I guess wider isn't always faster

[foxxxtman]

Made it out to the track tonight and I know there are a lot of variables involved but I was hoping to improve upon my 12.55 time on stock tires since I now have 305's on the back. I ended up running 4 runs (12.65, 12.67, 12.72 and 12.74) so while pretty darn consistent I gained a tenth and my trap speed went down by about 3 mph. The only thing I can figure is that since I have wider and heavier tires that I lost a little top end and while I'm not spinning as much I guess it wasn't that beneficial, kind of disheartening.

 

[Five Oh Brian]

I run as narrow a tire as I can get to hook up for less rolling and wind resistance. In my case, that's a 275 width DR on an 8 inch wide rim. More isn't always better, as they often say.


Sent from SYNC in my '14 Mustang GT...

 

[foxxxtman]

Yeah, I guess I need an actual drag racing set of rears at a minimum and a new torque converter so I can break into the 11's. There's something to be said about being fast on a street tire setup but I think those will only take you so far regardless of width. 12.65 isn't awful on street tires with just a tune and a mid pipe but I would like to get into the 11's.

 

[06gtmustang]

Weather could have been a factor on the slower times. Did your 60ft times change?

 

[kdanner]

I run as narrow a tire as I can get to hook up for less rolling and wind resistance. In my case, that's a 275 width DR on an 8 inch wide rim. More isn't always better, as they often say.


Sent from SYNC in my '14 Mustang GT...

Same here. The 30x9 wads up a lot more giving a larger contact patch front to rear for traction, but once I'm going I'm only dragging a 9" tire all the rest of the way.

 

[cbass]

Overall height can also mess with things. I would suspect there were a number of contributing factors.

 

[foxxxtman]

The 305/30/19 is actually a little shorter than the stock tires, I was hoping that with less spinning and stock gears that it would be more beneficial. I would really like to get into the 11s with only bolt ons and those tires but .6 is a bit to drop and a converter would probably make me blow the tires off in first. Im only spinning a tad bit on the 2nd gear hit at the moment.

 

[FIVE-OH]

What was the DA on both nights? If you were spinning on your old tires and now you aren't that can explain a little lost mph from less wheel speed too.

 

[Riptide]

If you have another car to drive on rainy days it's worth the money IMO to drive it on drag radials. I'll never have anything else on my car after having done it. Drive it to work and back and everywhere I can as long as it's dry out on m&h racemasters. At the race track it's a no brainer.

 

[808muscle]

Probably just the DA. Get some DRs and call it a day. Stock tires blow and are unsafe at the track. Nitto 555r 305s are my DD tire. I love the traction on the street.

 

[foxxxtman]

Here's the breakdown, my best run last night and the DA were as follows:

DA - 654 feet above sea level (Coastal Plains Dragway, North Carolina)
60 foot - 1.97
330 foot - 5.41
1/8 mile - 8.21
1/8 mph - 87.86
1/4 ET - 12.65
1/4 MPH - 110.01
DA corrects to 12.58

Previous time at track:
DA - 1277 feet above sea level (same track but this was back in May)
60 foot - 2.00
330 foot - 5.39
1/8 ET - 8.17
1/8 MPH 88.56
1/4 ET - 12.55
1/4 MPH - 113.08
DA corrects to 12.38

The only thing that changed was the rim/tire combo from the stock rims and 235/50/19 all around to the 19" velgens with 305/30/19 in the rear and 265/35/19 in the front. I realize that's probably heavier all the way around and yes I was spinning less which likely accounts for a little bit of that trap speed decrease. I did of course updated the tune but I believe the only thing that changed was the tire diameter since the tires are .5 or so inches shorter.

 

[fdjizm]

Smallest tire you can hook on, less rolling resistance less weight etc..
Super wide tires are kind of a fad that hasn't died, but I'm not much of a show car guy.
I constantly see people wondering what the WIDEST tires they can put on xxx is... and always wondering why so wide?

probably because race car.

 

[foxxxtman]

I love the staggered look with a nice wide set of tires in the rear and was hoping that the extra grip and a smaller diameter tire would turn into quicker times but but I guess it wasn't mean to be. The tires do dead hook off the line and only spin a little on the 2nd gear swap so maybe they would hold if I swapped converter? Or maybe I just need to get me a set of 15" big's n littles lol. I would assume that if going with those new tires was enough to slow me down by 2 tenths that bigs and littles would speed me up at least 3 tenths in the other direction with them being so much lighter and grippier...

 

[stang910]

Your tires won't ever hold if you got a converter so it makes more sense to get the tires first. You can run high 11's without the converter so that's another reason to get the tires first.

 

[foxxxtman]

Your tires won't ever hold if you got a converter so it makes more sense to get the tires first. You can run high 11's without the converter so that's another reason to get the tires first.

Thanks Stang910, do you all think it would be worthwhile to get bigs and littles at the current power level or just take my stock 18" rims and throw some M&H Drags on there and call it a day?

 

[stang910]

I'd say get some 15x10 racestars with drag radials and don't worry about the front right now.

 

[Grabber Blue 5.0]

I'd say get some 15x10 racestars with drag radials and don't worry about the front right now.

Yea I agree here.