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best 18" tires.....?

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Old 11-15-2004, 09:41 PM
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Default best 18" tires.....?

I'm lookin for something that can handle rainy weather and hook good, I'd like to hear from people who accually have experience w/ the tires..... bfg drag radials are out along w/ mt et streets, but I'm not sure on the nitto's yet, has anyone used something different for street/strip running in the 11's?
Old 11-16-2004, 05:01 AM
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You cant get M/T ET streets or M/T street drag radials for a 18 inch rim. They would be the best.
ET Streets -> http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/strip_et_street.html
ET DRs -> http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/s...et_radial.html

BFG Drag radials dont come in 18s either -> http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/asset...rag_radial.pdf

Your best bet would be to get some drag wheels in a 15" size. Steve told me that they will be making bogarts for corvettes soon
bogarts -> http://www.mycamaroz28.homestead.com/
Old 11-16-2004, 05:13 AM
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sorry I didnt get into much detail I was in a rush earlier.... I use bfg's to race w/ my other car now.... I had one race car allready wrecked due to bfg's and wet weather... I do not want to change rims out at the track or even the night before... I have a set of draglites w/ the et drags allready mounted, and also 2 other sets of rims w/ different size bfg's on them... I need an 18" tire that can be driven daily in "WET" weather and will also hook good at the track... I know I'm not going to get the best of both worlds but if anybody has found a good combo I'd like to get some feedback.... ok I hope I cleared things up a little, thanks for the reply..
Old 11-16-2004, 05:37 AM
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Khumo's. They're cheap and handle well on the road. My friend launched them decent at the track in his Cobra too.
Old 11-16-2004, 05:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Assassin
sorry I didnt get into much detail I was in a rush earlier.... I use bfg's to race w/ my other car now.... I had one race car allready wrecked due to bfg's and wet weather... I do not want to change rims out at the track or even the night before... I have a set of draglites w/ the et drags allready mounted, and also 2 other sets of rims w/ different size bfg's on them... I need an 18" tire that can be driven daily in "WET" weather and will also hook good at the track... I know I'm not going to get the best of both worlds but if anybody has found a good combo I'd like to get some feedback.... ok I hope I cleared things up a little, thanks for the reply..
In that case, nitto makes a bad *** DR that handles good in the rain too. For the price you really cant beat them and youll generally see about 10-15k miles out of them. If you dont mind paying about 350 per tire goodyear eagle F1s are even better. Sorry to hear about the car. I am fixing to run M/T street radials but I am a little concerned about the rain. . How fast were you going at the time? Did you hit a big puddle. Im thinking I will be ok as long as I go slow in the rain (I already do anyways).

Here different sizes that nitto makes -> http://www.nittotire.com/popup_555r_sizes.asp


Heres a picture of what the Eagle F1 Supercars look like
Old 11-16-2004, 08:24 AM
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2MuchRiceMakesMeSick, Look up the BFG site agian. I am running BFG TA DR's in the 275/35/18' size and have been since March 04. Also the C5 can not run 15' rims with out major grinding of the suspension, which I would not suggest be done.

Assassin, Your asking alot from a tire. Hook good and good wet handling. I am running BFG DR's 18" for racing season and switch to Goodyear F1GSD3's in the off season. You are like me in the sense I want to race and drive the car on the street but with DR's this can get expensive. I suggest that you buy some 17" rims and mate them with 17" ET streets for track use. Then go with a tire like the F1GSD3's or comprable for daily driving. I did not buy the Nit's becasue of price. The BFG's were 40.00 less per tire, and I knew they would barely make it through the season. My best 60' with the F1GSD3's was 1.95, in contrast my best 60' with the BFG's was 1.80.

Alot will depend on the tranny that you have. I am running with a MN6 and basically a stock motor. A co-worker that also races has an 00 WS6 H/C car that is an Automatic and he is running Nittos 555 DR in a 17" size. Not sure of the exact size. He is cuting 1.7 60' times and running 12.2's. So the Nit's are capable of handling the power.

I have done alot of reaserach on other sites and found that alot of the High HP C5's are running the MT ET's with out any drivetrain issues. The problem with the shorter aspect ratio tire is that you "Hit" the drivetrain with a shock at launch and the short side walls do not flex. With The ET streets and taller side walls the force is applied then stored briefly on the form of flex then released. This is alot better to relaese the energy over a longer period of time than a shorter. This is the tire I am going to run next year. Even with hot and stick DR's if I get too anxious at the line I can still spin all thru 1st gear.

alot of info to research, good luck on the hunt fir 11's.
Old 11-16-2004, 08:32 AM
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Buddy has a z06 with a air filter. He just bought a set of BfGs Kdw. He is running 12.30s consistant and they are great in rain and stick really nice when its dry.
Old 11-16-2004, 09:38 AM
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Originally Posted by ROJO99
2MuchRiceMakesMeSick, Look up the BFG site agian. I am running BFG TA DR's in the 275/35/18' size and have been since March 04. Also the C5 can not run 15' rims with out major grinding of the suspension, which I would not suggest be done.

Assassin, Your asking alot from a tire. Hook good and good wet handling. I am running BFG DR's 18" for racing season and switch to Goodyear F1GSD3's in the off season. You are like me in the sense I want to race and drive the car on the street but with DR's this can get expensive. I suggest that you buy some 17" rims and mate them with 17" ET streets for track use. Then go with a tire like the F1GSD3's or comprable for daily driving. I did not buy the Nit's becasue of price. The BFG's were 40.00 less per tire, and I knew they would barely make it through the season. My best 60' with the F1GSD3's was 1.95, in contrast my best 60' with the BFG's was 1.80.

Alot will depend on the tranny that you have. I am running with a MN6 and basically a stock motor. A co-worker that also races has an 00 WS6 H/C car that is an Automatic and he is running Nittos 555 DR in a 17" size. Not sure of the exact size. He is cuting 1.7 60' times and running 12.2's. So the Nit's are capable of handling the power.

I have done alot of reaserach on other sites and found that alot of the High HP C5's are running the MT ET's with out any drivetrain issues. The problem with the shorter aspect ratio tire is that you "Hit" the drivetrain with a shock at launch and the short side walls do not flex. With The ET streets and taller side walls the force is applied then stored briefly on the form of flex then released. This is alot better to relaese the energy over a longer period of time than a shorter. This is the tire I am going to run next year. Even with hot and stick DR's if I get too anxious at the line I can still spin all thru 1st gear.

alot of info to research, good luck on the hunt fir 11's.

Wow, the F1GSD3s were 40 cheaper then nittos? Where are you buying tires at? Please pm the place if you cant list it here.
Old 11-16-2004, 09:40 AM
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Discounttire.com, Now remember the price difference was for the 18" DR's
Old 11-16-2004, 10:48 AM
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I like my BFG KDs
Old 11-16-2004, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick
You cant get M/T ET streets or M/T street drag radials for a 18 inch rim. They would be the best.
Not for the rain. They'd be killers, literally.

The only viable street/strip drag radials are the Nitto NT555R Extreme Drags. Yeah, the KDs and the Kumho MXs hook pretty good for street tires, but they're still street tires and they don't come close to a drag radial, even the Nittos which are a compromise tire.

I went through two sets of Nitto DRs on the back of my '99 Camaro SS and I just got a pair for the 'Vette though I've decided to wait till the spring now to have them mounted.
Old 11-16-2004, 03:28 PM
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I have seen a guy on a fresh set Nitto Drag Radials spin out on control doing 55 in the rain. He was driving in a straight line. I'll never buy those tires again. Plus they dont hook nearly as good as bgfs.
Old 11-16-2004, 06:00 PM
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looks like I'll be changeing tires at the track, thanks for everybody's imput.... w/dr's I can feel the back end getting loose at 25mph on wet roads... lost the old race car going 40mph in wet weather...
Old 11-17-2004, 09:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Assassin
looks like I'll be changeing tires at the track, thanks for everybody's imput.... w/dr's I can feel the back end getting loose at 25mph on wet roads... lost the old race car going 40mph in wet weather...
Just buy a set of cheap rims Like the ones I have for sale. Go get a set of Slicks for the track and nice BFGs for the road!
Old 11-27-2004, 07:57 PM
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I run 11s with Nittos.. Good all around tire..




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