Good traction - possible w/ 17" street tires?

[MAP]

Greetings folks,

Have any of you found that with 17" tires on the rear, you can get good traction on the street? I've got 255-45ZR-17's out back which handle extremely well for all-around driving, but will spin to about 60 - 70mph when I floor it. I'd like to get good handling and traction at the same time!

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Best regards and Happy Easter,
MAP

 

[azgn]

the absolute minimum for traction would be drag radials...think Nitto makes some for 17's

 

[Red Regal T]

If your TR makes any power, any street tire will spin halfway through 2nd gear. Without resorting to drag radials, you might want to go a little taller on the rear tires. Look at 255 50 17s (27" tall). As far as drag radials, they're overpriced, wear out fast, and if you don't run around with 12lbs. in them, and do a burnout, all you'll do is get a 2.2 60' time just like a street tire.

 

[8UWITH6]

Have any of you found that with 17" tires that get good traction on the street?

NOPE

Sold my 17s for this reason. HTH

 

[MAP]

Greetings again,

Thanks for your responses so far. One question - what about tubbing? The wider the tire, the less need there should be for a soft, sticky tread compound (such as would be found on a drag radial,) and so, presumably, the greater the odds of getting good handling and traction with street tires. I have something like 315's or 335's in mind (ZO6 Corvette and Viper.) Has anyone gone this route?

And, do drag radials really need to be bled down to 12 PSI to get good grip?

Best,
MAP

 

[Rocket Man]

Not really. I run Nitto's, and they seem to work best around 19-20 lbs. I don't know about the BFG's, never tried em.

 

[GNVAIR]

You can get good traction with 17's, it just depends on the compound. I found the BFG Comp TAs to be horrible. The Yokohamas and Dunlops are pretty goodfor standard street compoungs. Radials by design have a very stiff sidewall... the exception would be a BFG Radial TA, so the sidewall does not play into the big picture of traction as it would on a bias ply tire.The reason why most slicks are bias belted type is because sidewall flex increases the contact patch on launch. This just isnt the case with radials. Airing down most radials does not increase the contact patch. For a good experiment, try it and take a temperature reading after doing a burn out. Most of the time, you will loose the contact patch.The main concern as someone mentioned would be getting the correct compound tire. For TR's the Nitto's work extremely well.
315's or 335's would be nice, but even a Viper a, ZR1 and a Z06 can break their large street tires loose with relatively low effort. You also have to remember that to fit tires that large on a G body would require some major frame rail notching in the back. If I remember correctly, 1 of the guys from Arizona had a severely modified GN with tires that size on the back. Maybe Woody would know?
As for drag radials..........Dewayne Gutridge ran well into the 9's with a stock suspended turbocharged Mustang notchback, so I guess anything is possible. He was in the BFG ads for awhile. Enough of my babbling for now.

 

[GNSCOTT]

It will never hook like a 15" tire. you need sidewall.

 

[ONLYA6]

I plan on running a 275/40/17 Nitto Drag Radial this year, so I'll let you know how I make out

Jacob

 

[MAP]

Greetings GNVAIR, all;

Thanks for the excellent suggestions. Anyone else out there that's gotten great handling and off-line traction with 17" tires?

Best regards,
MAP

 

[GNVAIR]

Hey MAP, I dont know if Dan Goldstein (darkfa8) has told you yet, but there is a really good G body suspension tech forum over at www.montecarloss.com. It is called "rolling chassis" and there are many knowledgeable guys there that autocross their cars. You might want to come over and join in some of the threads sometime.