Okay, so maybe I'm nuts.

My stock steel wheels have snow tires on them right now. I don't know what they are rated, but its somewhere around 90 +/-2 mph.

I want to use my stock wheels to see if I get any improvement over the 17's. From what I've been told I should be able to gainfrom just switching wheels.

Racing theBlue, I would always watch him launch a he1l of a lot better than me...and I'd always play catchup. I figure if I can get a launch like him (which I blame mostly on the wheels) I could be close to low 14.6's, maybe 14.5's.

Would snow tires do me any good on the track? Or would they really suck.

Would it be dangerous to use these tires, because my trap speed is usually in the 92-95 range?

 

You need to check the speed rating on your snow tires (S, T, H?). You're probably OK but double check anyway. Look up the rating at tirerack.com to find maximum speeds. Also they have a good explanation of how to read tire codes in general.

As for doing any good...probably not. Snow tires are good for snow traction, with deep wide grooves, made of a hard compound. Your Kumhos are much better suited for drag racing. Any gains you get from the lighter, smaller wheels will be offset by a loss of traction at the starting line.

 

Well, I take it back, the tires are Q rated, which is good for 99mph, which I don't think I'll be hitting at the track anytime soon.

 

Times are guaranteed to be slower. Snow tires are not ideal for dry surfaces. M+S tires will perform better than snow tires. If you want to get serious, get racing slicks.

 

my tires are 'T' rated which is suppose to be 118mph. what would happen if you go faster than what is rated? will they just start tearing apart or something?

 

I've always been under the assumption that you can go fast than a tire's rating as long as you are only going is a str8 line, it's when you go to turn that the rating is really imporant. Think about it, what is the worst that can happen, they are not going to fall apart on you... the stopping distances may be worst.

And I don't think that anybody here has ever run on snow tires so they are all just guessing... try em out if you want and see what happens.

 

I think a tire has to be able to sustain its rated speed for something like 10 minutes.

blue, I might try some day...we'll see. I don't want to tear up the snow tires if I don't have to.

I could always steal your wheels.

 

The ideal thing you want in a drag tire is that it does not slip. The snow tire will slip more than your regular tires. (Yes, even if your originals are Toyos or RE92s!!!!)

The winter tire is made to eat through snow and slush and ice and crap like that, not dry asphalt grip

So they will not help you.

 

I have tried drag racing with snow tires on my I35 twice. Once was a winter drag race and i was runner up. (dragway 42 Hangover nats.) The other time i was experimenting like you. Once you break the tires loose they spin forever. I stayed in the throttle for a while because the car usually hooks back up. Not with snow tires. I got out of it around 150 ft in because they were still spinning. At the winter race they worked ok. I was peddleing the car a lot but so was everyone else. We only had to run a 20.12 dial in. The track was wet, it was cold and slippery. So i would not use snow tires for summer drag racing. I wouldnt worry about the speed rating because pretty much all tires can withstand a short burst of speed.

 

WOW! A bump from 2001! How do you newbies even find these threads? I mean, really?