Mickey ET drags vs PRO drag radials Input and comments

[fastblackracing]

Looking for input from people who have good information on comparing one tire to the other.......... I will be needing tires soon and the car is pretty much useless on the street with the 12.50x 15 x 28 ET streets that used to work really good for me........ From a 45 roll the car is very aggressive on the verge of out of control within one second of the boost coming in and I dont have the boost turned up where I want it yet. I have no problem running a full drag slick on the street but would like to hear from some of the faster guys that may be running the pro radials on the street.

 

[toomanymodz]

From what I've read, the Pro Drag Radial (the tire with the little dashed grooves) is so soft that it doesn't last at all on the street.

 

[Boost231]

The pros are super soft but man do they hook.

 

[Eticket]

The Pros are "not for highway use" although I've read many guys saying they've driven 50 miles to the track.. yada yada yada... I wonder if the ET streat radials say "not for highway use" I'd be concerned with any sort of heat buildup or something that the tires weren't built for.

The rubber on both are close to being a slick as far as I know, but obviously more stable with better sidewalls for driving around.

I think either radial is going to be more controllble or at least feel that way. The bigger questtion is your suspension setup. Some geometry fixes, good pieces and antiroll bar can cure alot if not all instability.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

I have the same problem you do and if you have a 28x12.5 racing tire and need more traction, where do you think you'll find it? lol. There is no more tire for you. At this point I'm assuming rolled lips and a frame notch right? Trust me, there is no tire that will help you on street concrete at this point. I suggest more suspension tuning. Last season I could break my 28x10.5 et drags loose on the street at anything past a 3 psi launch. And that was with alll my shit turned down. You have way more hp than I do. Not gonna happen unless you tweak your suspension. Just got my new ET streets and wow are they soft. I could fold this tire up and put it in my pocket. No way you're getting anything softer; not to the point where it will matter anyways.
For what it's worth last season (I'm street only) I completely wore out a pair of 275/50 hoosier drag radials in 12 weekends worth of cruising/racing, mostly cruising. Traction was no different than my old beat up 245 Radial T/A's. The only tire that helped me was the 28x10.5 ET drags, and that was only for under 4psi launches, which is pretty good for the street to be honest. Though they were a touch too big for my stock frame/suspension car anyhow.

 

[Steve]

Sounds like you have enough tire but may need some suspension tuning/upgrades. There are guys putting down 1500hp and running 7's on the same size or smaller tires with good working suspensions. The pic below is my buddy's 67 Camaro with a 9" slick cutting 1.23 60's with a N/A 468. If you get the supension working properly you will be able to hook up on the tires you have.

 

[Mr.Spool]

From a 45 roll the car is very aggressive on the verge of out of control within one second of the boost coming in and I dont have the boost turned up where I want it yet. I have no problem running a full drag slick on the street but would like to hear from some of the faster guys that may be running the pro radials on the street.

inmo I don't think just swapping out tires with a soft compound is going to hook the car the way you describe the wheelspin,your going to have to work the suspension as stated above with a good tire and play with ramping in the boost.

 

[fastblackracing]

I have the same problem you do and if you have a 28x12.5 racing tire and need more traction, where do you think you'll find it? lol. There is no more tire for you. At this point I'm assuming rolled lips and a frame notch right? Trust me, there is no tire that will help you on street concrete at this point. I suggest more suspension tuning. Last season I could break my 28x10.5 et drags loose on the street at anything past a 3 psi launch. And that was with alll my shit turned down. You have way more hp than I do. Not gonna happen unless you tweak your suspension. Just got my new ET streets and wow are they soft. I could fold this tire up and put it in my pocket. No way you're getting anything softer; not to the point where it will matter anyways.
For what it's worth last season (I'm street only) I completely wore out a pair of 275/50 hoosier drag radials in 12 weekends worth of cruising/racing, mostly cruising. Traction was no different than my old beat up 245 Radial T/A's. The only tire that helped me was the 28x10.5 ET drags, and that was only for under 4psi launches, which is pretty good for the street to be honest. Though they were a touch too big for my stock frame/suspension car anyhow.

Yeah I am looking towards the pro drag radials......... My suspension is decent I have the weight transfer springs and Older koni drag shocks........ At the track I was able to foot brake with 1.45-1.49 most of the time, and I really dont want it to do any faster than that....... Ive read that others really did not like the drag springs but they worked pretty well for me........ I will put a rear anti roll bar on it sometime this summer after deciding on which one. And the car will probly see no more than 1000 miles so if a tire lasts me 1 summer I am ok with that. We have some friends with brand F cars with the pros and they work great, I wanted to see what the buick guys think about them. Like you said there is no more room for a bigger tire so it has to be a better tire. I was shocked at how hard it rolled the ET streets from a roll I had really good results with them on other combos. I heard they are doing away with some of the et streets are yours a new version?

 

[robzombie]

The problem you're having sounds like the same one I have.

If you put a new set on they work great. They will still break loose in first or second at anything above 10/12 lbs. of boost and when you hit max boost of say 26 psi in less than a second in my case on the street. Once up above 50 mph they are on the verge of losing grip but still hold traction and once you hit third the car doesn't dance from side to side like it does in second.

The traction of these or any other slick or D/R will drop off considerably the more you street drive them due to the heat cycles you put on the tires which changes the compound of the rubber and makes them harder.

That is just something you have to live with if you street drive D/Rs day in and day out like I do. I have no choice because the car is useless with regular tires, so I end up spending 2G a year on rear tires so I can HOOK and BOOK when I want to jump on it.

 

[robzombie]

Yeah I am looking towards the pro drag radials......... My suspension is decent I have the weight transfer springs and Older koni drag shocks........ At the track I was able to foot brake with 1.45-1.49 most of the time, and I really dont want it to do any faster than that....... Ive read that others really did not like the drag springs but they worked pretty well for me........ I will put a rear anti roll bar on it sometime this summer after deciding on which one. And the car will probly see no more than 1000 miles so if a tire lasts me 1 summer I am ok with that. We have some friends with brand F cars with the pros and they work great, I wanted to see what the buick guys think about them. Like you said there is no more room for a bigger tire so it has to be a better tire. I was shocked at how hard it rolled the ET streets from a roll I had really good results with them on other combos. I heard they are doing away with some of the et streets are yours a new version?

I get between 2/3k on a set with no burnouts. They wear best and give best traction at 22psi. with spirited driving for me. They hook best at 18 psi. [racing] but wear out faster due to the amount of heat put into the tire D/D at that pressure and last only about 1,500 miles or so in my case.

 

[fastblackracing]

Sounds like you have enough tire but may need some suspension tuning/upgrades. There are guys putting down 1500hp and running 7's on the same size or smaller tires with good working suspensions. The pic below is my buddy's 67 Camaro with a 9" slick cutting 1.23 60's with a N/A 468. If you get the supension working properly you will be able to hook up on the tires you have.

Steve that is one sweet looking car love the launch. What exact tire is on the car in that pic?

 

[fastblackracing]

The problem you're having sounds like the same one I have.

If you put a new set on they work great. They will still break loose in first or second at anything above 10/12 lbs. of boost and when you hit max boost of say 26 psi in less than a second in my case on the street. Once up above 50 mph they are on the verge of losing grip but still hold traction and once you hit third the car doesn't dance from side to side like it does in second.

The traction of these or any other slick or D/R will drop off considerably the more you street drive them due to the heat cycles you put on the tires which changes the compound of the rubber and makes them harder.

That is just something you have to live with if you street drive D/Rs day in and day out like I do. I have no choice because the car is useless with regular tires, so I end up spending 2G a year on rear tires so I can HOOK and BOOK when I want to jump on it.

Yep expensive habits. Could be doing worse things tho....

 

[Steve]

Steve that is one sweet looking car love the launch. What exact tire is on the car in that pic?

The tires on the car in the pic are 29x9 Hoosier radial slicks. He sometimes runs a local heads up street car class and it limits tire size to DOT 275/60's and then he runs 275 Hoosier drag radials the car runs about the same on them. The car runs very low 9's with a pretty basic N/A 468 BBC. The car is all steel(except for the hood) and full weight, full interior-it still has the battery in the stock location and the stock AM radio in the dash! He has spent years refining his set up and he gets every last .001 of performance out of it that it has. It has been on the rear bumper a time or two and with the short rear overhang on those cars that is very high!

 

[Steve]

Check out the guys that run the F.A.S.T. series(stands for factory appearing stock tire) to see what a good working suspension can do. The class requires stock tires to the car and they run in the 9's in 3500+ pound cars. The Roadrunner below runs 9.80's at 134 on stck 8" wide bias ply tires-they are not retreads or special rubber. The Mach 1 in the pic runs low 10's on stock tires and notice both front wheels are in the air?

 

[robzombie]

Yep expensive habits. Could be doing worse things tho....

Expensive is a relative term.

Crackheads spend that much in a week or two and toast their brains.

I spend that in a year on tires and my brain is still somewhat intact and get a better high in my opinion. WARNING!!!! RESULTS WILL VARY!!!!

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Check out the guys that run the F.A.S.T. series(stands for factory appearing stock tire) to see what a good working suspension can do. The class requires stock tires to the car and they run in the 9's in 3500+ pound cars. The Roadrunner below runs 9.80's at 134 on stck 8" wide bias ply tires-they are not retreads or special rubber. The Mach 1 in the pic runs low 10's on stock tires and notice both front wheels are in the air?

"the runs 9's in the 3500..." On what? Can they get those times on the street?

 

[Steve]

"the runs 9's in the 3500..." On what? Can they get those times on the street?

The rest of the qoute is " run in the 9's in 3500+ pound cars". I doubt those guys do a lot of street racing but they would do pretty well on the street also becuase they have the suspension figured out and that would make a difference or the street or track. A while back one of the magezines tested a couple of the faster F.A.S.T. series cars on slicks and they only picked up about a tenth on slicks compared to the small bias ply tires(mid 1.6's on bias ply tires and mid 1.5's on slicks) because they have thier combos so refined. Making power isn't that difficult but getting it to the ground effectively is a bigger challenge. Guys in X235/X275 run deep in the 8's on 235/60's and high 6's at over 200mph on 275/60's-- the point being that if the suspension works as it should you can put down an amazing amout of power on a relatively small tire.

 

[achalmersman]

I get between 2/3k on a set with no burnouts. They wear best and give best traction at 22psi. with spirited driving for me. They hook best at 18 psi. [racing] but wear out faster due to the amount of heat put into the tire D/D at that pressure and last only about 1,500 miles or so in my case.

Is that mileage on ET streets or radial pros?

 

[Slow91z]

Didn't read the whole thread end to end but just to clear something up the et street radials and the et street radial pros have the same rubber compound...the difference is the soft sidewall mainly.

 

[Eticket]

Hooking on the street and track are 2 different things. Soft tires are not, if your rear suspension on a buick is in the stock geometry, it's not helping the matter. Something needs to be done to plant the tires more than weight transfer - especially on radials.