Drag radial test

[HAWAIIZR-1]

John/USAFPilot/Brad/Cliff,

After my phone call to Discount Tire Direct technician, I think I am leaning towards the Nitto NT05 (front) NT05R (rear). I'm not too worried about the rain and wet looking for the ultimate traction to hook up 500+ HP. These cars don't have traction when stock so you can imagine how it is when power is bumped up. I could not place the order online, but they have the 555R and the 05R and both are cheaper than the regular 555 and 05. Just a few more searches for info and epinions to confirm before pulling the trigger and placing the order.

Thanks for the input.

Craig

[sammy]

craig , i drive around daily on the nt555s and for a street tire they are very nice . but after reading what you are doing i would go with what you last wrote . that combo i feel would be a great set up for the motegi event and still work good for street driving .. they are a very well thought out tire to me .

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by sammy

craig , i drive around daily on the nt555s and for a street tire they are very nice . but after reading what you are doing i would go with what you last wrote . that combo i feel would be a great set up for the motegi event and still work good for street driving .. they are a very well thought out tire to me .

Brad,
Thanks for the reply and thoughts. I can see how dangerous the NT05Rs could be in the rain and usually never take the car out if raining so it might be the way to do even though I really love the 555s I have on my stock wheels. I never use those either unless when I ship the car or while testing now for emissions because I have to have stock wheels. I figured on a 1000 ft track I will need all the traction help I can get.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Holy toledo Batman, the NT05Rs left me speechless when I opened the boxes today!!!! I have not put them on and tried them yet, but will this weekend. That is a friggin drag radial alright! I don't know what I was expecting, but not like this. Now I am wondering if I am going to break something going from one extreme of no traction to this. I have NT05s for the front as noted earlier so curious to see how this combo works. I have NT555s all around on my stock wheels and love them, but still not enough traction for the rear.

Brad, please share any tips and tricks with these babies. Thanks!

Craig

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Thanks for the info Cliff. I did not have a chance to try them out yet and still messing around with center caps for my Dymags Gen IIs these are mounted on. I'm not sure how much difference between the NT555Rs and NT05Rs, but more concerned about the weakest link in the drivetrain of our cars. I did also find this article that helped explain a few things too:

http://www.corvetteonline.com/tech-s...-drag-radials/

Craig

[Hammer]

Hi Craig,

I run my Nova to the track and back with MT ET Streets. They rock.
My 60 ft times are as good as with the Hoosier Quick Time Pro's.

The Nova is now running 1.90 60 ft times with a best 1/4 of 12.52 @107.

I think your 1/2 shaft u-joints will be the weak links, then the rear spindles. Talk with Frank (FU) about that, I think he had that problem and Jim Van Dorn fixed that for him. He could tell you what spindles he used.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by Hammer

Hi Craig,

I run my Nova to the track and back with MT ET Streets. They rock.
My 60 ft times are as good as with the Hoosier Quick Time Pro's.

The Nova is now running 1.90 60 ft times with a best 1/4 of 12.52 @107.

I think your 1/2 shaft u-joints will be the weak links, then the rear spindles. Talk with Frank (FU) about that, I think he had that problem and Jim Van Dorn fixed that for him. He could tell you what spindles he used.

Hey John,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Next week I'll try to get them tested at my work place where I have some nice areas on the base where I can launch it and test. At least if I break something it is a short tow home or can store in our warehouse for a short time. I heard about the spindles and will do some research about this. I ended up with NEAPCO heavy duty U joints that the 4X4 guys have good luck with so we'll see.

Craig

[Hammer]

The only problem I see Craig, is you won't be launching on a prepared surface. You will see a better launch than you have on the street, but not close to a prepared dragstrip, especially if the launchpad is concrete.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsFHhP7kQIk

I love these Nitto NT05Rs on all around. I don't think I want to drive them in the rain even though others have. After I did this burnout and returned to park I noticed how soft they were and can't wait to do more testing with air pressure and variation of launches to find the sweet spot. I think I'll get one of those G-Tech pro meters or something like that to play with until I can get to the track. I was not able to make the Street Shootout a few weeks ago.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Very stable....and good thing with the concrete on the drivers side
Sounds like that Z is smooooooking

Thanks Cliff! I'm still really amazed at how stable they are and so glad I put those beam plates in too. You were right about the Nitto drag radials and you can't go wrong. I was also surprised about the squealing sound of them.