Does deflating street tires gain any traction?

 

Some people may say "yes", but I say "no" . I tried it last year when I was at the track with 3.73's in my car..........started at 30 psi (normal), then dropped to ~25, then I think I tried ~20? NOTHING helped, and if anything, my 60' times suffered a couple times, although that could have been different lane / track prep / condition changed because of the guy in front of me?!

I actually heard a theory that normal street tires need to be fully inflated, if not even over-inflated somewhat.......I mean, not beyond the tire's rating, but say if the door sticker says 30 psi, but the max on the tire is 40, run them at ~35 or something like that?!

................I dunno for sure about that, but basically, with street tires, you're screwed no matter what you do.

 

I nailed a 2.042 60' on my Kuhmo Ecsta Supra 711s at 26 psi on Sunday. Takes lots of playing. PSI changes, burnout, launch. You hafta play with it all.

 

Radial tires because of the stiff sidewalls don't like going much below 28 psi. If too much air is let out, the center of the tire starts to roll up off the pavement. You want as much rubber as possible on the ground. If the center of the tire is off the ground then you're only getting traction on both sides of the tread.

A slick has a thin soft sidewall. When the air is lowered in a slick, the sidewalls roll over on themselves and the contact patch doesn't change on the ground.

"street tires" are usually always kept in the 32 psi range. Many times they hook up better with more air pressure. Usually around 35 psi.

 

I've tried lowering the tire pressure in my Toyo's, on the street. Anything below 30 psi, and I was getting horrible traction!
On the steet I found raising the tire pressure from 32 psi to 36 psi gave me the best traction! I think it depends on the tire itself, some brands might behave different on manipulating tire pressure...

 

I set my tire pressure to 20 psi and it does great.

My best 60' was 1.9 and I consistantly hit 2.0-2.2 60's.

Just play with the tire pressure.

But knowing how to launch M6 or A4 is the key.

 

just save up the $330. and buy the drag radials. nitto or bfg comps if you have 17" rims. if you have 16's like me, new to the market is part #82116. from bfg. g-force dr's check them out on bfg's website look under drag radials. just got mine a couple days ago, havent been to the track but work great on the street. almost no tire spin even with asr off.