drag radials
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
From: West Chester
drag radials would drag radials be ok with a daily driver??
i know DRs are a softer compound so im assuming the only problem would be that they would wear down faster, any other problems with running DRs daily?? i got a suggestion of nittos, any other suggestions as to which DRs?
i know DRs are a softer compound so im assuming the only problem would be that they would wear down faster, any other problems with running DRs daily?? i got a suggestion of nittos, any other suggestions as to which DRs?
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 396
Likes: 0
I have Nittos on my daily driver Mustang. They are fine in the rain but you can forget it in the snow. While they are at street driving air pressure and not heated up they don't hook too much better then a normal street tire though. You need to drop them down to about 20psi and heat them up to really get them to hook.
I just took of my Nitto 555R drag radials and ive been driving those as a daily driver.. they work just fine.. they are noisy because they pick up lots of tiny dirt at low speeds but they are good tires.. I wouldnt recommend going around corners fast though.. i spun my car out into a ditch with them... They seem OK in rain but as they wear down its bad to drive in rain like anything over 60... atleast for me. replaced mine with goodyear f1s and they dont grab the road half as good as the nittos...
Most drag radials are really nothing more than racing slicks with a little bit of tread on them. They were designed for the strip and specific racing classes and not for the street. These tires include Mickey Thompson ET Streets ( I know they aren't a radial.....) and MT's new ET drag radial as well as the BFG drag radials. They all offer excellent traction but will get only around 2000 miles on the street due to the extremely soft tread compound. The jury is still out on the street mileage for the MT ET drag radial as it is so new but I don't expect much better. The Nitto drag radial is a completely different breed of tire. It has more of a water displacement tread pattern for driving safely in the rain so it looks more like a regular street tire. It is not as soft as the other street drag tires so you sacrifice some traction. The good news is that it has much better traction characteristics that a regular street tire. I regularly get around 14,000 miles out of a pair of the Nittos but I think 10,000 would be more typical. You will need to slow down a little on wet pavement or in the rain because they only have 5/32" tread depth when new and as they wear they tend to hydroplane much easier that a regular street tire. I've used the Nitto DRs on my daily driver since 1999 and have never had any problems with them and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for a daily driven car. I keep a pair of ET Streets mounted up for strip use.
I just put BFG Drag Radials on the back of my car and I am pleasently suprised at how well they hook. I just took off nitto 555 extremes because they did not hook for ****. Keep in mind though that I have not and will not drive my car in the rain, and that I took off Nitto 555 extremes and not the Nitto drag radials. BFG for me from now on 
nitto extreme drags (555r's) hook the least, but drive the best.
bfg drags hook more, but drive and wear not as good as nittos.
MT ET streets hook the best, but drive and wear the worst.
for your car, i would go with the nittos, they hook plenty well and wear better than the others (not quite as soft), and have great daily driver characteristics. you can get them from todd@prodyno on this board for damn good price, and prodyno is also an ls1tech sponser. i got my 315/35/r17's nitto extreme drag 555r's from him and they shipped out in good time and were cheapest i could find. i dont have them on the car yet as i'm waiting on my 12 bolt rear end, but i like 'em already
bfg drags hook more, but drive and wear not as good as nittos.
MT ET streets hook the best, but drive and wear the worst.
for your car, i would go with the nittos, they hook plenty well and wear better than the others (not quite as soft), and have great daily driver characteristics. you can get them from todd@prodyno on this board for damn good price, and prodyno is also an ls1tech sponser. i got my 315/35/r17's nitto extreme drag 555r's from him and they shipped out in good time and were cheapest i could find. i dont have them on the car yet as i'm waiting on my 12 bolt rear end, but i like 'em already
Trending Topics
i have had both nitto and bfg dragradials....the nitto hooked for **** so i took them off but if i did have to drive in all weather conditions i would pick them over my bfg's...traction is way better for the bfg's at the track... 
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Topdon ONE vs. Artidiag 800 BT2: Which is the Diagnostic Tablet For You?
Pouria Savadkouei
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
12 Second Club
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
From: MEMPHIS , TN
I had NITTO 305/35-18 drag radials and they hooked great. They ran good on the street. But, like someone else posted, they picked up EVERYTHING and threw it in the fenderwells. Never drove in the rain so I can't comment on that.
