I am shopping to replace the Streetable rear meats for the '70 Skylark Street Sleeper. 455 - M-22 4 Speed, 150 Shot N20, T/A no hop bars, 2.73 posi rear gear currently... The tire must be safest for street driving, not just "DOT / Street legal" for track, and offer the best traction for my set up. Not going back to BFG Drag Force, wear out too quick. Straw Poll: M&H Racemaster ROD16 - M&H Racemaster Radial Drag Race Tires http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mnh-rod16 Mickey Thompson 90000000972 - Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Tires http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mtt-3754r Nitto Tires 180300 - Nitto NT 555 R Tires http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nit-180300
I can tell you from experience the Nittos are a waste of money, M@H are awesome but only because they are so soft ie wear extremely quick. My vote is for the Mickeys, but the Hoosiers are a good option also
I added clarification above to the parameters of the tire search And a link to the tires at Summit. Hoosier is where I started my quest but struggled finding a street / highway safe tire in the size I am lloking for. Is there a Hoosier available I am over looking? The Hoosier DOT Drag Radial gets highest reviews but does not appear to be street / Highway safe.
If its a DOT (department of transportation) approved tire it should be street safe (well, as street safe as a DOT racing tire usually is anyway). This is good timing, I've been eyeing the MT's but I look forward to seeing what the consensus is here.
I would have already pulled the trigger on these, great reviews,etc, but no way would officer friendly let you drive away with these especially if he pulled you over for using them as intended http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hoo-17317/overview/
Ahh, I see what you're saying. Guess DOT doesn't necessarily mean "street legal" (which seems a little goofy, doesn't it? I mean, its department of transportation approved but not for street use? Kinda confusing). Learn something new everyday!
Here's some info on Drag Radials http://www.onallcylinders.com/2014/01/23/drag-radials-101-need-know-drag-radials/
3 drops of rain and any street legal drag radial is like having ice skates on. .. I had BFG's and never could get anywhere near consistent hook, in fact most times it didn't and that was with the old motor. Now have the MT ET Streets and hook about 90% of the time. Really don't drive them on the street much though .. any track near me is at least 3 hours round trip on horrible NY/NJ roads so I'd rather not waste them on getting there and back. I got caught out once years ago with the DR's on just going to a cruise nite and it rained on the way home .. scary !!
We have run the MT and the Nitto, and the MT's have done the best for our Buicks. Our best pass was on the M/T's, and they even moved about an inch on the rim. We couldn't hit the nitrous out of the hole though, had to hit that about 60'. But, like others said, they still aren't really any good for street driving. I am going to buy some slicks and some street tires for my cars. If I go to the track, slicks get it done. Driving, I'll have a nice wide full tread tire. At least this is my plan.
Here's a good, although few years old, article that breaks down what I've heard: Hoosier "legal" for street, but don't. Nitto gets you the most mileage, but at the expense of some ET (and maybe not as instant-torque friendly), and the rest fall somewhere between the two: http://www.stangtv.com/tech-stories...101-what-you-need-to-know-about-drag-radials/
...Sean...shhhhhhhhh, don't give away that you have a sleeper there if you are going to try and hustle on the streets...:TU:
After extensive research and deliberation, I decided to re-shoe with the Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Tires 275/60/15. Summit was best price for the pair to my door ~$441.00 Cheers!
I have tried them all and I can say without a doubt the Mickeys are the best. They also drive extremely well on the street.
Summit had them at my front door this afternoon! I think i'll grab another set of general purpose Radial tires to mount on the extra 15"x8" rims for general purpose / road trip / touring around as these M/T's are soft and sticky and will certainly serve their street sleeper & track purpose nicely.
Looks good! I went with 275-50-15 MT's, as I didn't want to kill my 3.42 ratio anymore than need be with the slightly taller 60's
