Nitto drag Radials,do they suck?
 

Just got my mustang together last weekend. Got a Eaton Diff with 31 spline axles, welded the axle tubes, svo cover. Also got megabite Jr upper and lower control arms. The lowers are set to the 85% hole. I have 4 lug 17-9 Cobra R rims with Nitto 275/40/17 Drag radils on them. They have some street time on them but not much. Anyway went to the track and set it at first with 15 psi, good burnout, launch at 3000Rpm. It killed the tires and 60 ft at 2.17. Next left the same pressure but launched at 2200RPM and 60 ft was a 1.97. Last pass dropped to 13 psi, Big burnout, launch at 2000RPM and get a 2.09 60 ft. I know these are not the best drag radials to get because the dont have much sidewall to them, but i expected a little more out of them. Does anyone have these Nittos on there car and if so what are you doing that i am not.

On my notch(see my sig) I got a 1.9 60ft with 16lbs of air and launching at 2900. They are the BFG's but next pass will be with the 9lbs of air and a higher launch, burnouts heat the tire up and the air inside it too, when the air heats it expands and you most likely went up a few lbs of air when you did the longer burnout. kind of canceling out the lowering or the air pressure. I do just enough burnout to clean the tires and warm them, maybe a 4-6 second burnout. just before they start smoking. I was thinking of going nittos on the blown GT but still am undecided.

I dont what what yalls deal is I was getting 2.0 60ft's last year with 245/50/16 nitto drag radials in a vert with stock suspension.

You have to launch at a low rpm then graduallly give it gas while slipping the clutch.

Takes practice BTW I run mine at 28psi....

slipping the clutch and gradually accelerating will not pull my tires off of the ground on launch. I have a goal and it can be achieved with what I have.

The 17" nitto drag radials work very well, once you get the hang of how they like to be launched. As with any tire, its finding where the barely hook, but dont spin.
I've pulled 1.87 60's with them having 15psi. I did a 10-15 second burnout in 1st, then hit 2nd and made sure all the water was burned off. Ive launched ( on the motor 2 years ago making around 300rwhp) @ 2800rpms and pulled the best 60's. Anything higher and I would spin.
so just keep working with them, as they never dissapointed me
good luck
Dan
95 rio red cobra #2021

man i don't know about yall but the less air i have in mine the worse they hook. I run mine at about 28 psi and after i do a burnout and get them hot, i swear they would break the rear end if i dumped out a 4000, a close freind of mine did. but if you are running 16 psi, they will never hook, just like a street tire. It took many years for me to find this out but street tires and drag radials like normal air pressure. slicks like low pressure. hope this helps, give it a try.

The best 60' I got from my 245/50/16 Nitto's was 1.74. That was with 17psi & riding the clutch out of the hole. Alot depends on track conditions too!

its all about the dunlop 8000 sp..i got 1.7 60ft on them with only suspension mods being removed front swaybar

You have to play with it. The 17" rims aren't helping you much either. I've been having trouble launching mine since I put the heads, cam and intake on as well, but I've only been to the track once so far so..... The BFG's are supposed to hook much better, but they aren't as streetable as the Nittos. I was most successful running them at 18 psi then heating the crap out of them and launching at about 3500, but that was before the heads and all. The track was in horrible condition the one time i went this year so I'm sure that had something to do with it. The biggest thing I remember is that you have to heat 'em up alot, like until you see a fair amount of smoke coming out the wheel wells.

I don't know why so many have problems with their nittos! I've had two sets on my car. Before, I had them on my car when it stilln had the stock heads and cam, but had all the usual bolt on's like 3.73's, edelbrock intake, pulleys, full exhaust, etc. My suspension was 100% stock, and I mean 100% stock save for a BBK strut tower brace to clear my intake. I was launching at 4000rpms pretty much dumping the clutch and I was cutting 1.91-1.92 60's on my way to 13.8's at 98.5mph in my heavy convertible. I then added AFR heads, FTI custom cam, fuel upgrades, 4.10 gears, and global west subframe connectors. I then had to lower my launch to 2500-3000 depending on track conditions, and normally cut 1.83-1.85 60's. My best happened on the last night of T&T last year when they were being generous with the VHT, and I was able to luanch at 3500rpms... this netted me a 1.76 60' on my way to a 12.73. These times are on my daily driven 245-50-16 nittos. I got about 75 passes on my first set, and about 12K miles. I will be adding GW LCA's with Del-alum bushings this week, so hopefully they will help me get a little better. I do a 5-8 second burnout in 2nd gear, and run them at 18lbs. I will never own another tire for my car! They just take a certain finese to get onto.

If your goal is to pull the front wheels with drag radials, you have a pretty tall goal. Pulling front wheels takes serious traction that's best left to a set of slicks.

Unit, I have a friend that pulled one tire up with radials, I just wanted to beat that. I'll try till I can't try anymore, or until i can get some slicks next.

Oh man, I almost bought these tires two weeks ago. Instead I went some Sumitomo HTRZs that were on sale for $96 a piece (255/50/16). I figured for $96 a tire, if I didn't like them I could just burn them up and get something else next year. I have been very suprised with the performance of these cheapies. The Sumitomos grab really well compared to my old BFG Comp TA ZRs. I'm gong to the track soon to see exactly how they compare. The best I could do the BFGs was a 2.3 60ft. I bet I cut less than a 2.0 with these. I'll post the results when they're available.

What RPM do you leave at? What size tire are you running?

Thanks

Big Daddy Gutridge actually pulled all 4 tires off the ground with 15" BFG drag radials. :D Front end came up, and kept going till you could see the rear tires space the ground and the car rode on the back bumper.
Its in an older issue of mm&ff's, Im sure i can dig it up if anyone wants to see it.

later
Dan