HowTo: Get good times on street tires
 

Hello,

If I got my car (93 Cobra) to 450-500 HP, what kind of times could I run on stock tires? I have never liked slicks (maybe I am crazy...), but what would I need to do to get my 1/4 as low as possible...and how much would it cost?

Thanks,
DoranW

Sorry...NOT stock tires, but street...

you mean just everyday radials not drag radials?? they can't hold with a stock 5.0, so with 450-500 hp no chance at all unless you baby it off the line or slip the hell out of your clutch. you be all over the place on regular radials.

Sorry, but definition of drag radials? What I mean by street tires is anything that will fit on a normal rims, like 17x9 that I can use for everyday driving...

A drag radial is basically a tire made of soft compound like a slick, but more suited to street driving. It has tread, but not as much as a regular radial so more of the meat is on the street.

Ok, I'll bite, what kind of times could I run with those. BTW, the 450-500 would be at the crank.

Ok, I'll bite, what kind of times could I run with those. BTW, the 450-500 would be at the crank.

If you plan on running 400+rwhp at the drag strip and you want the lowest 1/4 mile time YOU NEED SLICKS. Why don't you like slicks? Slicks are the ultimate traction.

you can do all the suspension mods, subs, drag shocks/springs etc..., but nothing will really compensate for slicks, atleast get some DR's like nitto or bfg, or some other good brand

i agree with 1bad89 if you are gonna invest that much time effort and money slicks are an absolute nessasity
just pick up a set of cheap lx wheels and mount them to those then you can take your street wheels and tires off when you go to the track
im not sure if youd be able to realy plant that much power without slicks

Well, I want my car to be a daily driver...And I want to go straight from a daily driver to the track. Why is it that cars with more horsepower and torque can get by on performance tires...I know every car is different, but any particular reason?

Thanks,
DoranW

dr's are street leagal, drive to the track, a few passes, drive home

Mustangs have no traction...
 

Alot of the high performance cars have sophisticated traction control systems that greatly reduce wheelspin. The newer Vettes are a good example. Mustangs have only the marginal Trac Loc rear end. On top of that, they have horrible weight distribution numbers. Most of the weight is up front... Not good for slamming 400-500hp with radials. If you want to be safe, use slicks. If I had that much money into my car I would want to drive it safely. Or you could baby it and get beat by cars that you should be roasting. With some LCA's and slicks you could probably hook well enough to enjoy all that power. Give those Vettes a rear view!

If I got slicks, how much are they for some pretty good ones...How long will they last? How hard are they to put on? With 450-500 hp being hooked up off the line, won't that put a ton of stress on...everything? :)

YES!! it would put more stress on everything but that is the trade-off, Go ahead and take your "fast" car to the track with no traction and get beat by cars that are 2 seconds slower if you want........Even stock stangs need slicks to reach there full potential.

Save your self some embarrassment and get some slicks.

Look it's like this, if your going to be pushing 400rwhp, and you plan on racing on street tires, your going to run, maybe 13's, 14's, 15's, 16's and 17+ 1/4 times. I have some slicks I've used them on 5 passes, they haven't hardly been used at all. Mine were $165 a piece new. Hoosier 26x9x15, I will sell them for $150 for both, or $200 with them on rims. They are pretty much like brand new, and they will last you a long time. New prices are going to run you like $440 with slicks, rims and everything.

To make your motor put out 450-500hp, your gonna need a good combo of aftermarket heads/cam/intake as well as a blower at around 8-9psi or about a 90hp nitrous shot.

This can take you easily into the $5k to $6k range. So its not gonna be cheap.

If you are pushing that much power, you will need many other things to haness it. Your stock T-5 will not hold up for very long, theres $1400 for a tremec. Your torque boxes will need reinforcement. You'll need control arms, subframes, drag shocks and struts (if you want to hook up)... the list goes on.

This is not a cheap hobby and you can't just pour all that cash into the motor and expect everything else to be sufficient. oh yah, i didnt even get started on the fuel system needs for that much power.

slicks will be between 150-200 each and you could probably find some cheap wheels for $50

good luck

1bad89: I'm interested in the slicks, I sent you an e-mail.