Im having some really bad 60 foots with my 275/15/60 Nitto drag radials. I have about 15 drag passes on it and Im only averaging a 2.0 60 ft. I was doing the same thing with my old potenza SO3's on 245/17/40's. I thought getting drag radials would at least drop me into the 1.7 60 foot range. What is going on? Im easing into the pedal as a standard radial, reaction times are decent, 5.50-6.00. The control arms have been replaced with Steeda aluminim uppers and lower, I have a air bag in the rear spring, and a battery over the right rear tire. Shocks are koni yellows with a Steeda drag bar. However the car is lowerd about an 1.5 inches. Are these tires just worthless or is it just me or my car? The car is an auto with a 3000 stall and 4.10's. Its also a 347 stroker but still sporting the stock H/C/I.
Well, there are a few variables which you didn’t include that can effect your 60's. First off, how is the prep at the track you frequent? Do they lay down copious amounts of VHT? If the prep is bad and they don’t lay down enough VHT for the test and tune folks (it happens at a lot of tracks) then it makes launching much…much more difficult. Next off would be your tire pressure…or more directly what is it? Most people (myself included) will drop the psi on their nittos to ~ 15-20 psi for track duty. Exactly how much will depend on tire size, tire temperature etc. Another key ingredient with launching your Nitto's is your burnout. Your going to have to really heat em' up. Figure between 5 and 10 seconds or until you start to see plenty of smoke rolling off of them. After your burnout you'll want to roll out of it until you hook slightly. This will allow you to clean off whatever water you picked up from the water box and also allow you to pick up some of the sticky rubber laid down by the guys who run slicks. As far as your launch technique goes, your on your own with that one. I've always been a manual tranny guy so I cant help you out there.
Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. I set the tire pressure to 20 psi. The first time I burned out, I smoked them 5-10 seconds in the water box. However, my best 60 fts were achieved by simply doing a quick 2-3 second burnout on dry pavement and easing into it until felt it hook. That yielded a best of 1.9 60 foot. And VHT is nonexistant on this track, its very horrible. I usually try to stay away from imports and try to sneak behind guys running slicks. This seems to help out alot with traction. Whenever alot of FWDs run ahead of me, its very difficult to get any decent 60 fts.....
I used to burn out for about a good 5-7 seconds and then burn through all the way to the line. I also wait for the other guy to do his before pulling up to the line. But just doing a quick burn and then burning up to the line seems to work well for now, but I was hoping for something in the 1.7's. Im really diappointed in this Nitto Drag Radials, I thought they were supposed to be good.
You don't have something set up right. I'm running 17" nittos and pulling 1.8 60fts. I have pulled as low as a 1.6. Are the control arms adjustable? You may have to adjust pinion angle with it lowered. Is the front swaybar still on? How much air is in the bag?
Try lowering your PSI, 20 is still to high. I had mine set at 15-17 (cant remember the exact pressure) when I was running w/ those tires last summer.
.. YUP buy Mickey Thompson Drag Radials. They are even better than the BFGs...way better than Nittos. Nittos are a good choice if you are daily driving your car though. Less sticks to them on the street and they are ok for the track. they also last the longest of all the drag radials. I had to do a much longer burnout with the Nittos to get them to stick. Also lower tire preasure. I go down from 32 to 15 with them MTs I wouldnt go as low with the Nittos.. Maybe 20? I had all three and the MTs rule.. They hook the best by far and they last much longer than the BFGs. I would get around 30 runs on BFGs and I am over 35 with my MTs and still have meat left on them even tread!
When I was using 17" nittos they liked a long burnout and about 14psi...although sometimes I would spin them on the rim from too much bite LOL
