Someone enlighten me on Tire pressure setups

Alright, lately me and Civickiller have been trying to figure out exactly how and why tire pressure setups work. We both understand that at a drag race, the lower tire pressure allows the tire to grip faster, but from his experiences, it also slows his 1/4 mile time down. While a higher tire pressure slows down his 60 foot time, it cuts down on his 1/4 mile time.

Now this is where I keep getting confused, knowing that a lower tire pressure should increase grip, or atleast at a track. I know it doesn't increase grip when you start turning. I have messed with tire pressures on my car, and at first before I tried reading anything on it, i figured i would set my tire pressures down and see how much more grip I would get. I was wrong, I lost grip. So I took the liberty to actually read something on tire pressures at www.SportCompactWeb.com and they helped some explaining it to me. But I'm still tryin to figure out why there is such a difference between drag setups and road racing setups. Anyone able to help me out here.

at a drag race, you want all of your grip on the start, races are won or lost in that first 60', while as in road racing, you need consitant grip throughout the race, not in a straight line.

Originally posted by crxlvr
at a drag race, you want all of your grip on the start, races are won or lost in that first 60', while as in road racing, you need consitant grip throughout the race, not in a straight line.

hmm..... i was wondering about this too, and i'm with scott..... cause it makes sence!!!

besides tire pressure, the type of tire is also very important
the tire's material & rating make them stick or take corners better, but i heard a set up of 30-35psi in the front and 35-40 in the rear is suppose to be ok cuz then the front tires wont have to drag the rear tires *supposely*

well if you are running street tires at a drag race, you run about 15-20psi up front and like 30-35 rear, no need to lower the pressure on non drive tires.

drag slicks you want at about 5-8psi for ultimate grip, since they have no tread, the more tire touching the ground the better.

when you drop tire pressure it is also ment to give you more sidewall flex . so that the walls give before traction. you realy dont want to go lower than 25 on street tires because the walls arnt made to handel that exesive flexing and also the tread will start to cup and you will lose tread contact

yes but also the increase in drag at once your at the later half of the 1/4. the lower tyre pressure only helps you launch where the tyrse slip. Once the tyres jave gripped and you moving the lower preasure increases roling friction.. drag... thats why your 60' times will be better and 1/8 - 1/4 worse..