26" or 28" tires

[GHawz13]

What are the better size tire for driving on the road w/ occasional track time BFG drag radial 275/60/15 or 275/50/15 and these are on stock wheels.

 

[UNGN]

With GN Wheels, 275/60's will rub less/require less spacer if spacers are required. They will also hook better on slippery track.

Nitto 275/60's are probably what you are looking for.

 

[turbo nasty]

28 " tall tire will slow you down.
265/50/15 will work on the stock rim with no spacer though it has to ran underinflated to keep from crowning and wearing the center of the tire out.
275/50 15 are 25.9 inches tall.
not sure the height of the 275 60's

the 275 50's are really pushing it for the 7" rim.

Currently I am running the 265/50 15 BFG (reg)radial on t type rims on my daily driver and there is noticable sidewall squirm/roll from the underinflation to keep even wear on the tires on the 7" rim.

 

[StageII86]

28's will NOT slow down a car with a 3200 stall on a 60. For that combo they are almost a necessity for the track in order to keep the car from wanting to go into OD through the traps which WOULD slow it down. Help me out UNGN...

On the street for driving you are lookin at better milage, too w/ the 28's IMO.

 

[turbo nasty]

No bashing or heated debate wanted...

Tire height effects your final gear ratio.

I can not see how a locked convertor will have any play being that the clutch locked upoverrules any slip.

Now a non l/u loose poor ineffiecent convertor maybe ?

If you are going through the traps the clutch should have been long since locked.

Are we talking the 3.42's or is your scenario running 3.73's ?

Yes the better gas mileage you spoke of would be do to the decrease in rpm's....because the final gear is effected..

No flames

 

[onefastjackass]

Actually my car is going to need to switch to 275 60's due to the fact that a 26 inch tire is causing the car to lay down just before the traps.The convertor is locked and I still am running 5400 rpm's which with 18 lbs boost makes the car lay down just before the end.

So in my particular application the car would have better traction and be quicker in the quarter with 28 inch tall tires.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I'm running the 275/50 nittos drs on stock gn wheels and have no problems with rubbing at all. I need to step up to the 60s due to the fact that I'm running through the traps at 5500 rpm. It really depends on how fast you run in the 1/4. If you are trapping at 115 mph or higher, you need to step up to the 60s.

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by turbo nasty
No bashing or heated debate wanted...

Tire height effects your final gear ratio.

I can not see how a locked convertor will have any play being that the clutch locked upoverrules any slip.

Now a non l/u loose poor ineffiecent convertor maybe ?

If you are going through the traps the clutch should have been long since locked.

Are we talking the 3.42's or is your scenario running 3.73's ?

Yes the better gas mileage you spoke of would be do to the decrease in rpm's....because the final gear is effected..

No flames

I won't give you flames, I'll just state facts:

275/60's Drag radial Hook better than 275/50's Drag radials. Period.

This means you can leave with more boost with 60's, which can result with quicker 60 ft times.

People that run quicker 60ft's with 50's than 60's run a tracks with world class track prep, where DR's are as quick to 60ft as slicks. 99% of the tracks don't work like that.

A loose converter provides more torque to the rear wheels at launch, making a shorter tire harder to hook than a taller one(more gear reduction shorter contact patch)

A loose converter isn't as efficient as a lockup converter at the big end of the track, unless the cars heads are ported, even a mild car will run out of RPM's with a 26" tire in the 1/4 mile. A loose converter will make it run out of RPM sooner.

the whole "28 in tire slow you down unless you have 3.73 gears" talk is 1992 think.

If somebody has actual, back to back data comparing 275/50 vs. 60's on the same day at the same track and the 60's actually "slowed a car down" I'd really like to see it.

 

[Dr. Freeze]

I'll have to side with UNGN on this one... It wholly depends on what your particular combination wants to run through the traps at... For my 9 second '90 Vette with 4.09 gears and a big 436" small block on nitrous it wants to go through the traps around 6300... With 26" x 11.5" ET Drags this combination puts me in too high an rpm and the car lays over; with 27" or 28" tires it's almost perfect... What also contributes is the tranny's first gear ratio combined with the R&P; the ideal drive ratio for optimal launch is in the 9.00:1-10.00:1 range. It's much easier to change tire height to optimize this than to pull the R&P or tranny gears...

Since I have yet to run my GN at the track (bone stock) I don't know what it wants but fortunately I have a set of 26x11.5x15 ET Streets as well as some 27x11.5x15 Quick Time Pros and 28x11.5x15 ET Streets...
-Jeb

 

[humberto]

GHawz13 with your combo the 275-60-15 tires in the rear will work perfect.Even better if your mostly driveing on the street,i had to change from a 255-60-15 to 275-60-15 because my car was spinning all over the place,it also gives the car a killer look with those fat tires on the rear. Its recom to use 28 inch tires on most GN combos on slicks anyway.Go for the 275-60-15s.You will love them.Yes your ratio will change but nothing that you will notice.

 

[dow j]

I ran 11.0s with a 9x26 inch slick,had to hit fourth gear though shortly after the 1/8 mile.This was with a pte 52,3k art car non lock.I probably would have benefited from a 28 inch tire,maybe a 27.My friend ran high 6s in the eighth with a 26 inch tire,mph 106,he did gain a little with a 28,ran a 6.60 at 108 the other night,1.56 60,cam is a 212-206.It is dependent on the cam convertor issue.Most cars with a mild cam and convertor will not see much gain from a taller tire besides the 60 foot,it may slow down a car that is not making alot of power.