I am planning on running at the local 1/8 mile soon and wanted to buy some steel wheels to mounts some BF Goodrich Comp T/A Drag Radials or some Nitto 555R Drag Radials.

Question 1: What would be a good size junker rim to buy? (17", 16", 15") These will be used strictly for drag racing. I know a limiting factor on the diameter will be the inner rim clearance on the brake caliper, and the width so I don't rub.

Question 2: What are your impressions on the above two brands of drag radials? I was cutting an average of 2.195s 60 foots on my last outting on worn out Potenza's at 22.5 psi (I had an all time best of 2.105s 60 foot).

I know there are some 2k2's and 2k3's that run a DR on rims other than their stock SE wheels. Please post your comments or experiences.

Thanks,

Elon!

 

The general internet consesus on these two drag radials is:

BFG offer more overall grip at the track, but wear faster.
Nitto do not grip as well, but last longer.
If these are track only tires then BFG is your best bet, if you want to run them everyday, Nitto is your best bet.
15's if they will fit over your brakes, 16's if not.

 

Funny you post this, I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out a good wheel/tire combo.

1) 15" wheels will not clear the calipers on your 2k2
2) BFG 16" dr's are 8.5" wide...Clearance is a huge issue w/wheels this wide, considering our oem wheels are wide already at 7"...
3) BFG 17" dr's are 6" wide, I doubt you want to go with a skinnier drive tire...

What you can do (which is what I'm thinking) is pick up some nice lightweight wheels -



These tip the scales at a svelte 15.9 lbs a piece, and will accomodate a BFG DR 225-50-17 (more on that below). $120 for above wheel, currently on sale at tires.com.

The 50 series dr provides the good width, and good sidewall for when you launch. Oh, and don't bother trying to look up the 225-50-17 BFG DR on the internet or mags...

Only reason I know they exist (they are priced at $129) is because my friend (with Blown Z06) buys DR's regularly, and being in the auto repair industry, he has contacts and has more of an inside angle on these things...

Im still trying to decide whether I should get wheel/dr combo (will drop the ET's) or go for the Cattman y pipe AND intake. I can't do both, $$ issues. The latter two mods are power mods obviously, and will give the car a nice kick in the a s s...But then again, wheel/tire combo never blew a MAF, or threw a SES light (like the intake/y pipe could possibly do)...Decision, decision...

Hope this helps...

Fernando

 

Fernando,

Thanks for the informative post. I will check out the Konig Traffiks. In looking thru the time slips, two names and times popped out; bluebyu2k2 and SR20DEN. They both have run 22x8x15 MT slicks. bluebyu2k2 uses a 15x7 TSW Revo wheel with the right offset to that it clears the calipers.

I am really trying to break into the 8's (1/8th mile) or the 13's (1/4 mile) with the DR setup. I will go sometime today and check on those BF Goodrich DR's in that size.

I appreciate the help!!

Elon

 

I use 15x7 TSW Revo's on my 02....Im not sure the offset b/c the boxes got thrown away but they fit and I have made plenty of passes with them. Now I just wished I would have had them on the night of my 13.72@99.9 it would have been nice to see what I could have pulled

 

That's right, the 13.7 was on street tires. Damn, that's pretty nasty! Sorry for the thread Hijack Elon.

One more note, if you walk into a reputable tire store, they most likely will have the oem equivalent size BFG DR that I was alluding to 225/50/17, it was in discount tire store I went to...So it's not like you can't buy them in that size, its just tough to do it via online ordering.

Fernando

 

Well, I took your advice and bought two Konig Traffiks from http://www.tires.com. They will hopefully be in by Friday of this week. And speaking of drag radials, I called http://www.tirerack.com because they didn't have the size I wanted in BF Goodrich g-Force drag radial listed (225/45-17) on their web site. Well low and behold they had them in stock for $128 each. They will be here sometime on Wedneday. So, if the Konigs get in before the end of the week, I will put them together on Saturday and run them Sunday. Hopefully it will help my 60 foots. Again, thanks for the advice!!

 

Good Stuff Elon! Happy it worked out. Don't you just love the org? Hopefully everything goes well, and this proves to be a worthwhile thing. Either way, post your times in this forum bro!

For reference, what's your personal best 60' and 1/4 time on street tires?? If it yields good results (2/10th's) I will definitely look to get the wheel/tire combo RIGHT AWAY. Please post pics of how your ride looks too, if you don't mind.

As it stand though, I will get around to wheel/tire combo sometime in the Summer when my et's are bound to suffer. For the time being, and against my own good judgement, I've decided to go for power mods. I have ordered the cattman y-pipe, and will be buying a cattman combo intake and b-pipe probably in May when I get a few nickels collected in the old piggybank.

I've got trips planned to FLA, Michigan, and the NICO meet in KY, so I've got some funds tied up

Ah what fun we have with our toys!

Fernando

 

great choice the BFG's are a lot stickier than the nitto's just don't drive on them too much unless at the track of they will wear quick.

 

On my stock Potenzas, Here is my best slip (local 1/8th mile):

R/T 0.841s
60' 2.105s
330' 5.913s
1/8th 9.037s
MPH 79.660

In the past year of running at this track, my averages have been as follows:

Month-----Feb '03-----May '03-----Jun '03-----Nov '03
R/T--------0.510-------0.849------0.675-------0.689
60'--------2.352s-------2.248s-----2.271s------2.195s
330'-------6.374s-------6.313s-----6.320s------6.043s
1/8th------9.648s-------9.606s-----9.629s------9.217s
MPH-------75.640-------75.130-----74.145------77.934

You can see pics of my car at http://www.cardomain.com/id/elon_hayes

I will post pics and slips from this weekend too.

 

I have run a best of 14.0@98 with that almost exact 1/8th mile time. 13's are there on the DR's if you run the 1/4.

 

can you clarify which exact 1/8th mile time you are alluding to? you are referring to his pb time right, not the other average times?

that almost made me jump out of my seat, hell I run 9.5's at 74, and haven't run low 14's

Elon, how the heck did you get a 2.1 on street tires, that's insane! Anyway, I think you can count on 2.0's consistently, the car has it in it, you just have to fine tune the launch. Good luck man.

 

Yes I was referring to the 9.0@79 I ran that exact time and trap and ended up with a 14.0@98. The 18's tend to hurt top end a little in my Auto but they help out on the launch with a wider footprint.

 

PM me an email address for you, I have a spreadsheet to keep up with every run I have ever done. I will send it to you.

The last time I ran, I had several good 60 foots; 2.152, 2.179, 2.105, 2.161, and 2.174. I launch between 2.5 and 3k slipping the clutch pretty quickly. It is an art to it. Slip the clutch too fast, I get mad wheel hop; slip it too slow and I get a 2.2 to 2.3 60 foot. I have been told I will have to relearn how to launch with the drag radials. Below are the general averages of all of my previous times compared to my new times with the same y-pipe you are buying (Cattman).

---------Pre Y-Pipe----Post Y-Pipe
Temp------67------------45
60'--------2.272s-------2.195s
330'-------6.323s-------6.043s
1/8th------9.626s-------9.217s
MPH-------74.442-------78.616

I know the 60' was not affected by the Y-Pipe, but the rest of the numbers were. This is not an exact apples to apples comparison though. The temperature was less, and the weight of the car was probably about 25 to 50 pounds lighter. My race preparation includes removing the passenger seat, back seat back and bench, spare, jack, tools, rear carpet mat and board, floor mats, and plastic engine cover. I also lower the front tire pressure to 22.5 psi and raise the back tire pressure to 40 psi. I also just run enough gas to get me to the track, down the track 5 to 15 times and then to the gas station. I would guess at 1/8th of a tank. The only other performance mod I have is a K&N panel filter.

 

I will send you my email via pm.

That's a startling increase in performance ! The trap speed is very indicative that the better weather, better breathing, less weight made a huge impact. The y-pipe probably contributed nicely to it, but the weight reduction I think made as much if not more of a diff, imo.

When I go to the track, I run with full interior, without mats/engine cover, and due to going alone sometimes, I can't ditch my spare/jack/tools.

I am going to the track soon, and accompanied, so I will be able to dump my spare/jack/tools with a bud, and will try your approach, and do the no rear carpet mat and board.

Yeah, I try to anticipate going to the track, so I can be as close to 1/4 tank as possible, but the dryest I've ever gone to the track is half tank.

I too have the drop in filter. If it ain't broke, dont fix it I guess. The car breathes good out of the hole, hits the wall (auto trans) when it goes into third gear ( around 80 mph), but with the ypipe, the mid 2nd gear range (60mph+) to the finish line hopefully will have more of a pickup.

I will be dragging in the Max on March 20th

Good luck to all this upcoming race season, hopefully everybody can keep their rides together for the long haul.

Elon, go get that 1.9xx 60' time!

 

I would like to know if 15s will fit on a 02 I have 95 gle wheels with the 555s on them and thay woun't clear my brakes so let me know

 

Hey, nice time in your sig! Could you explain what mods got you to a 13.61 @103.25mph ? Also a slip too, I'd like to compare your 1/8 mile time and speed to my 1/8th mile times and such. I'd love to say my 9.04s 1/8th mile at 79.66mph would be equivalent to breaking into the 13 second group.

Thanks!

 

I did get to run at the local 1/8th mile, but unfortunately, the lightweight rims did not come in time for me to get the drag radials mounted to. The strip was packed (200+ cars and 30+ Bikes).

Here are my runs:

Run--------#1--------#2--------#3--------#4
R/T--------0.587-----0.507-----0.559-----0.651
60'---------2.203-----2.177-----2.204-----2.204
330'--------6.119-----6.116-----6.168-----6.149
1/8---------9.291-----9.294-----9.353-----9.365
MPH--------78.42-----78.28-----78.07-----77.41

These were all at Huntsville Dragway on 2/22/04. The temp was about 60-65 deg F, humidity about 50% (est). I was running about 3 gallons of fuel, lightweighted (no front seat, back seat or bench, striped trunk, no jack, tools or spare), no engine cover. The front tires were at 22.5 psi and rears at 40 psi. 3000 rpm launch with feathering clutch out. Race #1 and #4 were against a 95 Eclipse GS-T with a big 16 turbo. Race #2 was against a 97 Mustang GT. Race #3 was against a monster mid 80's S-10 Blazer (which I barely beat). It was a good day!!

This is a pic of me against the GT.

 

those runs look equivalent to about a 14.2-14.3 @98-100. You will be in the 13's with the addition of DR's. Nice times

 

Your 60' are phenominal! Run # 2, kudos on timing it close to perfect. K and N and Y-pipe, simply amazing. Good work Elon, no doubt 8's are in store with the wheel/tire combo. Too bad they couldn't get them delivered. That just means you'll have to go back to the track when you get your combo ready, aww darn.

 

Will the 15' 95 se factory wheels fit over the brakes on a 00 SE Max?

 

Your best slip is very close to my best slip.

2.197
5.952
9.047 @ 79.37mph
13.982 @ 100.14mph

You got off the line better and were a little quicker to 330', we are identical to the 1/8th which means I was probably starting to pick up a little steam, you are still faster at the 1/8th by .3mph. I'd say your best slip is good for about 13.98-14.02. You're right there.

 

Any of you guys ever try Mazda Millenia wheels, I hear they're extremely light...

 

They won't fit over the brakes on a 2002. I have them.

 

What year Millenia are they off of, I've been lookin to get a set of these.

 

I bought them and they won't clear the calipers on the 02-03. Now Aaron92se has them

 

Are there any cheap lightweight wheels, 15's or 16's out there, OEM or not so I can mount a couple of slicks on them for the summer track days?

 

they where stock on the 95-96 base Millenia, 15x6, 11lb. Me and another member just went half and half on a set on ebay, he gets two and i get two. For $75 you cant go wrong. Now i have to get some BFG g-Force DR's.

 

Run Against '95 Eclipse GTS -Big 16 Turbo

 

Run with 97 Mustang GT