400rwhp And 410 Gears, Can Anyone Hook Up On Street Tires?

Nov 11, 2013
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I am looking for anyone who has been able to find a street tire that will hook up, my g-force tires will not even hook in 3rd, barely in 4th. Is my only option to get drag radials? This car is a DD for me so I do not want to buy tires every few months. Any input would be appreciated.
 
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I gave up on street tires on my 89 and went to MT drag radials; world of difference. You can still spin the tires in first, but you actually move forward versus sitting still smoking the street tires. In the other gears you pretty much hook. Gained a full second on the track. I'm probably going to pick a pair of Toyo r888 tires for my 04 Cobra in the Spring; they come highly recommended on the svtperformance web site.
 
I guess I am trying to find a good balance of ability to hook even in 1st (at least in 70+ degree temps) and not buying new tires every 4-7 months. Maybe I should get some used 17" spare rims and keep drag radials on them and switch over for fun weekends and stuff.
 
Im going on almost 10 months on my DR's and there are still a few stubs left on the tire. Still have great tread. My car is a DD too. Todays DR's are not as bad as you may think. I try and stay out of boost as much as possible on the street and not shred the tires. I'll never go back to a street tire.
 
First off, you have handling suspension on the car, which is too stiff to hook up on the street. Second, with 400rwhp and a manual trans, I'd actually recommend a bias ply street slick rather than a drag radial. But that's not something you'd want to drive on every day.

I have around 400rwhp, good suspension, and 275/40-18 NT-05s on my daily driver. It hooks okay, but would be better with a stickier tire.
 
I also have a handling suspension on mine, and while street tires are a joke, the MT drag radials do pretty well, even on the street. At the track, I'm limited to launching below 2500, or they spin. Can't speak to mileage yet, mine have about 3000 miles on them at this point, with decent "tread" left, but the car is parked for the winter now. I also avoid driving the car in the rain like the plague.
 
I agree with Will.

Gears are the death of hooking an FI car with a manual transmission on the street. Auto's, in all platforms can get away with lower gearing on the street with a higher power ldvel. Your gears and power level would probably be perfect for the 1/4 mile on sticky drag radials.

I dead hooked a 1000/1000whp CTSV on 18 inch drag radials my first pass last weekend. Not my car, but asked to drive it. I took it away from the track by myself to do test hits during an oil down. The car wouldn't hook up until 100-120mph, then gripped and boggied. Then on the track, I dead hooked, big difference.

You have 2 options IMO.

1. Pay to play... with your gearing, power, and a manual, spend the money on drag radials that will last you 5000-8000 miles(the 40+sets I've owned last about 2500 miles, but I'm harsh on them)

2. Do a $500 gear swap to 3.27's, and roll on street tires. You can still cut a good 60ft with stock gears and FI, I've done it and I know @tank_567 has.

I'm just a big supporter of stock gearing for higher than stock FI manual builds.
 
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I agree with Will.

I hear people telling me all the time that XXX drag radial will not hook up at the track. 9 times out of 10, it's because either they don't know how to drive, or they didn't get them warm enough. Some require a lot of heat, some don't require much at all. Mickey Thompsons or Hoosiers don't require nearly as much heat as say a Nitto. I do a BIG burnout on my 555Rs, and they hook every time.

People tell me all the time that they are a crappy tire and won't hook; not long ago, I watched a guy regularly cut high 1.5-low 1.6 60s on a full weight, stock suspension, manual transmission, supercharged, LS2 GTOon 275 555Rs. While they may not hook like MTs or Hoosiers, cutting 1.5-1.6 short times on a heavy GTO with a mostly stock IRS isn't too shabby. It just takes a LOT of heat and a little care not to shock them loose (i.e. slip the clutch a bit).
 
U know what... I put a set of 315/35r17 nitto 555r's on my car in May. Prior to that I had both 4.10's and 3.73's with 2 wheel tire combos... Stock wheels with kuhmo's (4.10's & 385 rwhp) - 1st thru 4th burnouts all day long, I switched to 3.73's because I was making 430rwtq and was bouncing off the rev limiter 15 ft prior to the trap. I put the bigger wheels on the car and the 315 sumitomos were slightly better with the 3.73s, I even cut a 1.8 60 ft with them, but I was still babying the pi** out of the throttle all the time (especially when cold).

If I could do it all over again, I would have raised my rev limiter and got the 10.5 in bullit's with the nitto's. They are a WORLD of difference on the street.

I have dumped the clutch at 2500 rpm at a light and it dead hooked with no tire warming at all. (Btw, this is after I installed blower cams and put down 376 on a loaded mustang dyno which has proven to run 15% lower than the dyno shop that tuned my car the first time with a dyno jet)... So I was told I'm making around 425 rwhp at the wheels. Granted if I stab the throttle above 2k rpm it will break loose for a lil bit in first when it's warm out, and below 50 degrees I can spin thru 2nd... But I think it's because the asphalt is cold as well.

Tire wear is good so far, probably because I'm not doing burnouts all the time because the tires cost so much. I wish I still had my 4.10's and these tires.

I chose the nitto 555r because they appeared to have great traction but not as good as say mickey's but had decent tread life (I don't get to go to the strip that often). I haven't gotten to take it to darlington yet with the new setup, I haven't even ran it with the cams yet.

So, moral is... Get some drag radials like nitto before u swap gears. It is a night and day difference. Even when it's cold outside it's better, not quite as noticeable as when it's warm... But definitely noticeable.
 
Gears are the death of hooking an FI car with a manual transmission on the street. Auto's, in all platforms can get away with lower gearing on the street with a higher power ldvel. Your gears and power level would probably be perfect for the 1/4 mile on sticky drag radials.

Aside from traction, how do you think a 550rwhp stalled 4R70W with 4.10's will do as far as crossing the traps? Im thinking that I will definitely run out of gear.