6 Speed...Radial or Slick
Thread Starter
Launching!
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 218
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From: Elk Grove Village, IL
6 Speed...Radial or Slick I am planning on purchasing a set of Billet Specialties Street Lites for my Camaro this coming season. So I'll be running a set of big & littles. I am interested to see peoples' opinions on what kind of tire they would recommend running & if they have had any experience with this sort of set up.
Setup
2002 Camaro LS1 with T56
Centerforce Clutch
Tick Performance Master & Slave Clutch Cylinders
Strange S60 Rear End
Steel Drive Shaft
UMI Suspension without any Front End work
QA1 Adjustable Shocks Front & Rear
Car is a Intake & Cam car, no power adders.
I'm leaning towards a slick to hopefully be more consistent with passes although I'm sure I'd be able to run a bit quicker on a radial. Anyone have luck being pretty consistent on a radial though? I'd rather not be that guy that's all over the board with up & down times. I didn't have much luck with my radial last year but I also did not have nearly as much track time as I wanted.
Setup
2002 Camaro LS1 with T56
Centerforce Clutch
Tick Performance Master & Slave Clutch Cylinders
Strange S60 Rear End
Steel Drive Shaft
UMI Suspension without any Front End work
QA1 Adjustable Shocks Front & Rear
Car is a Intake & Cam car, no power adders.
I'm leaning towards a slick to hopefully be more consistent with passes although I'm sure I'd be able to run a bit quicker on a radial. Anyone have luck being pretty consistent on a radial though? I'd rather not be that guy that's all over the board with up & down times. I didn't have much luck with my radial last year but I also did not have nearly as much track time as I wanted.
Last year I could not get a sub 1.8 60' on a radial, they were also very inconsistent (might have to do with not having a two step) so it made it very difficult to get my viking shocks adjusted properly. I will be going with a stiff wall this year.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,893
Likes: 706
From: Mississippi
If you don't always want to swap to slicks but still have a sticky tire I recommend Hoosier drag radials. I've seen that tire go 1.5 60ft and that was on a 17" corvette rim and the car pulled the driver side ture off the ground in the process.
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Launching!
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 218
Likes: 0
From: Elk Grove Village, IL
I appreciate all the quick responses! I have a set of straight street tires & wheels that I will be swapping so this drag set will only be used on the track & very, very minimal street usage if any. I'd like to have it on a 26" tire though, any thoughts?
Launching!
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 202
Likes: 1
From: Norwood,Ont canada
How much power is the car making? If you drive you car to the track id stay with a drag radial you can make them work real good and without the hassel of having to switch rims and tires at the track. My old combo was stock motor ls6 intake and a cam we sprayed it with a 200 shot right out of the hole with the drag radials cutting 1.6- 1.7 60 ft same rear shocks as yours. With more chassis tunning and the knowledge I have gained we could have cut our 60ft times down especially now with the new compound radials.
If you want performance the slick is by far the best, no argument. If you run a manual trans and a radial tire you are leaving et on the table.
A radial needs to be dead hooked, and if you dead hook a manual trans car you get serious engine bog. For a manual trans car to keep the engine accelerating at launch there MUST be wheel speed(tire spin) of certain amount. Radials do not respond well with spin so the two as a combo are fighting each other.
Radial= auto trans
Slick= manual or auto trans
A radial needs to be dead hooked, and if you dead hook a manual trans car you get serious engine bog. For a manual trans car to keep the engine accelerating at launch there MUST be wheel speed(tire spin) of certain amount. Radials do not respond well with spin so the two as a combo are fighting each other.
Radial= auto trans
Slick= manual or auto trans
FormerVendor
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: Plymouth Michigan
Drag radials are a good all around street strip tire for a manual but if you want to hook at the track with a manual get slicks. The bias ply tires will handle the shock much better than a stiff radial
