Largest Drag Radial on Stock 18's
01-07-2007, 08:28 PM
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alberto,
i think it was you (maybe not though) that posted in another thread that the BF DRs have weak sidewalls and aren't that great cold... So my question to you, or anyone that has experience with these is this: is it really possible to buy these as your street tire and use them all the time, even if you do some cold weather/hard cornering driving from time to time? I know the tread life isnt that long (someone said like 5k), but thats not my concern, rather I am concerned with the safety of using these as every day tires.. ( i also know rain is a problem, but I don't take it out in the rain, so no problems there).
Thanks in advance and sorry about hijacking the thread, but it seemed like your question was answered and I thought I would ask while these tires were being discussed!
i think it was you (maybe not though) that posted in another thread that the BF DRs have weak sidewalls and aren't that great cold... So my question to you, or anyone that has experience with these is this: is it really possible to buy these as your street tire and use them all the time, even if you do some cold weather/hard cornering driving from time to time? I know the tread life isnt that long (someone said like 5k), but thats not my concern, rather I am concerned with the safety of using these as every day tires.. ( i also know rain is a problem, but I don't take it out in the rain, so no problems there).
Thanks in advance and sorry about hijacking the thread, but it seemed like your question was answered and I thought I would ask while these tires were being discussed!
01-07-2007, 08:32 PM
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Originally Posted by UGOTZ'D
don't corner with drag radials like you would with normal street tires!
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01-08-2007, 04:25 AM
#8
Your tire will not roll off the bead if you corner hard, but you shouldnt be cornering hard on DR's in the first place. Everything with modding is a sacrifice. What you gain in straight line traction you lose in cornering ability/confidence. This doesnt mean you have to drive like grandma around corners, you can be a little spirited but as soon as you drive on them you will feel a difference. Up to you if that trade off is worth it to you. Many daily drive on DR's...
01-08-2007, 05:39 AM
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I used to have the BFG's DR mounted on my stock 18's year round. As long as you don't drive in the rain or snow you'll be fine. You won't loose control around corners, but you'll notice a difference. Like Alberto said, its a trade off.
01-08-2007, 08:01 AM
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if you try to turn your car on DRs you are not going to go flying off the road or have your tire come off your wheel or something.
transitional handling is the issue with DRs, not ultimate grip. A BFG DR will outgrip a normal Z rated max performance tire any day of the week if you were to do skidpad test on it assuming the temp is above about 45-50 degrees. If you do alot of slaloming of construction cones or road reflectors this may be an issue for you, otherwise it is truly not a big issue, just one that will be barely noticeable at the very edge of the street envelope, like going really hard around a bumpy, uneven highway cloverleaf exit or something. You can notice the difference a little bit if you are experienced with the car on a good handling tire and then compare it to a DR. Any normal, average driver is NOT going to be able to tell one bit of difference - experienced drivers (and by that I mean people experienced at driving their car at 10/10ths which is a very, very small number of people) will notice a bit of a difference, but it is nothing they'd throw their hands up and be like "Christ, take these tires off these things wallow like slicks" because they don't. The difference is quite subtle.
You don't want to drive the BFG DR in any significant rain though, the tread pattern is definately not made for water channeling and the tread is not molded deep enough even if it were. If you need a DR that can also handle some rain use, get the Nitto 555R DR, I've never been a big fan of Nitto tires but I bought a set of 555R DRs this year and was very pleasantly surprised. It can handle some rain use (not torrential downpours, but any normal amount of rain). It also has a bit stiffer sidewall than the BFG DR (still a little more soft than say a Toyo T1-S). I went from Toyo T1-S to Nitto DRs on my car and the difference was just enough to be noticeable by someone who has extensive road course experience (I've got alot of seat time). 99% of the people out there would never be able to tell the difference.
transitional handling is the issue with DRs, not ultimate grip. A BFG DR will outgrip a normal Z rated max performance tire any day of the week if you were to do skidpad test on it assuming the temp is above about 45-50 degrees. If you do alot of slaloming of construction cones or road reflectors this may be an issue for you, otherwise it is truly not a big issue, just one that will be barely noticeable at the very edge of the street envelope, like going really hard around a bumpy, uneven highway cloverleaf exit or something. You can notice the difference a little bit if you are experienced with the car on a good handling tire and then compare it to a DR. Any normal, average driver is NOT going to be able to tell one bit of difference - experienced drivers (and by that I mean people experienced at driving their car at 10/10ths which is a very, very small number of people) will notice a bit of a difference, but it is nothing they'd throw their hands up and be like "Christ, take these tires off these things wallow like slicks" because they don't. The difference is quite subtle.
You don't want to drive the BFG DR in any significant rain though, the tread pattern is definately not made for water channeling and the tread is not molded deep enough even if it were. If you need a DR that can also handle some rain use, get the Nitto 555R DR, I've never been a big fan of Nitto tires but I bought a set of 555R DRs this year and was very pleasantly surprised. It can handle some rain use (not torrential downpours, but any normal amount of rain). It also has a bit stiffer sidewall than the BFG DR (still a little more soft than say a Toyo T1-S). I went from Toyo T1-S to Nitto DRs on my car and the difference was just enough to be noticeable by someone who has extensive road course experience (I've got alot of seat time). 99% of the people out there would never be able to tell the difference.
01-08-2007, 03:15 PM
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wow ok thanks for all that info! alberto, i just assumed the nt01's were good by the reviews I read online, but i also liked the eagle's so im glad u mentioned that one as well. Now, with this new info Nealoc added, I am back at square one again with deciding whether or not to go with the DRs or just something like the eagles, haha... decisions decisions! To give you guys a better scope of where I am power wise, I am having the stillen stage 4 installed in april, so I wont be nearly where some of you guys are in power.. so maybe ill be good enough with just something like the eagles.. i dunno, i got some time to decide before the kit gets put on.. but thanks again to you guys for shedding some light on it!
01-09-2007, 10:01 AM
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JrForrester
I was the one who commented on the sidewall flex on BF Drag radials...
I by no way meant to imply they would fall off..If I did my apologies
I was just warning about all the mentioned above..you can't go racing people at high speeds through tight turns...like you would normally.
As the tire wamrs up this gets better, but I still wouldn't do it
Save them for the track and HOOk and GO
I was the one who commented on the sidewall flex on BF Drag radials...
I by no way meant to imply they would fall off..If I did my apologies
I was just warning about all the mentioned above..you can't go racing people at high speeds through tight turns...like you would normally.
As the tire wamrs up this gets better, but I still wouldn't do it
Save them for the track and HOOk and GO
01-09-2007, 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Datona Jess
JrForrester
I was the one who commented on the sidewall flex on BF Drag radials...
I by no way meant to imply they would fall off..If I did my apologies
I was just warning about all the mentioned above..you can't go racing people at high speeds through tight turns...like you would normally.
As the tire wamrs up this gets better, but I still wouldn't do it
Save them for the track and HOOk and GO
I was the one who commented on the sidewall flex on BF Drag radials...
I by no way meant to imply they would fall off..If I did my apologies
I was just warning about all the mentioned above..you can't go racing people at high speeds through tight turns...like you would normally.
As the tire wamrs up this gets better, but I still wouldn't do it
Save them for the track and HOOk and GO
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