02WS6FREEBIRD

iTrader: (4)

Hey to all

I do understand the difference as most opinions are that street tires are better for cornering and the rain and DR's are better for straight line performance, but the DR's are a radial tire and DOT approved, are the DR's bad in the rain or cornering? Is there a tire that is a good compromise of both? I have put about 100 hp to the rears and my car breaks loose easy in a straight line...on the other hand it takes a corner like my friends ZO6, and I like that.

Thanks for any imput.

Tommyv8

iTrader: (8)

The term "drag radial" covers a wide variety of tires. Some are very sticky on the track but not so great (sometimes downright dangerous) when driving through the rain. The best compromise would probably be the Nitto 555R, which is what I use. It hooks decently at the track (gotta get them hot in the burnout box) for my mild bolt-on car and gives me no problems whatsover when daily driving it, even through standing water and hard rain at highway speeds. Dry weather handling is as good as my street tires. But it's probably the weakest drag radial with respect to holding the power of a drag launch. Mickey Thompson, Hoosier, M&H, and Goodyear make drag radials that are stickier but probably would make you poop your pants in a rain storm. Not too great with sport dry weather handling, either. The BF Goodrich drag radial is another decent compromise tire, but more geared toward racing. Good tread for driving on the street and able to handle rain if you're very careful, and stickier at the track than the Nitto.
Longevity is also another thing to take into consideration. Generally speaking, the stickier tires wear faster. My Nittos are probably the longest-lasting drag radials, but nowhere near as sticky as the others.

mike c.

iTrader: (1)

I ran the Nitto 555r drag radial and they feel and corner just like any radial tire. they are not as soft as the m't tires and will last oinger. I have driven many times in the rain and they are just fine. My bud has them on his vette and he has gone 90mph on them in the rain.(I would'nt go 90mph in the rain on any tire,but he's nuts) If you want something to hook better the m/t drag radials will do that,but not as good in rain.

02WS6FREEBIRD

iTrader: (4)

Do you or your friend run the Nitto's on all 4 or just the back?, was wondering how they corner? and standard traction?

BlackScreaminMachine

iTrader: (17)

Well this is not F1 Racing, so if in wet conditions or in general rain showers, you shouldnt be worrying about cornering on hard turns.

Being that said, on dry, and warm pavement a DR will be fine, such as a Nitto due to the stiff sidewall. What a Hooiser or M/T there is more flex in the wall and that may hurt in hard cornering.

Snake_Skinner

iTrader: (12)

What about DD them in cold conditions. I heard you werent suppose to drive or store them when its 32 deg or below. I live in OK so my winters are def below 32deg and i wanna throw these new new Nitto 305 555r DR on i jus bought. so question is should i wait till its warmer and how many ppl have ran DR in harsh winters?

223HAWK

iTrader: (11)

If you want some stickeys for all 4 corners look at the Nitto NT05 I think is what its called.

They wont do **** in the rain though.....

DRs+Rain= Ditch in MOST cases...

I know its been done..Iv done it but to be safe..dont put them on a DD if your ganan be dumb..

subarubill96

iTrader: (9)

i ran the NT05's all last year, traction is okay but its nothing compared to my MT radials...
the NT05's are pretty good in the rain, i used them during a very wet auto-cross last fall and they didn't let me down. not bad for a street tire but id never waste my time on them drag racing.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

a lot of DR's don't have rain sipes on the tires (Ie Mickey Thompsons), some do however (Nitto 555r's)

but then again, some street tires don't have sipes either, those would be your "ultra high performance" and summer tires

Nitto 555Rs are a greatly rounded tire if you ask me, decent in the rain cuz they have sipes, great on the track, and more than adequate on a regular road driving. My buddy runs these on his '00 Blown SS and has no major issues...

If you hae mickey thompsons in the rain, pull over...