though. i think they look great on the cars but was worried about a huge loss of traction pulling up on those pony guys at a light , so i was a little tormented on wich way to go . the look is great just did not want to still be at the light in a cloud going nowhere
thanks for all the input guys
JOHN

 

[jsta6]

Well, at a traffic light, how much boost can you leave with now without spinning the tires?

I don't think it will be to much different if you have 275/60/15 or 275/40/17 tires.

The problem on the street is all the dirt/sand/rocks.

At the track, I would say the difference is MAJOR.

 

[turbo john FL]

I SEE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING .IT MAKES SENSE . I AM LEANING TOWARD THE 17'S , I SAW A SET OF SOME BOYD CODDINGTON SMOTHIE II S AND THINK THEY WOULD LOOK AWSOME ON THE CAR , AND THERE IS ONE WITH THEM ON THE PICTURE LISTING ON THE WHEEL SECTION . I THINK I AM SOLD ON IT. LIKE YOU WHERE SAYING I CAN PUT A SET OF 15'S ON MY STOCK WHEELS I GUESS FOR THE TRACK/??

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by jsta6

The problem on the street is all the dirt/sand/rocks.

At the track, I would say the difference is MAJOR.

Hey Shawn, you better stop street racing on those dirt roads down there. You get much better results on asphault.

 

[jsta6]

Originally posted by turbo john FL
I SEE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING .IT MAKES SENSE . I AM LEANING TOWARD THE 17'S , I SAW A SET OF SOME BOYD CODDINGTON SMOTHIE II S AND THINK THEY WOULD LOOK AWSOME ON THE CAR , AND THERE IS ONE WITH THEM ON THE PICTURE LISTING ON THE WHEEL SECTION . I THINK I AM SOLD ON IT. LIKE YOU WHERE SAYING I CAN PUT A SET OF 15'S ON MY STOCK WHEELS I GUESS FOR THE TRACK/??

Stock wheels are way to heavy IMHO.

You should keep a lookout for some lightweight Weld racing wheels. You could probably pick up a set for cheap if you shopped around. I paid $200 for mine and they are in great shape with 275/60/15 tires.

 

[JDSfastGN]

Originally posted by turbo john FL
so, jsta6 and jdsfastgn
you are still running the 17's on the street though. i think they look great on the cars but was worried about a huge loss of traction pulling up on those pony guys at a light , so i was a little tormented on wich way to go . the look is great just did not want to still be at the light in a cloud going nowhere
thanks for all the input guys
JOHN

I couldn't launch on any boost on my old 275/60 nittos on the street and the 315s are no different, they probably have a little less traction on the street from a slow roll but nothing thats gonna cause ya just to sit there and go up in smoke. The 17s are definitely worth it for the looks alone.

 

[jsta6]

Originally posted by JDSfastGN
I couldn't launch on any boost on my old 275/60 nittos on the street and the 315s are no different, they probably have a little less traction on the street from a slow roll but nothing thats gonna cause ya just to sit there and go up in smoke. The 17s are definitely worth it for the looks alone.

 

[RKturbo6]

Well I had new 275/50/15 regular BFG's and they were toast at just about any speed when I nailed it. I know have switched to 17" 315/35/17 Nittos and the difference is huge. I can spin these too but I have to work at it a little. Although the suck as far as mileage the looks and some sort of traction make them well worth it to me.