So I just went to the drag strip, had a blast, just posted about it. Super.

I noticed that lots of cars had slicks(not too many imports tho). Any of you use slicks? I'd really like to be able to spin em like crazy like that so they get nice and sticky. I've found that, tonight anyway, launching was a major problem due to me spinning my tires. I dropped my starting rev to 1500 and I'd still get some rotation before they caught.

So anyway. Slicks? yae or nae?

If so. What kind? Some of the muscle cars had slicks so big that I don't think they'd fit on a Z. hah.

 

I am only at the point that I have my 350Z Enthusiast on order. So I have just started researching this traction at the drags issue. Anybody feel free to jump in here and correct my thinking, but this is what I think so far. Have you considered drag radials instead of slicks (which are illegal for the road – getting to the track)? I have the 17 inch wheels and want to stay with them for drag racing. I think I’m going to get a couple of new rims (still 17 in.) for the back tires and mount drag radials on them. They can be legally driven to the drag strip and then I’ll just put the stock rear rims and tires back on the next day. That way I’m confining the extra wear to the drag radials and all 4 OEM tires should continue to wear evenly. At this point I’m leaning toward BF Goodrich Drag Radials Comp T/A 275/40/17. The tech guy at discount tires direct says I can mount them on 8 in. wide rims (he said they’d do ok on the stock rear rims as well) with no problems and no problems with the antilock brakes, traction control system, or otherwise. These drag radials supposedly have very good traction for the drags, but wear very quickly so just using them at the drags and the oem tires/rim for the daily commute seems to make sense. Somebody also suggested the Nitto drag radials, but someone else suggested the BFGs are better. The discount tires direct tech says the 275/40/17 BFGs have a tire/rim overall height of 25.7 inches compared to the stock rear tire/rim height of 26.0 inches. So that’s very close to OEM height but, in effect, gearing the car slightly lower – which is good at the drags anyway. This setup won’t be exactly great for handling in curves (or wet conditions), ha, but it’s just a “weekend” at the drags strategy to get near slicks traction, but still very drivable on the street. I’d appreciate hearing guys with drag racing experience give their take on this.

 

That's a good strategy.

I use drag slicks myself (cause I got a good deal used). Mickey Thompson ET Streets, on 16" rims. They ARE street legal, but wouldn't want to be on anything but dry pavement with them going to and from the track.

The 16s fit fine on non-brembo cars, but I use a 1" spacer to clear the brembos on mine. I dropped about .4 seconds with them.

 

Thanks for the info. Your ETs still have a little tread, right? Enough to get you to the track and back legal and still kickin'? ha. Are the BFG drag radials that I mentioned about as good as drag radials get in the size I'm getting. I hope to have very good traction even later when I add a Vortech or, perhaps, Dream Workes (if this turns out to be as good as advertised) forced induction system. And headers, RT hi flow cats, true dual exhaust, and UR pulleys. Do you think my traction will still be very good with all those mods?. Or should I go to the ET slicks from the get go in order to cover future mods? I'd like to keep it decently drivable on the street if possible even though the drag radials will always serve only ultra short term episodes of (hopefully) explosive rapture. (My last qtr. mile racer was a '90 Mistubishi Eclipse AWD turbo - so traction was a much smaller issue.) Thanks.

 

Go with 16 in wheels & the MT ET Streets! There's more sidewall and you're going to need it.

 

I don't know about drag radials, never used them. The ET Streets do have some tread though and are legal. Kind of floaty at high speeds, I think thats a function of tire pressure though.

 

Thanks for the info! This and other feedback leads me to believe that I may need more tire than even the BFG g-force drag radials. Any suggestions on where I can get a good price on new MT ET slicks? I couldn’t find them on the Tire Rack or Discount Tires Direct website.

How do the MT ETs hold up mileage/time wise. I don’t expect them to be high mileage tires. Just a rough approximation. Weekend excursions 30 miles to the track, 3 to 6 qtr. mile runs or so, back home. Put stock rear tires back on the next day.

Do you have any suggestions for 16 in. wheels (only need 2 rear wheels, probably just run stock tires/wheels on front) for the MT ET slicks that work well with the 350 Z - fit right with no problemos with the traction control (keep it turned off at the track, natch) and ABS, light, strong, not too pricey, look good)?

 

16" Weld Prostar XP's (8.5) work well with the MT ET 26 by 10 or 11.5's. I have the 11.5's which entail "rolling" the fender well slightly (not a big deal)! The Weld's are about $210 each & you can find the tires for about $170 each. I first tried BFG drag radials(18") and had no success with them! I would not consider driving 30 miles on MT ET's. If it even thinks about raining you're dead!!

 

will this rim work on the track model Z or do I need to add the spacer as mentioned above ?

I also noticed that Weld sells the Draglite XP in the same size for the same price but it is 2 pounds lighter( 18 vs 20 lb)

Also MT carries a Street ET 27 by 10.5 that as far as specs, looks like a better tire for the Z ? It is a an inch taller and a bit wider plus made for the 8.5 rim .

 

So what kinds of 1/4 miles have you guys put down with these DRs and Slicks?

With 104-106 traps i keep seeing on this board, it seems traction is the only thing keeping an NA Z from hitting 12s.

 

my best is 13.86 at 99, only used them once, and its not a fast track, according to everyone who runs there.

As for wheels, mine are mounted on pontiac grand prix wheels, and I definitely need the spacers with brmebos. Probably with any 16, You need to bring most of the rim out past the brakes.

 

R U using the 26x10.5 MT Street ETs on those gp rims or some other size ... do you know how wide the inside of those rims are ?

 

I do have a "Track" model and the Prostar XP fits. (made for big brakes) Needless to say, I can't tell you for sure if the Draglite fits!! I have lowered (Eibach) mine so the 26 inch was a necessity. If I had not lowered the car , rolling the fender wells would not have been needed. I wanted as much tire on the pavement as possible so I went with the 11.5. In all honesty, the MT is about the same width as my 275/40/18 rear daily driver tires.
If you order the above wheels, be sure and tell them they are going on a Nissan. (different lug nuts) These same wheels fit on the 03 Cobra - you just need different nuts.(bolt patterns are identical) Oh yea, you do not have to use spacers!!
Best 60 ft with above= 1.62

 

they come with lug nuts ? is that part of the cost or extra .... can I use my original lug nuts ?

WOW .... 1.62 ..... 60ft......... that is what I am looking for.

So far the best 60 ft I got was 1.86 with the BFG G-Force Drag Radial on my track rims. I really doubt I can beat that with my current set up. That is why I am looking for slicks

 

OK…now you have my attention. 1.6 sec. 60 ft. times equal my best with my ’90 HKS Stage VI + Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX with all wheel drive. And that’s where I want to be as that car did have a great launch. And that felt like coming off the line like a bat outta hell on my subjective seat of the pants launch meter. And thanks for the feedback on the limitations of the BFG drag radials. I think the BFGs would be fine in the short run, but inadequate when I start getting the car to where I ultimately want it to be. Getting to the track is the only problem (30 miles each way) as I don’t want to have to pull it on a trailer. I guess I could change wheels at the track and then back again before I leave, but I’m rehabbing a shoulder injury and am not up to that with the old lug wrench. Any suggestions?

 

How would you be changing the wheels @ home? Do you have an impact wrench or something?

You could look for an electric impact wrench. That would allow you to change things easily at the track. I use a cheapo craftsman jack that I can roll under the rear diff. I can get both rear wheels off the ground @ once with that (be sure to be on a flat surface and have the front wheels chocked). The jack fits in a small plastic case (jack handle is removable) so it is fairly portable.

Anyhow, something like that might make it so you only need to jack up the car once and might help your shoulder.

Uhhh, just realized that you still have to get the tires in and out of the car. That's probably the biggest problem. Eh, so maybe my idea is lame, sorry.

Maybe stick with the BFG tires for starters until you get your car all setup, and then switch over to the ET's. That might give your shoulder time to heal.

Good luck!

-D'oh!

 

daddy z

You cannot use your original lug nuts! The Weld lug nuts have a much longer shaft and they were part of my package deal. I got both the wheels and tires from an outfit out of Florida.
I too went with the BFG's at first for the simple reason of not wanting to buy more rims. Your 1.86 is better than I ever got when I used that setup. I see that you're also running n20, the 16" ET's will allow you to come off the line @ 6000 rpm's with the bottle open.

D'oh

I too have one of those jack's and it's well worth it. I'm only 2 miles from the local track so I put them on at home. If I travel farther, you need 2 vehicles and preferably not 2 350z's!!

 

yes, I'm guessing they are an 8" rim, but i don't know. I would go with those prostar rims though. Not needing spacers is nice.

 

Do you have an web site or phone number or business name for the Florida location ? The price you mentioned is the best I've come across so far.

p.s. I am running the ATI supercharger so it is not as bad as N2O when it comes to lauching.

 

Another thing to think about is that Slicks are really hard on axles, so after a number of runs be prepared to snap one. Unless you are pushing some serious power just get a good set of BF Drag radials. I plan to get some mounted on my 17" enthusiast wheels.