MountainMotor

iTrader: (2)

Have you ever felt how heavy a 15" rim and tire combo is? Just a personal opinion but I don't think it would be good on your stock rear to try and turn those bad boys either. If you need more traction then just go with a nice set of 11" rims and some 315 drag radials. You would have a lot more traction than you have now and they look great under a stock rear car. Then if you add a lot more power down the road then I'd save some money and tub the rear with the 15" rims you want. How much power is your car pushing?

AncientRgn

iTrader: (6)

Quick question....your sig says that your car is stock. What kind of tire are you running now? I had the same prob with my car, stock, till I got new tires. That helped a hell of alot. Just something to think about instead of blowing a wad of cash that you could use for different and more beneficial mods.

HeBen

I think it's all stock so it's underrated at 275, more realistically more like 290 I'm guessing but unsure. After I do cai, exhaust, tuning, and maybe a cam or something I'm hoping for like 340 or more. So you're pretty sure 315 radials on 11 wides will keep firmly planted?

HeBen

They're Toyos Proxes steel belted radials P225/50 R16 on stock rims (I think 16x8 or 16x9, not sure). they look like this.



They are starting to get a bit worn out so that's probably part of it. This brings up another question that may reveal my ignorance but that's better than staying ignorant I s'pose. The quesiton is, if drag slicks have no tread then why wouldn't my worn down tires grip harder on dry pavement like drag slicks do? Is the drag strip made of special kind of asphalt? or are the drag slicks a special kind of rubber? or does it really matter much when I'm driving on dry roads that my tires are a bit too worn ?

So what kind of tire did you get and what kind of results did they give you? I'd like to be able to push at least 350hp at the crank and have tires that grip firmly under stress.

slocar mopar

dude..no wonder you spin. you got bald *** 225s on there. step up to a 275/60/15 drag radial and i guarantee you'll get traction. why the hell would you even consider putting 15x15s on a stock car? not only would it look completely asinine..but it'd be completely useless. and that's completely ignoring how much it'll slow you down having those big *** rims outback. i can only imagine how stupid it'd look seeing some stock LT1 trans am roll up at the track with 15x15 slicks, struggle to spin the tires to do a burnout, and then blaze down the track to a mid 15. :rofl:

Christian8A

iTrader: (14)

Can anybody tell me size of the back wheels and tire?

69chevy

Hide such big beautiful wheels and tires? Man, I can usually spot a tubbed out car coming from a mile away. Not flaming you but it's not that hard to spot a car that has 15x15's out back. Especially if you're behind it.

HeBen

Yeah I totally know what you mean. All I'm saying is that it's not as obvious and you can't see them as clearly, especially from the front or directly straight on 90deg from the side. Also with some cars that're tubbed out and lowered the wheel/tire are almost completely concealed unless you're directly behind it and low to the ground whereas the non-tubbed would be blindingly obvious from any angle. So, it's not night and day, but there is a differance in visabiliy. That's all I'm sayin. Plus, I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me that a wider launching base would be more stable.

MountainMotor

iTrader: (2)

Drag slicks are made out of a really soft rubber is why they stick so well, that and most guys heat them up real good before they launch too. Bald 225's won't hold any amount of power, hell by sisters Cougar would spin those. I'm pushing 475 at the crank and I'm stepping up to some 315 Nitto DR. There's guys out there pushing a lot more power than I am running DR's too. There's actually a thread going on right now that wants to know how far guys have lifted the front tires with radials so I think they'll grip just fine for your car if those guys can pull the front tires with them. Read this https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-racing-tech/456261-have-you-lifted-em-radials.html.

HeBen

Thankyou for your input. They're not exactly bald, but they are worn enough to replace. And wouldn't a 275/60/15 be too small in radius for my stock rims whereas a 275/60/16 would fit just fine? Not sure about that but I think that's the case. The hell why I would even consider putting 15x15s on my stock car was already explained in previous posts, but it is because the stock wheels/tires were not nearly enough traction even when they did have plenty of tread and that's why they've been replaced who knows how many times and are now needing to be replaced again. Furthermore, it's hard for to me to see how adding one or two inches when I've already got like 9 would make the kind of difference I'm looking for, especially since I'm doing hp mods very soon. You really think it'd slow me down to a mid 15? I've heard that the car can do high 13's stock and was told by a guy at a race shop that putting a 10in rim with 11in tread could shave as much as a full second of my 1/4 et, so I don't see how adding another 4 inches of tire/wheel weight, plus more traction, would add about 2-3 sec. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just not quite convinced that you're right, especially since I'm planning on doing at least cai and full exhoust and tuning with tunercat before I'd even think about taking it to the track. with all those mods do you still think 275/60 is all the traction I could possibly need?

HeBen

Thanks alot for the info, man. That's very helpful. There's still alot I have to learn. Btw, they're not exactly bald, just bald-ing. So it sounds like all the traction I would need even with mods up to 350hp can be fit inside my stock wells, right? If that's true, then that's really good to know. Now the other thing I need to know is which wheels/tires would be best for my car. Will drag radials hurt my cornering ability? I'd like to increase straight line traction as well as cornering 'cause I use it only on the street for right now. Hopefully it'll be strip worthy later.

Krab

iTrader: (28)

According to your sig, you've got a STOCK LT1, which equates to about 270rwhp? Traction can be easily achieved with a set of drag radials at this power level. The reason you can't hook with your tires is because: 1) They've got no tread left and 2) they're not the same compound as a sticky tire (any drag radial). Some Nitto drag radials on your stock wheels would probably suffice for your application. Hooking is not all about how wide your tire is, it has to do with suspension, weight distribution and the type of tire you're running (and at what psi you're running it at).

On a side note, putting those heavy *** wheels on your car will hurt you due to the following reasons: 1) More rotating mass takes more power to get started, wheels that big will eat up some of your hp that gets put to the ground. 2) Along with the added power needed to turn those wheels, you're also putting more stress on your drivetrain components, especially that weak 10-bolt.

slocar mopar

obviously i meant get some 15" rims to put them on too. just because a tire is really wide doesn't automatically mean it'll get much better traction. gotta have sidewall too. intake and exhaust is hardly enough to require 15x15s. 275/60/15s will be more than enough traction for you. i still can't even believe you're serious.

HeBen

Will that sidewall hurt cornering? I want to corner better as well. By the way you are talking, when you say "intake and exhaust is hardly enough to require 15x15s" I figure that you must mean NOT enough, because "hardly enough" could imply a chance that it might actually be enough. Also, I said I was planning on doing AT LEAST that plus tuning with my laptop. I have alot of other hp mods I'm considering. If you still can't beleive I'm serious then you must not realize that I've only had this car for a few months and I came to this forum because I don't know what wheels/tires to get and I'm trying to figure that out. I was not born with an inate knowlegde of what size wheels/tires I need for what amount of horsepower in a 4th gen f-body. Thanks again for helping me to learn these things. It's very helpful.

slocar mopar

15x15s will KILL your cornering.

HeBen

Yeah 270rwhp sounds about right. I know suspension and weight distribution have a huge effect. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of wheels/tires to get. Your knowledge and input is very very helpful. Thankyou so much. Btw I'm also planning on upping the hp with intake, exhaust, ecu tuning... well at least those things maybe alot more. So should I maybe go to 15x10s with 11in wide drag radials? or what would be enough to really stick me down to the road after these mods without the overkill factor which I was so unwittingly going for?

HeBen

That's good to know. So I guess the 15x15 idea is pretty much shot down in flames by now. So the question is what should I go for to get the best possible traction for straight line as well as cornering with the hp mods I've got coming up?

LS69TA

iTrader: (30)

Drag radials aren't your best choice if you want to be doing hard cornering. They're made for drag racing and 'regular' street driving. I never took curves/corners insanely fast with my Nittos on the car. For the amount of power you have, a 275/50 Nitto 555R will be enough for your car. Also with drag radials, you're stock rearend is living on borrowed time. I'd just get a cheap set of drag rims and mount DRs on them for when you want to race or whatever. Then put some halfway decent tires on your stock rims for everyday driving.

HeBen

So is there any wheel/tire combo that'll keep me firmly planted in a drag race as well as on the freeway/on/offramps at high speed and still be better than stock for around town? I mainly want good performance on the freeway, including on and off ramps and taking a somewhat curvy freeway road at 140+, but I really like dragracing too. It seems there should be some tire/wheel combo that'll keep me on the ground no matter what I'm doing (within the laws of physics of course). Maybe I'm looking for something like nascar uses, but will those be good off the line? I saw some nascar rims on ebay. Should I get them? Man, finding the right tires and wheels is alot harder than I thought it would be.

Nsty98LS1

iTrader: (11)

wow!!!! i guess the 15x10s i just bought aren't enough. i'll have to order wider ones now. dammit.