mrtstang

Is this bs or not? Discount tire and Tire Rack recommend it for competition tires, which includes drag radials according to them. It's about $15 per tire, and the basic idea is to extend wear and function. Have any of you done this with drag radials specifically? If so was it worth it?

Thanks.

teej281

I have no idea, but I'm actually interested in this too. Try doing some research on google and talk to manufacturers about what they recommend.

mrtstang

Actually i've been doing a lot of research, and i've called Tire Rack, Discount, a few others, and i've got mixed opinions lol. Both tire rack and discount say it helps (to what degree they really couldn't say) but the performance shops i talked to say it really doesn't do a thing. And these are guys that have run all kinds of dr's. They say just let it sit for 24 hours or so to let things seal properly, then drive it mildly for maybe 50-100 miles, then let it sit for another 24, and your good to go.

Too much confusion lol.

teej281

You realize that they are essentially telling you to do exactly what heat cycling is? lol Thats how you would do it yourself. You bring them up to temp, then you cool them. Bring them up to temp, cool them. Then you're set from what I understand of the concept of heat cycling.

mrtstang

Correct, but "supposedly" having them heat cycled on a machine made for that specifically insures that it's done right. According to tire rack, trying to do your own heat cycle treatment on the street will not work because the process is not gradual enough, and it basically can't duplicate the necessary procedures that the machine can.

I'm starting to wonder if this whole thing is a bit overrated. Know what i mean?

Moonshine

I would call it overrated.

KillJoy

Bull****. I know guys who run in nmra events with 7 and 9 sec cars, and they don't heat cycle. One of them was/is a leader of the x275 class.

uberstang1

The only drag radial that requires a heat cycle is the Toyo TQs, the proper methos is to soak the tires in gasoline followed by throwing them into a camp fire.

mrtstang

Okay i just talked to Toyo, and apparently they do heat cycle all of their competition tires before they leave the company. I found a place that sells the Proxes TQ dr in 315/35/17 for $148 a tire, and $50 shipping for 2. So basically just under $350 shipped to my door. I went ahead and placed the order, and they should be here in about 3 days. I also just sold my Nitto's for $225, so it's going to work out really nice.

I figured i'd give them a shot, since my buddy has had his TQ's for over a year now and loves them. He had the 555R before, and said it was not as sticky and they both seem to wear at about the same rate. Plus they're a nice wide 315 like a BFG and such, so that will be cool. One of the guys i talked to (i called at least a 1/2 dozen places in the last few days) actually went out into their warehouse to compare the width of the Toyo dr and BFG dr. He didn't actually measure them but he did put them next to each other and said their was no visible difference in width.