DR/Slicks on the street

[dtuna42]

The thing about drag radials you're forgetting to consider is that to get the traction you want out of them you need to drop them down to 15-20 psi and heat them up to about 110 degress with a nice, smoky burnout- and you don't normally do that on the street. At 35-40 psi and normal operating temps they aren't a whole lot different than a good, soft, UHP Summer Only Tire. IMO you're better off with drag radials for the track and street tires for the street. The big benefit of the DR's for me is that if I'm planning on a few track days in the near future I do leave them on for weeks at a time - it's not like I swap for every trip - but if you do any road tripping, spend any travel time, do long commuting, drive in rain, or drive in cold weather, you are much better with real street tires.

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[Riptide]

They're different than a summer tire. The tread in my friend's M&H are noticeably softer than the 200 treadwear in my NT05 summer tires. I have no doubt the former would grab better even without a burnout.

[dtuna42]

Originally Posted by Riptide

They're different than a summer tire. The tread in my friend's M&H are noticeably softer than the 200 treadwear in my NT05 summer tires. I have no doubt the former would grab better even without a burnout.

The DR's do grab a little better on the street, true - but there's more to the equation - and all I'm saying is that you should consider all of it before you decide to use DR's exclusively vs. occasionally. I have found that the DR's are usually fine - like I said before, sometimes I leave them on for weeks at a time, but under most conditions the street tires are much better, so it's really nice to have the option.
My experience in this situation is based on my car with a pair of 18x9 wheels with 265/40/18 drag radials and a pair of 18x10 wheels with 285/40/18 BFG G-Force T/A KDW-2's.
---- in a straight straight line DR's are better, but higher power cars will still easily smoke them on the street from a dead stop. They will eventually grab, earlier than street tires, but nothing like on the track when prepped for track use. In rain, cold, curves, on/off ramps, etc., they are not that good. DR's are designed to be used at such a low psi on the track that they "bubble" out at full psi, which means you end up with essentially a thinner tire on the street, and on long trips on the highway you actually heat up only the center of the tread. This means no speed rating and constantly flinging debris up all over your fenders. They also wear out much, much faster- if they're your only tires, expect about 7,000 miles at the most before you don't have enough tread do drive "safely" on the road. And also, they typically are not the same total diameter as your front tires, so you end up with different looking treads & sidewalls, and sometimes the back tire looks shorter than the front tire - it's not a huge diff - and most people probably don't notice - but it's still something to think about.

[98LS1]

Riptide, I'm a big fan of the 555r's. I know a lot of guys don't like them, but I loved mine. Lasted forever. I ended up giving them to a friend when I sold my old car to put on his favohhh. I would drive it to the strip, drop the pressure a bit, and pull 1.6-1.7's all day then drive them back home. Nothing wrong with running DR's on a DD IMO. Hell, I drove my old car on slicks/skinnies for a long time around town before swapping back to a DR. Don't worry what other people say.

[Riptide]

Thanks. I'm actually kinda leaning towards a 305/40/R18 555R when I eventually make the move to a DR.

[Stone629]

I ran 245/45/17 555r on my GTO as a DD. I got about 10,000 miles out of them with probably 50 passes. I sold the car to a dealer with the tires still on it, and they still had some miles left on them, not much, but some. Nittos are known for being a longer lasting DR though, unlike other softer compound DRs.

[gzmo]

So most of you that are running on Nitto 555R's recommend them, correct? I'm leaning towards them as well since I do like to go to the track at least twice a month. The only thing is that I work 40 miles to and from work taking the Florida Turnpike. With all that driving, I know the tires will wear a lot quicker, but as far as safety, are they still ok to drive with?

[Rubrignitz]

I know this post is kinda old but I dug it up looking at tire specs. I've been through two (TWO!) sets of NT555R's in 20k miles and they're nearly bald again. Not sure if my suspension is wearing them out or what but don't think I'm overly hard on them. It was raining here in Austin last weekend and I lost traction in the middle of the highway, spun three times toward the inner concrete barrier. I let go of the wheel and let er' spin watching the barrier come up fast wondering which quarter panel was going to be destroyed. The tires finally hooked and I came to a stop 3 feet from the wall. My hands were shaking...

I ordered some NT555's in 285/40-18 variety today from discount tire. They're coming down from dallas and will be here tomorrow. My drag radial days are officially over. Too expensive to swap every 10k miles and too dangerous when they wear out. If you can afford them (or WANT to afford them) go ahead and run em'! But you better swap em' out before they become even remotely bald. Or you live in the desert where it never rains.

[72MachOne99GT]

Originally Posted by dtuna42

They also wear out much, much faster- if they're your only tires, expect about 7,000 miles at the most before you don't have enough tread do drive "safely" on the road.

You can expect 7,000 miles out of them if you drive like a LUNATIC...

I got 17K daily driven miles out of my MT ET Street Radials..

I made probably 30 passes at the track with them as well. Not all of those passes were hard smokey devestating 2nd gear burnouts, but at least 4-5 were, and the rest were just good hard 2nd or first gear burnouts.

I babied the things on the street though.

However, 7K is a VERY low estimate, especially for a harder DR like Nitto.

Again, I managed 17K on MT's.

[Riptide]

If I ever run them on my car it won't be taken out in the rain. Read far to many horror stories.