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Question About Traction...

4K views 44 replies 10 participants last post by  cdahl383 
#1 ·
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..
 
#2 ·
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.
 
#3 ·
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.
 
#4 ·
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
 
#5 ·
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.
 
#7 ·
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!
 
#8 ·
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...
 
#10 ·
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.
 
#11 ·
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.
 
#12 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
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.
 
#16 · (Edited)
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.
 
#17 ·
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...
 
#19 ·
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....
 
#20 ·
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!
 
#23 · (Edited)
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!
Do I have to worry about TQ management? I thought that was an Automatic transmission thing....

Couple of places around here have been good for 130-140 mph... lol.

I will have to contact Sean, he sent me a custom tune a while back. It would be interesting to see if he has anything to trump what I have now....
 
#24 ·
He posted a thread up a couple weeks ago about some new tune unlocks he found, mostly being torque management reduction. I didn't think my car had much of that being a stick shift, but apparently it did, it runs like a raped ape now, way more power off the line. I'd check with him, see if the update also applies to your car (mine is a 2010 5.7L).

Haha that's cool, think the fastest I've gone in my car is 110 mph so far. Haven't had it anywhere where I felt safe going that fast yet (too much traffic, bumpy roads, etc).
 
#25 ·
Street tires are a total handicap at the strip. I had to go half throttle in 1st and 2nd gear to not wheel hop with my 6 speed on v6 17s, 18" nitto 555s I could go half in 1st and 3/4 in 2nd.

If you have a 6 speed bias ply slicks are the best thing for it 17s minimum 15s even better. Solid cradle mounts are the next big thing, then 70/30 or 90/10 front shocks or adjustables if you have the money ( I have AFCOs) remove the front sway bar helps too.

If you are looking for cheaper priced lightweight wheels racestars make 17s and 15s for about 270 new with our bolt pattern and are half the weight of the cheaper cobra Rs.
 
#26 ·
My best 60ft on street tires was 2.15, but my average was 2.25 with some up into the 2.3 and 2.4's. Really crappy. I know my car is faster than a 13.8 but that's all I can get out of it on street tires.

So you think slicks would work better than the drag radials? I've heard slicks are better for sticks and drag radials better for autos, something to do with how the suspension and tires are shocked at launch, not sure how true it is though.

I'll have to check out those racestars. Even at $270 a rim though that adds up fast. That's $550 roughly for rims and then $550 for new drag radials/slicks so $1100. I can probably get two new replica Cobra R's for $240 or less shipped to my door and keep it around $750-800 for a set of drag radials/rims. It's too bad they don't make more available rims in the 5x115mm bolt pattern that are reasonable.

Where do you get the solid cradle mounts from? How much of a change in ride on the street does that provide (stiffer ride, not much difference, etc)?

Good info here!
 
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