I am actively looking for a set of drag tires. I haven't decided if I will go the full slick route or the drag radial/ET street-type versions.

My planned mods include a supercharger and 4.10 gears. Also, I have an auto tranny. So, I want to improve the launch capabilities from the line, but I also want to avoid overpowering the tires and just smoking them.

So, I'm curious about the advantages and disadvantages of the overall tire diameter. For example, what would be the pros/cons of running a 26" dia tire versus a 28" dia tire?

I am interested in all of your thoughts/opinions on the short vs. tall debate (keeping in mind my particular engine/trans/gears setup).

Thanks in advance!!!

 

The taller tire will have more sidewall flex which will give you better traction HOWEVER...
The additional 2" in diameter will make your 4.11 ratio more like a 3.91 ratio. You gain traction but loose torque multiplication.
What rim size are you looking at?
For drag racing I would run a 15" rim. That way you'll have lots of sidewall even with a 26" tall tire and still have the maximum torque multiplication.
I used a combo like this on my lowered 69 GMC pickup. It had a 454 engine that made around 460 hp and 510 ft lbs of torque. It had an auto as well and it hooked really well with this combo.

 

Your comments summarize my concerns perfectly. I want plenty of traction in anticipation of mucho rwhp... but, I don't want lose the torque multiplication. And, I would love to go to a 15" wheel, but from what I can tell, they won't clear the brake calipers without some sort of caliper modification. I'm not sure I want to go there, but I'm still open to it.

 

Hmmm, being such an old fart I am accustomed to drum brakes on the rear and I didn't think of a possible caliper clearence problem with the 05 Mustang. If you can't use a 15" rim I think I would try a 16 IF you can get the appropriately sized tires. I think the sizes of the drag slicks are limited in a 16" though. I guess you could look to see if there was a smaller caliper available to allow clearence for a 15" rim. It seems to me, somewhere in my wanderings around the internet I saw an 05 with 15's I'll see if I can find that again.

 

Yes, there are '05s out there with 15s... but they have been tweaked (and I'm not completely sure how much work that would require). I have investigated the 16" approach as well. Mickey Thompson has 26", 27" and 28" ET Streets for 16" wheels, in widths from 10.50 - 12.50. I just haven't located a good wheel in the 16" class. If I could find a good 16" wheel, I would probably go with these tires. But, then I'm back to my original question... what diameter: 26, 27 or 28. Dam, it's a viscious circle!!

 

Indeed. I wouldn't go with anything larger than a 26" just to take full advantage of your 4.11 gears. A 26' tall tire on a 16" rim will still have quite a lot of sidewall but you'd sure hate to spend the cash and discover you still had a traction problem. You might be suprised though. I didn't think I would EVER get my truck to hook up with the extremely poor weight distribution it had, but it did hook up even with it's 500+ ft lbs of torque. Lowering it really helped also. But in the case of the 05 it already has exclent weight distribution on the order of 48/52 so there isn't much you can do to improve it. You can also start messing with softer springs but you're going to mess up the handling then. It all depends on what you want from the car.

 

Frankly, I'm less concerned about handling, than I am 1/4-mi performance. I have a need for speed. lol

By the way, the 10-sec '05 of Justin Burcham in this month's MM&FF is running Bogart D-10 wheels, 15x9-3/4, with 28x9 MT ET-Drag slicks. I also got this info from a few days ago from 169stang regarding the Bogarts.

 

Don...I built an 871 blown 67 Chevelle for (dont laugh) my wife. With the power that the blower made, it ran faster with 33" tires than with the 31's that I started with. I had it geared with 4.30's......With such a small car, and S/C capabilities of 420-525hp, you will probably find better traction, times and top speed with the taller of the two sizes that you are looking at. The awsome power of the S/C will overcome what little difference the gear ratio change (due to the tire diameter change) has made.......And IMO the 4.10's are a little steep for the street anyway. Those gears are for underpowered cars. This is also why the guys who run Nitroused cars take gear away from the car...too much tire spin and too high RPM's through the traps. Trust me, with a S/C on this car, you'll be happier keeping the rear gears between 3.55 and 3.73.....just my opinion

 

Dom, LimeStang05 makes a good point about the gearing. With the S/C that engine will make enough torque that loosing a little gearing will not be as bad as loosing traction. I know your goal is to get into the elevens. To run that fast excellent traction will be a must. With a 28" tall tire I would think about a ratio 3.55 - 3.90. I think with the 4.11's your first gear will be too short. While that's ok and even essential for an import engine that has no torque it's not necessarily good for something that has lots of low end torque. If the engine has lots of torque it's better to use it rather than rev the crap out it and make your 1 - 2 shift really early. Case in point, my GMC pickup weighed 4500 lbs, had only a 3.41 ratio and a lousy 3 speed auto with a 2.41 1st gear. My torque converter also stalled at a low 2000 rpm which also didn't help, but It ran mid thirteen’s (103 mph) at 2200' altitude, which I thought was pretty good considering what it had working against it.
The auto in your Mustang has a 3.22 1st and your converter stalls at 2550 rpm so you've already got a good setup there. With the S/C your power will start building below the stall speed of your converter so I don't think you'll have any trouble with a 28" tall tire and a ration in the 3.55 - 3.90 range.

 

You guys make some excellent points... all things to consider. I think I'm still going to give the 4.10s a fair shot, first. At least I have time on my side. The SC probably won't go in for a couple more months yet. So, I will get to test the 4.10s with my current tires (which are just under 28" tall now)... both on the track and on the street. This will give me a fair indication of how it launches and what RPMs I'm running at various speeds with a 28" tire.

Obviously, I have a lot of factors to weigh here. []