DR's required for a converter?
 

Are Drag Radials required for a 3500+ stall? I plan on keeping my car as a daily driver and I'm going to keep the Eagle F1's on. Would putting converter on the car with stock tires be worth it?

Yea its worth putting a converter in your car , you will enjoy being able to burn the tires at 20mph lol. A nice set of nittos would be in line for your next mod after the converter. But on a serious note your car will be alot quicker and more fun to drive even if you have stock tires.

yes go for it ,,u will like it on the HW

Sure, it's worth it however when it comes time to run someone from a stop or a low speed roll you will have major traction issues.

necessary for just daily driving? nope. necessary for traction and fun? hell yea! actually even with DRs if you put in a hard hitting 3500 convertor you will still spin them PLENTY. you will enjoy it. i just dont know HOW these guys with autos and stock convertors enjoy their cars! lol

I have Nittos on my car and I don't even have a converter yet. Keep that in mind.

Nitto DRs can run comfortably for 5-7K miles with mild weekend track use and the occasionaly exhibition of massive torque. :D Once you run a DR, you'll save your F1s for the winter. :D

Do remember that after you cross about 4K miles, you'll want to be extra carefull in rain. It's a good pattern for that first stretch but 6/64" of tread will go fast making the beaking breaking loose in heavy rain a definite thing to watch out for on the freeway. :D

Rick

So true, and the reason he will get DR's :D

I just run regular tires and ET streets at the track. I quit using nittos for street tires because they wore out too quickly on me and I never had much luck with them hooking up at the track.

i have been getting up to 16K miles from a set of nitto DR tires. i dont use them at the track but i am mean as hell to them on the street.

Yea I'm running a Vig 3200 converter and my car is lowered 2.25 inches. Ran the car at the track with my 18's on a hot humid day, its like trying to launch on butter :burn:

i definitely recommend getting some drag radials with the converter....i drove my car around for about 3 weeks on KDWs after i got the converter....there was no point at all in trying to launch the car!!! i couldnt put my foot on the floor until WELL into second gear...

BTW: ive been beating the crap out of my nittos for about 8K miles now....50 or so track passes, more burnouts then i can count and a few not quite legal street launches. :)

they still have A LOT of tread on them and perform as well in the rain as they did when they were brand new....now snow....thats another story entirely..... ;)

I got about 6k out of my nitto's but they were the 245's . youll want a drag radial. the only way to get around traction problems is to not mod your car :D

Yah, I got about 6k out of my 245 nittos also.

I bought my old 275/40/17 nittos used and I got about 10K out of em. At the time I used them on the street and track.

I have a new set of 317/35/17's now and they have about 4K on them with about 20 track passes I guess and I do some MAJOR burnouts and they don't look like they have been beatin up hardly any.

Even if you don't plan on doing a converter I believe nitto DR's are the best tire you can buy. They really hook if you use the proper techniques of getting em hot(on the street and track.

Josh S.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

My only concerns about going to Nittos is that I live in South Florida....and it rains everyday from April through September and I don't want to give up wet traction. This is my only car...and I want it to be safe....and fun!

Do Nittos handle well? I'm thinking they don't handle on high speed on ramps as well because they are a softer sidewall...not stiff enough. Any truth to this?

You'll be fine with the nitto's in FL weather. They still handle pretty good in the rain from what I've heard.

nittos are actually very good in the rain in my opinion...i wouldnt suggest driving through a 6 inch puddle at highway speed with 4.10s because then ull probably hydroplane but i found that my 8 month old 275/40/17 nittos handle about the same as the BFG KDWs that were on the back before them....also they do handle well in dry conditions...a lot of people used to autocross the drag radials before the 555RII road course tires came out....

In my experience, these tires are no different than regular performance tires except that you can heat them up and get a nice hard launch out of them. :)

I used to get about 10-12K miles out of 275/40/17s. I now get over 15K out of 315/35/17s. This is aggressive street driving with the occasional track outing. With frequent burnouts you can go through a set in 5K miles or if you never burnout then you might get 20K miles.

Nittos are actually pretty good rain tires until the last few thousand miles of their life. Just sell 'em when they start getting uncomfortable in the rain and get a new set.