Traction

Hey iam running a pretty much stock 94Z, the traction issue is kinda bad, an iam thinking of replacing the rear tires with some new one's anything really drag radials i dont care. Just wondering what the best tire for me is.
I just wanna hook up

All street use? ....street and strip? .....strip only? ....is street handling, e.g. cornering, important? ....do you need wet traction for driving in the rain? ...is tread life important?

Mostly street use, dont care about tread life, conering isnt important either. Something thats just gunna make me hook an go. Thanks

Nitto DRs should do the trick

might also look into some suspension mods

If treadlfe aint an issue go with the Mickey Thompson ET Streets

How bad is the tread life on the ET street's?

rough estimate...10K miles...assuming minimal track use

MT ET Street Radials, hands down. However, ANY tire will wear VERY rapidly if you insist on doing a pro stock burnout at every light. The MTs can be driven readily on the street (beware even light rain!) and should last a good few thousand, as well as permitting 1.4 60 foots with even a lightly modded suspension.

I killed a set of Hoosier QTPs in 3 days... but damn I had a lot of smoke and some marks on the street that are still there 6 m onths later!

Yeah, well as stated earlier my car is stock, so am i really gunna have the power to complete roast those tires off in 3 weeks? i sure'ly dont think so. an if i do go with the ET Streets what can i expect for traction wise? thanks alot

I run ET Street Drag Radials as my only tire...I never use more than 25 psi on the street, been caught in the rain (today) on my 50 mile jaunt to work and was fine. While I certainly don't encourage rain driving they were/are not bad. By far the best DR I've ever used..They are even wearing better than my BFG DRs ever did...Drove them 180 miles each way to Ocean City, MD in May with no issues at all...My BFG DRs scared me more in the rain than these things...

--Alan

Hey thanks for all your relpys. so pretty much et's?

how would 255 et streets on salad shooters compare to 315s on a 18inch z06s?

255 50 R16s on 16x8s will out hook 18" 315s...The added sidewall makes all the difference in the world in straight line traction...Even though a 315 is much wider the 255 50 16s have a larger front to back contact patch and will hook better...

--Alan

so what I get is et streets are the way to go and will last about 10k with reasonable driving and track time here and there? What other suspension mods would one do? Best size tire for zr1's 17x9?

Be prepared to buy a new rearend if you run them. A 94 probably has a few miles on it....

One question, everyone says that the 10 bolts are such crappy rear ends, but what actually breaks? (yes i know, i should have done a search) the car has 67miles.

that is what I wanna know. Everyone says they are junk and break but no one really says what breaks,what and how you can at least make it better without a 2k$ rear change.

Yeah, well as stated earlier my car is stock, so am i really gunna have the power to complete roast those tires off in 3 weeks? i sure'ly dont think so. an if i do go with the ET Streets what can i expect for traction wise? thanks alot
I don't even think you need drag radials period with a stock car. If you're having substantial traction problems, you're current tires probably just plain suck.

Some good street tires will hook just fine. Especially on a stock car.

If you go to drag radials I hope you know that you won't be able to handle for crap on the street on anything more than a gentle curve in the road. I also can't stand the way my car wanders and feels mushy in a lane change when I'm going to and from the track, when I'm on my ET Street radials.

kick tail what kind of times are you running? what is built about your rear end?

I've seen pinion gear breakage which then takes out the ring gear...There's not much you can do to make a 7.5" ring gear any bigger/stronger...The small ring and pinion is the weakness...I got lucky for 9 years before I upgraded to a 12 bolt...

My experience with an A4 with a 10 bolt and 3.42s was very positive. I never broke anything except to wear out a limited slip running BFG DRs..The 3.42 gear set has more pinion teeth which may be why it is more "durable" than 3.73s/4.10s...M6 launches are more violent and tend to shock the gears alot more than a A4...

--Alan

One question, everyone says that the 10 bolts are such crappy rear ends, but what actually breaks? (yes i know, i should have done a search) the car has 67miles.


Gears usually. It'll frag and throw debris all inside the 3rd member and tear things up or throw chunks out. I had a 7.5 in a weak 305 equipped 79 Elky. The ring gear tried to come out of the back cover. Made a nice dent that stuck out 1/4". Luckily it happened while cruising. If it was while accelerating it probably would have pushed through.

strength wise 373 are a bit stronger than 410s?

Well if you dont think drag radials are the idea then, what do you recommend? By the way, the tires are garbage, lol. Eagle GT 2's, which are quite old.

strength wise 373 are a bit stronger than 410s?

Two schools of thought:

First: The 3.73 gear sets of fewer teeth so the teeth are thicker/ stronger than the 4.10s

Second: The 4.10s have more teeth so less pressure is exerted on each individual one.

I tend to agree more with the first. Before I really got into fbodys I did a decent of off-roading and almost everyone I talked to, as well as magazines and forum posts I read said the numerically lower you go (higher gears) the more strength you gain. Don't know if the same principles apply on the street but I hope this helps.

kick tail what kind of times are you running? what is built about your rear end?
Well... it's just rebuilt with new parts. :D New gears, Eaton Posi unit instead of the factory GM limited slip, and a TA cover. Not like it's become bullet proof by any means, but 10 times better than stock. :yes:

As far as what I've seen, if you've got a 6 speed and you're running drag radials, you're gonna blow up your 10 bolt. If you've got an auto, then you're going to be good to go for quite some time. Autos just don't subject your drivetrain to the shock that a manual will on the launch, 9 times out of 10.

As far as the times... Don't ask. lol... My local track is the most ghetto POS track in California. I was having traction issues on my friggin ET Streets. -- that should give you an idea of how crappy the track is. I was getting 8.9s in the 1/8th, which is totally unacceptable. I was pulling nicely at the end of the track, to pull in an 87mph trap speed. Add that up. 87mph is no damn 9 second eighth run.
Well if you dont think drag radials are the idea then, what do you recommend? By the way, the tires are garbage, lol. Eagle GT 2's, which are quite old.
Don't get me wrong, you can still run the drag radials on the street, --lots of people do. I just know I would go nuts driving on them all the time, because I only ride on them to and from the track and I HATE it. :lol: :D It takes some getting used to, the car wanders all over the road and squirms, which requires a lot more constant steering corrections while you're driving. Gets old to me. All that sidewall flex really shines through. I'm a lot happier on my street tires... I can let go of the steering wheel and my car will stay on the road forever, unless the road turns. ;)

If you run the drag radials on the street, you will NEVER lose traction again. Which is good. I love the way my car digs in with the drag radials hot. But you will never pull into the drive thru at McDonalds at the same speed you used to either. :D I mean, they will make your car handle like sh**. You'll think your 94 Z28 turned into a 77 Monte Carlo when you weren't looking. ;) I honestly can't believe some people are happy driving on drag radials full time.

Some good street tires will hook a stock F-Body up very nicely too, and still handle the right way. The Goodyear F1 GSD3 is a popular tire right now, the BFGoodrich G-Force KD, KDW, all great tires that are also fantastic tires for handling, too. Even my Sumitomo HTRZIIs have been pretty decent at straight line traction, although my 3.73 swap made them protest quite a bit. hehe.

If you wanted to go all out, you could go for the best of both worlds: the Nitto NT-01; my next tire. Soft compound like a drag radial, with a strong sidewall that is good for the road course.

With good street tires like the GSD3, KDW, etc you should be able to set the go pedal to the floor and still hook up. You really will experience a 110% improvement over the tires you're running now. Those old tires you've got on there are the problem. :thumb:

Thanks Nate, you're the first person to tell me the high's an low's of the mickey ET's, makes my desicion a little harder now tho. Like yeah i wanna just hook up an go, but i dont really think i wanna loose the handling. I dont know, i think those ET's would be alot of fun tho:D And thanks again.

Depending on what size tire you're running, there are several soft compound tires that won't sacrifice handling. The catch is, the stiffer sidewall will ultimately mean more tire shock and less traction off the line.

hmm, i have to chime in now and ask a question myself about this now. if you're running an 18 out back anyway and have a small sidewall, would the drag radial still affect handling THAT badly? im in the same boat as this guy right now, i want a good hooking tire because the 18s are killing my off the line traction, but i LOVE being able to corner hard too =/ until this thread i was all set on ordering some BFG DR's..

hmm, i have to chime in now and ask a question myself about this now. if you're running an 18 out back anyway and have a small sidewall, would the drag radial still affect handling THAT badly? im in the same boat as this guy right now, i want a good hooking tire because the 18s are killing my off the line traction, but i LOVE being able to corner hard too =/ until this thread i was all set on ordering some BFG DR's..
The fact that you'd be running a 35 (?) series sidewall on the DR would help a little bit. A little... Just due to the fact that there's less sidewall there to begin with. But the problem will still be there; the tires will float around on the sidewall, which is felt in the car as swerving/wandering/squirming as you drive down the street.

DRs are made to have sidewall flexability, that's their purpose -- to give you better straight line traction as they squat down and dig in with a fat, sticky footprint. It's just annoying to me to have to put up with it during day to day driving duties... That's why I'm happy to have two sets of wheels. I only have to put up with it on my way to the dragstrip. :D

i didnt want to make a whole new thread to ask this question so here goes..
how do bfg dr and mt et streets compare in treadlife on the street?

The BFGs will last longer, although not by a whole lot.

As far as what I've seen, if you've got a 6 speed and you're running drag radials, you're gonna blow up your 10 bolt.


It must take a damn good launch to do this on 17" with a 40 or 35 series DR. I know last year i put on a set of 275/40/17 Nitto DRs and have had some awesome launches with them using my Spec stage IV clutch launching around 3500-4krpm with little to no tire spin and my rear is holding fine :D

I'm trying to find some new ones for the track this coming weekend to test my this out again :devil:

I know I know, not everyone is a lucky as me ;)

your rear end holding up well. I got a spec 4 and am looking at the same dr setup. what were your 60 ft times?

your rear end holding up well. I got a spec 4 and am looking at the same dr setup. what were your 60 ft times?

Track didn't have times then. Just a legal place to race. Now they are supposed to have times so I will hopefully get a chance to check it out :)