In alittle over a month, im going to the track with a bunch of friends. It is 1/4 mile runs only.

I'm thinking about getting a pair of slicks just because on my stock radials now, they have no grip on dry roads. My friend recommended some kind of Nitto's, I forget the model.

I've pretty much have the "launch" part down, I can get going to a fair speed with minimal slipage on my radials. But I don't want to run into a problem on the track where I can't launch it good, since no roads are similar to the track.

Pretty much I would like to know is PERSONAL experience ONLY. I have read many things(google is my friend).

I'm about 95% sure I am buying slicks, just don't know what brand to get.

Edit: I will be mounting them on the stock rims as of now. But I might get a cheap pair of racing rims(open to suggestions)

 

Are you buying slicks AND rims, or just mounting them on your stock rims?

 

^^^Check out the edit.

But I am undecided yet

 

Gotcha. The reason I asked is because if you want to remount/rebalance your wheels every single time you go to the dragstrip, it is going to be $$. Not worth it, IMHO.

It would be better if you got different rims for slicks.

 

Drag Radials really play havoc with the drive train, especially with the FWD if stock. With a sticky track, they definitely will grip, but maybe more grip than you'll want. Never used the Nitto, but the drag radials I've used were unique to a specific drive train/gearing (RWD). I could rev to 7 grand, dump the clutch and the car was off. I certainly wouldn't want to try that at any RPM in an Acura. Maybe someone else has hands on experience with the TL-s.

 

I've run the Nitto drag radial, BFG drag radial and I now roll around on Quick Time Pros.

I can say for sure that the Nittos blow the BFGs away in the rain. The Nittos need less of a burnout than the BFGs to get sticky. The BFGs on the street, once they spin just go up in smoke, Nittos aren't quite as bad. At the track with a nice burnout, I pulled better 60' times with the BFGs. This is of course not in the TL but I would expect the same rain results with any car.

These are not slicks btw. A legal slick like the Quick Time Pro is in a completely different league than the drag radials. It's the difference between putting the pedal to the floor at 70mph and hoping it sticks and putting the pedal to the floor in first gear by 15mph. You don't want them on the front of a FWD car on the street.

The difference between the drag radials and regular radials is just about as big. It's a huge difference and I would expect times to drop by .5 seconds with a lot of practice assuming the stock clutch/axles/trans/mounts can keep up.

Edit: I've heard good things about the MT drag radials too but have no personal experience.

 

I just wanted to clairify that a drag radial is completely suitable for a daily driver. You don't usually switch between drag radials for the track and regular tires for the street, you just run the drag radials all the time.

 

^^ Listen to this man.

 

Sticky slicks + 6 SP + High Rpm Launch = broken half shafts (axle)

 

By the time i go(March 1st) I will have an intake, all cat deletes, catback, and underdrive pulley.

The thing is, we are driving to Maryland(MIR). About 6 hours, 275 miles away. The people I am going with already have drag radials, but they dont drive down with them on. Last time they went they ran regular radials on a 500+whp car and it only ran high 11's-low 12's, once they put on the drag radials(or slicks not sure) the time was down to 11.46

Btw I have an auto

 

With an auto.... dont waste your money on a drag radial. With the lackluster torque of the auto TL you almost want a bit of spin to keep your rpms up (a little spin..... not a smoke show off the line). I can assure you that going with an actual slick (ET Drag, Quick Time Pro etc....) will kill your times due to the extra rolling resistance of that kind of tire. I would almost be willing to bet that you would run a faster ET on your stock tires vs. a drag radial...... However, if you end up buying something because you feel you have to I would suggest the Nitto drag radials, these are the closest thing to an actual street tire with nearly full tread depth and a stickier compound (I believe they have a treadwear rating of 50 or 100). I would not feel comfortable running a BFG or M/T drag radial in the rain or for daily use not to mention they would be bald within a few thousand miles.... I wouldnt be surprised if you got 8-10K miles out of the Nittos.

I have run all three tires on 2 different corvettes I have owned (I know not a TL)..... I managed to pull consistant 1.65-1.68 60' times with the Nittos with my previous vette (1996 Grandsport LT-4 full heads/cam, 3.73 gears, full bolt on's plus a 150 shot of nitrous) on spray. On my current vette (2002 Z06 with only headers/intake/cats deleted and tuned with HP tuners on the dyno) I have managed 1.74-1.78's with the BFG's and with only a few shake down passes on the M/T's I was hitting 1.70-1.72's. The BFG's and M/T's offer the most outright grip as "I hate Cars" also stated. Keep in mind that even though the 60' times on the nittos were outright faster in my case due to the set up of that specific car......I can assure you that there are guys that have gone well into the 1.5's or better on both the BFG's and M/T's

I have run my Type S at the track, I had decent weather/conditions and my best pass (bone stock, no weight removed and I believe I had 1/2-3/4 tank of fuel) it put down a 14.540@97.23MPH....... my best 60' time was a 2.217 which I achieve by flashing the converter, this netted better results than a brake torque. I can assure you that my crappy 60' time was not due at all to traction being limited but due to the gross lack of torque the car produces off the line. Trust me again when I tell you that traction is not the issue on the 5AT cars. If you had a 6MT then you very well could and mostly likely would benefit from a drag radial tire.

Do yourself a favor and save your money..... what you will spend on tires you could do another mod to your car which will get you a better ET vs. the tires.

 

In my opinion I think my TL will be heavily modded by the time I am heading down there. Pretty much every performance part they make. I figure i will be in the 280-290whp range, compared to the 255ish stock.

After reading all of your post I'm probably not going to do drag radials. I'll see how it works out my stock radials, and then decide from there for the next time.

Thanks for the help!

 

So time for an update. Comments are great appreciated.

I plan on buying Nitto NT01's and using them during the summer. I do not drive my car in the bad weather, so I am not worried about that. I'm almost 100% sure I will be buying the NT01's btw.

Also, I will be driving down to maryland when I get them, or is this a bad idea? Me and a bunch of friends are leaving saturday day, to arrive saturday night. Maybe I can have the tires mounted and balanced saturday night or sunday morning?

Should I go with the stock tire size?

Or upgrade alittle bit?

 

Are you going to Cecil County Raceway? That was where I used to race...

 

^ Nope, maryland international race way

 

Nitto Drag radial in a 255/40/17. There is no downside other than they wear a little quicker. The difference between drag radials and ultra high performance summer tires is larger than the difference between ultra high perfromance summer tires and stock all seasons.

 

^So pretty much im going to burn threw the tires in no time. How many miles can I expect, UTQG is rated at 100...I really have no idea what that means

 

It means they're going to wear very fast...Definitely go for the 255/40-17's though. You'll appreciate the larger contact patch for sure!

 

Don't worry about the treadwear rating as it doesn't mean a lot in real life. I believe the last set of drag radials I ran on had a 0 rating but lasted 15,000 miles on the GN. Keep in mind the burnouts that were done to heat them up, and the fact that the car would spin them at anything below 60mph so they should last longer on a TL.

Honestly, you don't know what you're missing and once you launch on them for the first time you won't care about tire life.

 

im sorry... but what the hell are you talking about lol... i never heard that term... are you talking about the tq convertor?? i

 

Got this from below website...
http://www.competitionplus.com/03_25...confusion.html
Foot-brake stall is just that: You load the converter by stomping one foot on the brake pedal and the other on the gas. Watch the tach. The RPM at which the converter overpowers the brakes is simply the "foot-brake stall".

"Flash speed," on the other hand, is very different. Flash occurs the instant you release the foot-brake and the rotating inertia (which is "stored" in the engine-flexplate-converter) is released. This flash speed can be anywhere from 500-2500 RPM higher than the foot-brake-stall speed. In a racecar, the typical “flash –the-converter process” usually works like this: Stage at idle, hold the brakes with one foot and "flash" the converter (flooring the gas pedal with the other foot, and simultaneously releasing the foot-brake) the instant the last yellow on the Christmas Tree comes on. The sensation is a form of “slingshot” effect as the car leaves. Some cars work better by flashing the converter. Some combinations work better by outright stalling the converter. Some work better with trans brakes.

 

interesting.... thanks man!!

i've been practicing my launch on empty roads, so when i go to the track... ill be sure to get a good pull

 

^ If you can launch good on these shitty roads, you will definitely be able to launch alot better on the track. smooth road + traction spray = amazing

 

When you go to the track be sure to have one of your friends video tape your runs. Would be really nice to see them posted here.

 

^^ I know, there will be alot of videos, especially racing down there

 

MIR? is that in crofton, maryland aka capitol raceway??? If so I live 10 minutes away when are you going?