I know this has been beat to death, but I need some opinions for a new set of balogna's for the 80Z. I actually drive it, so the tire has to have some sort of road manners. I run in DOT/street tire brackets, so slicks wont work. I'd be happy if they lasted 1 full year.
Right now I'm on 275/60/15 BFG drag radials and they never have been good. Now that they are totally worn out they hook better, but its time for something new. I have a set of M/T Sportsman Pros in the garage, but man are they ugly! Do these things actually work at the track, or are they more of a street tire?
Any suggestions?

 

Typically a DOT slick will last 3000 - 5000 miles if driven on the street. Think of it as needing a new set of tires every time you do an oil change. They were never designed for street use.

Buy 2 sets of rims. Have street tires mounted on one set and the DOT slicks mounted on the other for track use only.

 

ditto

If you are dead set against buying a second set... then you are pretty much stuck with the BFG/Nitto drag radial. This also depends on the specific class rules. I know different tracks have different opinions and rules for a "DOT" tire.

In my experience the drag radials worked well for track only use. ( I swapped at the track)... but later on down the line I just got lazy and started driving on them all the time. After a month of street use and a ton of heat cycles they really started to go away.

I never used the sportsman tire but I would assume they would wear out fairly quickly with regular street use.

IMO, if your bracket racing one of the most important items is a reliable tire.... bite the bullet and get a second set to swap with.

 

I get what you guys are saying.
How do the Nitto's compare to the BFG's? Probably the same?

 

I agree with the other guys on using 2 sets of tires: One for the track and one for the street.

As for the Sportsman Pro's, I tried a set and didn't care for them compared to BFG DR's. They didn't hook as good on the track (much worse actually) and they didn't ride worth a crap on the street (the couple of times I tried them). And they wore out much faster than the BFG's.

I've used up 4 sets of BFG DR's. Some were combination street/track use and some were strictly track use. There's something to be said for heat cycling them on the street. It does seem to make the tire "go away" faster and not hook as well at the track.

I've recently started using Hoosier QTP's and are very happy with them. They are not really a tire that you would want to even drive to the track on, but they are a DOT legal tire. I was always happy with the BFG's, but I have to say that the QTP's require less of a burnout (much less) to make them sticky and in doing so I think they hook better than the BFG's. JMO

 

I swap at the track. I use the ET Streets because they are DOT approved but more and more frequently tracks are limiting "street" class to DOT approved drag radials. To that end, as a track only tire, you may want to check out the Mickey Thompson ET Street Drag Radials. They are supposed to hook better than the BFG's. Definitely get a second set of tires for the road.