Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Dyno and Drag Best Launching technique w/ Quaife?

I am not sure what you are calling a real street tire but a drag radial definately is. They have tread that looks like most other street tires and are a steel belted radial that is Z rated. My DRs stood up to 15,000 miles of abuse without rotating which is over half the life of my KDW's or any other tire I have had on this car that were rotated every 5000 miles. In addition they are DOT approved so you need to rethink what you call a real street tire. I think but am not sure that Brad N had 60' times only slightly slower than my 2.04's on a non drag radial street tire. Also for what it is worth traction is still very limited with drag radials, it is very difficult to be consistent my car still suffers from bogging if you launch to low or spinning if you launch to high.

C'mon, a drag radial is a drag tire. Sure it can be used on the street, and it is DOT approved, but comparing 60 foot times on a DR and the tires I have is apples to oranges. It's a tire purposely designed with drag racing in mind, within the paramaters of DOT specifications. I doubt Bridgestone was thinking drag racing with the RE730, or Firestone with the SZ50, or Goodyear with the Eagle GS-C, etc.

I do have a question though: How much benefit did you see with the DR compared to a "regular" street tire? I'm just wondering what kind of 60's I could put down with DRs. I get the "on those tires? " reaction a lot when discussing my times with people at the strip. Of course, if they only knew I wasn't driving the car to its full potential (granny shifter, I admit it freely).

Oh, I'm also not saying I'm the king of launching either. I'm sure there are people out there that can put down better 60's than me. But hey, if you are doing 2.1x or better in a Contour (or New Cougar) then you are doing a darn good job and deserve kudos. Even more so if handicapped with a tire not purpose built for drag racing. That's all I'm trying to say, really.

I am going to assume from your comments you have never driven a car with drag radials or one with a tire that was designed with nothing but racing in mind. The drag radial has one advantage over what you refer to as regular street tires and that is the relatively soft rubber compound. Yes it is possible to achieve fairly good results with a drag radial but I will assure you that it is still a big compromise from a true race tire. I have said this before and will say it again if you are not willing to abuse your car you aren't going to go fast. Our cars are heavy and have small motors without a great deal of torque so it takes rpm and lots of to go fast. Even with drag radials you will not be able to launch without spinning your tires. I have run quite a few passes in the 14.5-14.6 and have rarely had a launch without the tires spinning or bogging the motor. I can't tell you how much of an improvement the drag radials make because I haven't been to the track without them. If it ever cools off down here I will be able to tell you how much improvment a true race tire makes.

CB is ur car on a serious diet. Or is ur driving that good.!!

No diet at all, the only thing I remove is my spare tire, jack, and sub from the trunk. The times in my sig were with just headers, Quaife, K&N drop in filter and drag radials. The car weighs 3070 lbs with me in it according to the scale at Houston Raceway Park.

ah...thats strange my car weighed 3300 with me in it.