Well Im looking at my tire choices for when I have to get new ones. I was going to get some Falken RT-615's because of the price/performance aspect. I do mostly drag racing however and so Im starting to wonder if they would be a good choice or not.

Now Im debating on whether or not to just get some drag radials. How many miles are people averaging on theres and what are our options? I drive my car alot during the summer but its garaged during the winter so it only see's 3-4kmiles a year. Right now I am running Ventus HRII's and they suck so anythings going to be better, but I dont have the money to get 2 sets of rims/tires.

 

A local only got 3000 miles on his RA-1s, but those are auto-x r-comps, not drag radials. On my 91 GS-T, I ran Nitto 555Rs as my daily drivers, and they lasted about 10k miles - that includes plenty of drag runs with 1.8-1.9 60's.

 

How are the 555's for a drag tire? Do they have a stiff or soft sidewall? One of the other reason's Im hesitant to run just drag radials is because of the overly soft sidewalls.

 

My buddy has about 4500 or so I would say on his MT ET Streets. This is on his 500whp/480 torque cobra. He has even done a few line lock burnouts at the track and he still has some good meat left on them.

I'm actually looking into those.

 

I think there are 555s and 555Rs, so keep that in mind. The 555R is a drag radial, so that would be a soft sidewall. If you want a drag radial, it's going to have a soft sidewall and not handle well, so be sure that's what you want to do before doing it. The 555Rs are not the best out there, but they were fine for my little FWD Eclipse turbo with around 270-280whp. It was running 12.5s at 110, so I think they'd hold up for you, but that's if you don't care about cornering.

 

the rt615's are fine... when i was trapping 115 they were hooking up fine on the track, but when they wore down and now im trapping 118/119 they dont hook as well

thats a 255/40

cheers!

 

I know people who run RA-1's... I've heard they are amazing tires, and totaly worth daily driving on.

I plan on doing so as well next time around, considering how dissapointed i am with the rt-615's.

 

my friend had bfg dr's on his sti and last him 12k with at least 40 drag pass's and lots of "closed course" racing lol

 

Off topic but why are you disappointed with the rt-615s?? I think they are a great tire..

 

i can guess, he has a giant turbo thats over powering them.... im overpowering the falkens with my stock 9 turbo....

 

So what options are there for drag radials? Most people I see are running the BFG's, is this cause there the best, cheapest, or are there just not alot of options?

I dont plan on doing much if any roadcourse or auto-x but I also dont want something that handles like complete crap either.

 

That seems incredible for a DR. How did he like them overall?

 

You just said your's were wore down though, lol.. I'm finishing up my 35R and will be running the 615s, so I'll let you know how they do..

 

Keep us informed, I really was ready to get these but the more I read the more I think they might not be ideal for drag.

 

RT-615s are great daily driver tires, but they are not good for drag racing. I mean, they are OK for stock or lightly-modded Evos doing hard launches, but up at your power level they won't be good. They have stiff sidewalls and are made for cornering, not launching. RA-1s are even better for cornering, but worse for launching, and will last half as long as RT-615s.

Mac using RT-615s with a 35R is gonna suck (for launching) unless you stick with pump gas and have weak torque.