[Shanes13]

I am absolutely stumped... I can manage to launch on the street with minimal tire spin and almost zero wheel hop. I go to the track and its like I am totally opposite... wheel hop in each gear... wheel spin like crazy... and I avoided the water trap, burn outs... tire pressure adjustments... nothing has worked... anybody got a guess... why such a huge difference from the street to the track???

I really don't want to get drag radials as this is my daily driver... I have heard Nittos are a nice compromise..

 

[dodge boy]

If your serious about going to the track I would suggest you get a separate set of 9x17 Cobra replica wheels and a pair of 275/50/17 drag radials just for the track, I'm sure that would help.

 

[70barcuda]

On street tires it is difficult to get a good launch at the track, I basically just ease it out of the hole then roll into the throttle. The trick is giving it just enough gas to accelerate quickly while not too much to break the tires loose. Given enough practice at it you will get the feel for it. Of course it helps if they prep the track well, but a lot of times on tune and test days they don't go all that heavy on the traction compound. My suggestion is the same as dodgeboys, if you don't want to spend a bunch of money just keep your eye's open for some used drag radials and Cobra rims, they come up for sale fairly often.

 

[Shanes13]

That's just it, I was able to make several runs trying different techniques... just could not get it sorted out. I am tire shopping tonight... lol

 

[cdahl383]

I gave up running my car on street tires. It was the same for me, I'd spin, hop, or bog, could never get it right. My 60fts were never better than 2.2. Hard to get a good ET with a crappy 60ft like that.

One day I'm going to just spring for a set of 17" wheels and some M&H's. It's just too much of a PITA to try and hook up on 20" wheels with street tires.

Keep us posted if you get a set of wheels and tires. I'd be interested to see how your car responds with a good set of tires on the back and what launch technique works best for you in the end.

 

[Black Voodoo]

To the OP, same advice as above, and to add, please spend the extra $$ and don't buy the Nitto's. M&H, Hoosier, even BFG gForce over Nitto's.

 

[cdahl383]

I found some Cobra R rims on Craigslist for cheap and looked up the price of two M&H drag radials in 275/50/R17 size. Looks like they're around $250-275 a piece depending on where you look. Figure about $100-200 for rims and $500 or so for drag radials. $700 or less should get you a nice set of drag radials on a separate set of rims.

Checked around with a lot of guys on here and they all seem to love the M&H's on Cobra R wheels. The Weld RTS rims are really sharp but they're $450 a rim! No thanks!

 

[Shanes13]

To the OP, same advice as above, and to add, please spend the extra $$ and don't buy the Nitto's. M&H, Hoosier, even BFG gForce over Nitto's.

The BFG G-Force ---- are you referring to the Comp 2's? It seems the Comp 2's have some decent reviews... They are even decently priced online at 161$ a tire...

 

[cdahl383]

Do any of you guys running the M&H's on 17" rims experience any wheelhop issues? I don't have the hopnot kit on my car, wondering what will happen if it actually hooks up decent.

 

[dodge boy]

Do any of you guys running the M&H's on 17" rims experience any wheelhop issues? I don't have the hopnot kit on my car, wondering what will happen if it actually hooks up decent.

For the most part I'd have to say no, I did have one time at Atco when I did get some wheel hop but it wasn't all that bad but then again I have an automatic. Livingston 36 has M&H DR's with a 6 speed and doesn't have any problems with wheel hop.

 

[cdahl383]

Yeah I thought Livingston was running the same setup and thought he mentioned how he didn't have issues with wheelhop. That's good to know. I guess with 17" rims you have more sidewall to flex on top of running lower psi (17-20psi vs 32-35psi) so that eliminates some of the shock to the rear suspension.

 

[dodge boy]

Yeah I thought Livingston was running the same setup and thought he mentioned how he didn't have issues with wheelhop. That's good to know. I guess with 17" rims you have more sidewall to flex on top of running lower psi (17-20psi vs 32-35psi) so that eliminates some of the shock to the rear suspension.

I believe He is running 17 - 18 lbs on his DR's and around 40 up front with his skinnies.

 

[cdahl383]

I ran 18-19 psi in my M/T's on my Nova and that seemed to work well. Hopefully I can get these Cobra R rims from this guy and then order up some drag radials for this spring. I'd like to see what my car can really do with traction. On those 20" chrome clads it's a total joke trying to launch.

 

[Drag Pak]

Anyone consider putting DOUBLE Adjustable shocks in to cure your traction/wheel hop issues?

 

[cdahl383]

Would those be any good for street driving? I have adjustable drag shocks on my Nova but that's just a fun weekend car. I drive the Challenger every day.

 

[Drag Pak]

Would those be any good for street driving? I have adjustable drag shocks on my Nova but that's just a fun weekend car. I drive the Challenger every day.

I can't see why great shocks would not be better for street.(a bit more pricey than non-adjustable). Just turn them back to 50/50 for street use. Don't try to cheap out on somewhat adjustable or it is a waste of money. The shocks MUST have fully adjustable (adjuster knobs top and bottom) rebound and compression settings to make it worthwhile.

I mount my fronts with one side having the adjuster knob facing forward and the other with it facing rearward, for adjuster access with the wheels turned fully one way only.

Look at the F.A.S.T. cars and see their amazing results with skinny street tires.


http://fastraces.org/

I believe you should be able to plant a stock/street tire with good shocks.

 

[Shanes13]

A lot of great info.... I am thinking about hooking up my Diablo and finding a straight stretch of road (out of the way of course)... see if I can get a decent 1/4 mile recording on the Diablo tuner... I have hardly any issues on the street with launch or wheel hop.... I read on other threads the diablo is pretty close on accuracy...

 

[cdahl383]

Make sure you have lots of room and the road is smooth. You'll get up to 100-106 mph or so, takes some time to slow down from that speed.

 

[Shanes13]

Make sure you have lots of room and the road is smooth. You'll get up to 100-106 mph or so, takes some time to slow down from that speed.

Yeah, I have a buddy that has scoped out an area that he uses for high speed runs.. Apparently traffic is non-existent on the stretch he found.. Fortunately my EBC Sport rotors haul this thing down pretty quick...lol.

I hit 107+ on my first trip to the track before my mods... so I am hopeful for a little more. I am still looking for tires that will help my cause on the track....

 

[cdahl383]

Cool man. There's some good spots by me but they're all further away out in the country.

Have you checked out the new tune from Sean at Hemifever? He just did some recent unlocks and was able to reduce torque management down to hardly nothing. I loaded it on my car and it runs way stronger now, and you can really feel the power in 1st and 2nd gear now with no torque management dumbing it down. Might be something to look into before you go to the track again too. Think it was $125 for two tunes (one race tune and one street tune, I just left the race tune on because its so much fun!). Problem is if you have traction issues now you'll really have them with that tune haha!