Tires, rims, traction and drag racing. Suggestions?

[Thor06]

I have been thinking a lot lately about tires, wheels, traction, and how they all affect drag racing. When I get my DSM, eventually I want either a SBR 50 or true 60 trim, depends on how power hungry I get (ideally 500hp, maybe not, but for sure well into the 400's). Anyway, it will be a 1g AWD. First off, rims. I was thinking about 15" rota slipstreams for track rims. The only thing is they are like 6.5" wide. What would be better, having the smaller rims, but narrower tires, or the taller rims, but wider tires? Is the traction of a wide tire worth the extra weight? What about racing tires? Are drag radials needed for an AWD car? If not, I was going to just get the slipstreams and some good street tires, but if drag radials are needed at 450+ hp, then I was going to get either two sets of slipstreams or one set of slipstreams and one other set (probably the 16" ones of a 2g). What do you guys think?

[Whathits14]

wider is better for traction....you should be able to get some rims made just for drag that will be small and wide. Drag radials are almost always better than normal tires, but if you are shooting for 400+HP some radials would make a difference.

[defiancy]

I think tires would make a small difference. But I would see slicks being more practical for a fwd or rwd as opposed to an awd vehicle. If you were putting some serirous power to the ground and your tires started slipping in an awd launch then I would think about tires.

[Thor06]

Yeah, I didnt want to shell out lots of $$$ for some of those short and wide rims though. OH MAN guys, I might be getting my own DSM soon! I have my 01 Cavalier that my brother is going to buy soon, so I just started looking for a good 90-91 DSM. I found one! But I wont tell you where so you go get it yourself! Anyway, its a white 5 spd with low miles and all original. I am going to call those MF's tomorrow and see if its still for sale, if so its home to the parents to explain to them that I will be getting a POS money pit like Mikes car and after much debating and telling them how much it will be a reliable college car ( yeah fuckin right) I will be off to Location X to pick up MY OWN FUCKING DSM! AHHHH! It'll still be parked for a while while I fix a few little things (if it needs it), clean the shit out of it, and star modding. Oh man guys I need to go to bed, but I dont know if I am going to sleep tonight. Do any of you have a bouncing leg when you are sitting down? Well, both of mine are going crazy right now. Probably tomorrow or the next day I am going to talk to my dad and I'll imediately run down stairs to let you all know what is going to happen.

[gthompson97]

you won't need drag radials on an awd for quite awhile, it'll be hard (if not impossible) to spin all 4 tires even with 400-450hp. i'd just go with a nice light set of say..17's with a nice wider tire like 235's or something.

[scottsee]

Tires make a large diffrence at the track. Changing the diameter will effect the gear ratios, odometer, ride height wich will effectivly chagne your verdical weight transfer durring lanches.

The more width you have though the better off you are. More contact paths for all that HP/TQ to find its way to the ground.

[northriverflames]

I agree with scottsee....although awds do have some traction problems, they arent near as bad as a fwd or a rwd, but if i launch my awd too hard the back end will come loose on the track and give a slight fishtail. In my opinion i wouldnt worry about tires and rims until your running 12s/11s on stock tires...

P.S. unless you have a lsd int he front your never going to spin all 4 tires, you can spin three but not four!

[Thor06]

The LSD is only in the back? Gay! Oh well. Ok, so should I try to find a good compromise, say 16-17's?

[northriverflames]

If there was a lsd in the front you would be replacing axles alot...the locking of the axles would not work since the tires spin at different speeds while cornering. Therefore there is no lsd in the front. You can put one in the front but it is not recommended unless your car is strictly for the track!

[Saleen85]

You can get some nice Weld wheels, like the domestic guys run, in a 15x7 or 15x8, specific for drag racing. Very light, and wide enough for some wide sticky tires.

As far as spinning all four, it can be done. at 20psi, all 4 of mine spin, and I don't have an LSD in the front. I've got more than one witness, and more than one occassion at the track. With the current cold weather, I am spinning at 15psi. The poor man's LSD in the front, is a welded viscous coupling.

Rob

[Saleen85]

Originally Posted by northriverflames

If there was a lsd in the front you would be replacing axles alot...the locking of the axles would not work since the tires spin at different speeds while cornering. Therefore there is no lsd in the front. You can put one in the front but it is not recommended unless your car is strictly for the track!

You're thinking of a spool. There is a difference between the two.

[Thor06]

I just thought that they would put a LSD front and back, I dont really care that much. If I wait until 11's for drag tires, I'll be waiting a while so maybe I will try a some short and wide rims (like the Weld's previously mentioned) and put some decent street tires on. What do you think? Should I stagger the rims, like maybe 7" wide up front and 8" in the back? How wide should I go?

[i1nk83]

the 3kgt/stealth's come w/ 16x8's. they are kinda heavy but you can put a hella big tire on there. they are fairly common an cheap. that might be a choice for yah.

[Thor06]

Oh fuck yeah! I'll definately hit that up thanks man. The car I am looking at has the shitties looking rims ever. They are the swirl ones that came on some Talons. They look ok, but these are rusted and shitty looking. Thanks man I appreciate it.

[ez1286]

So did you get the car?