Drag Radials on the Street??

[Zoom This]

For all of you who run BF Goodrich Drag Radials on the street I'm looking to find out a little about their performance. Other than getting a good launch, do the tires provide any other attributes like....fair to good dry pavement traction in corners....tracking on the freeway good with drag radials on the front and back of the car? Any other characteristics, good or bad about running drag radials on the strreet front and rear??

[StephenC]

I obviously have not used these tires as I have not yet installed an engine.

But, I am the member of another Cobra replica forum where there was an extensive discussion about using drag radials on the street.

Everyone who seemed to have any knowledge of these tires (and tires in general) was in agreement (something that rarely happens). They are definitely not for street use and to use them away from the strip would be a serious safety risk. Even the manufacturer is adamant about this. Apparently, the cornering ability is next to nil and the sidewalls also create problems on the street.

Above all else, always be safe out there. Our hobby can't take many more "events" or else insurance will become almost impossible to find.

Second Thoughts: I now see you're an SPF owner, but I checked the member list and you are not a member of SCOF. Join the SCOF, it's a great place to find SPF specific info. With CC and SCOF you have the best of both forums (they are different). Do a search of SCOF for more info on this topic.

Hope this helps.

[Randy Rosenberg]

Talk to Mark on Saturday @ breakfast - he just put a set on his CSX4000 a few weeks ago...

See ya,
Randy R...

[gsharapa]

Steve C,

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on the B F Goodrich Drag Radials on the street. I do agree they are not for road racing or hard cornering, so if that is what some are planning, do not go with drag radials. But if your nitch is crusing around and an occasional burst of straight line performance they work very well.

This is my 4th Cobra with another high powered engine and these are the first tires I've seen that can handle the power on the street. 325/50/15s. I feel much more secure with these then regular radials that won't hold the car at all!

See my gallery for pics!

[BlackBDR]

Zoom This,

I run 315/35-17 Extreme Drag Nitto's on the street. They handle great on the twisty mountain roads in our area. They hook up wonderfully off the line but I only have 322.6 hp at the rear wheels. Nitto says they should last 15,000 with "normal" street driving. I think I'll be able to squeeze 7500 miles out of them (their treadwear rating is 100 vs. 60 or none for some of the other drag radials). The sidewalls are stiffer than the BFG as well. There was a guy at Snakes at the Lake last year that ran them on all four corners and loved them.

Good luck, John

[StephenC]

Gary:

Thanks for the info, you're not disageeing with me as I was just passing along info others had provided.

I did go to the BF Goodrich website and they are described as providing "streetable handling", whatever that is.

I'll go back and do some checking. Maybe the discussion was not about the BF Goodrich product.

Sorry, if I steered anyone in the wrong direction, it wasn't intentional.

Thanks again.

[JAM1775]

They reason they are called Drag Radials is they are mostly designed for straight line bite . They ARE safe on the street . I have been riding on BFG DR's for 4 yrs, on my second pair and I love them. If your car is basically a street strip car they are great dry pavement tires. I have been caught in the rain 2X and drove slowly...avoiding problems. If you do not respect your power rain is always dangerous...worse on DR's . My car is only out on sunny days. On a road track or Autox DR's are not the choice , there are way better tires , no doubt BFG DR's were not designed for road racing. They are designed for the street/strip. But despite my "spirited" steet driving I have never felt these tires were pushed beyond or even near their limits. I have been in emergency situations and got my car straight with no concerns. I am constanty on highways. We have all seen Cobras go sideways.....DR's are designed to track straighter than regular radials on straight line hard accel. They do that which makes me feel safer when I get on the throttle. . I run Comp TA's up front (now they may need improvement!) . The BFG DR's also allow you to become familiar with your car.... in street trim... when you take it to it's launch limits at the track. I also like Nitto's in fact the Extremes seem real good from what I've heard. . What tire you select should depend on how you have your car set up for what type of driving both on public roads and sport competitions you intend to use your car . They do not keep tread long but once "illegal" they are designed to still have plenty of rubber for the track. They last about 5000 miles which for me is 2-3 yrs but after winter sits in the garage I'd swap for new tires anyway after that time. But the DR's do keep you planted when you play !

[dalola]

I ran a pair of BFG's on the back of a Mustang for several summers, and I loved them. Not sure how all 4 corners with d/r's would feel, but with two in the back, the Mustang handled fine, in "normal" type driving. As others have said, for corner carving, prolly not a good choice. But, for cruising and straight line grip, without scary handling(ie: DOT's), they are great. Of course they have limitations, all tires do. But I've found they perform exactly as advertised.

My $.02.

~Dave

[scottj]

The Cadillac that won the Car Craft real street eliminator competition a year ago, which included an autocross, did it on Nitto drag radials. He also runs the Caddy at Blackhawk and Road America (in the 2:40's) with them. Nitto said they would present no problems even on a sled like a Caddy.

Considering the that the Caddy weighs much more than a Cobra and that it runs faster than most Cobras at RA, I'd say the Nittos perform well.

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eve...0309_wideopen/

http://www.carcraft.com/eventcoverag...al/index5.html


Scott

[scootter]

Not to bring up a different one, but I am running the Goodyear F1 super car on mine with a 514. They hook up great in straight and cornering(to me).