tire pressures at the track...

**0rion** · 09-15-2007, 08:17 PM

Going to the track tomorrow and wanted to see where you guys usually run on tire pressures. Only supposed to get up to 60-65 tomorrow. I'll be running Nitto's.

**TwiSSter418** · 09-17-2007, 02:39 PM

my 315/35/17 nittos worked best for me at 17-18psi. that was a full weight car with a torque arm and control arms. (maybe gears, i forget!)

**LS2Tuner** · 09-17-2007, 10:58 PM

I would start at 22 and work down from there! Get a real guage also or your pissing in the wind.

**sunsetorangess** · 09-17-2007, 11:47 PM

I ran the nitto's with no luck, Almost bought the wall three times, now they sit in my shed with no track time insight.
I ran them at 20, 18, 14 Psi and like said above make sure ya take a good guage with ya.
J

**LS2Tuner** · 09-18-2007, 07:21 AM

Yeah they only work on light power applications! I would buy Mickeys or M&H's. The M&H's work better but at the same acspect wear quicker.

**TwiSSter418** · 09-18-2007, 08:32 AM

once I got real drag suspension, it started to overload the tires and it would just start to hop. overall it was a mess. if you plan on getting some real suspension or have a lot of power i'd get some real 15"s and call it a day.. I love mine.

**LS2Tuner** · 09-18-2007, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by TwiSSter418

once I got real drag suspension, it started to overload the tires and it would just start to hop. overall it was a mess. if you plan on getting some real suspension or have a lot of power i'd get some real 15"s and call it a day.. I love mine.

Anymore 15's are NOT a must with the tires we have now. I'm doing 1.5 60 foots on a 275/40/17 drag radial and blowing off low 11.20's pedaling the car to save stock rear-ends.
I just don't like doing all that grinding on the calipers unless I have a low 10 second car.

**0rion** · 09-18-2007, 08:44 AM

I ended up at 15 psi. Had bad traction problems all day. Even rolling off the line I was getting some wheel spin and averaging 1.9-2.0 60' times. I feel those 60's should've been much better with drag radials and a stall. Granted, most of it is probably operator error because I don't have much experience at the track.

**TwiSSter418** · 09-18-2007, 10:52 AM

hey, I was just saying what I did and did not have luck with on my car.. once I got QA1s etc etc the 17s just couldn't handle it. and if you run convo pros you don't have to grind anything...

**rel3rd** · 09-22-2007, 05:43 AM

I went last night and tried my 275/40/17 Nittos (and car) out for the first time. I wanted to make 2 passes exactly as I drive it and then let some air out. Two runs at 32psi, then two runs at 20psi. Car had zero wheelspin launching from 1300rpm's with a 3600 PI Vig converter. Three 1.77's and a hot lapped 1.79 was what I wound up with.

**william SS** · 09-24-2007, 05:17 AM

Would it make a difference if I lowerd my tire pressure? Every one says to but im not sure. Im running nitto 555R drag radials 275/40/17 at 42 or 43 psi. I had them put on brand new about 3 months ago. In my ss I have 3200 stall and 389 gears. I usually rev it up to 25 or 2600 rpm when leaving the line and cutting a 60' of 1.84. i seem to hook up every time. I might spin the tires 1 out of every 5 runs I make. But I really never feel it spin. I remeber once lowering my tire pressure b4 i did my mods and i spun spun spun. B4 I had lowered them i wasnt spining. So what do you guys think? Should I try lowering the pressure or keep it at what its at and am I launching at the right rpm?

**LS2Tuner** · 09-24-2007, 08:07 AM

Yes I would! The tire can not work properly at that high of pressure. You should be able to launch the more aggressively if it's hooking now with that high pressure.
Personally I would start at 22psi and play with it from there.
Every car reacts different so if someone jump out and tells you what rpm to launch at.......

Yeah right..... It is trial and error.
As far as your suspension the stock SS springs and shocks are designed for handling NOT drag racing! If you still have the stock rock hard rear springs I would suggest replacing them with a pair of junkyard V-6 springs. It will make a huge difference especially on the street.

**1LoudSS** · 09-30-2007, 06:35 PM

ive got a set of Mickey Thomson drag radials, and usually lower the pressure to 14, 15, or 16, and ive tried launching at 1500-4000k rpms, and last time i launched at 4000 jus experimenting it finally hooked an got a 1.8 60', and launching at the lower rpms would jus make the car bog out and give me a 2.0-2.2 60' which is horrible, so i still have to get the launch down, but i jus started racin with drags this year. like it was said above, every car is different. jus have to really try different pressures an see how it works. jus remember if your tires are hot and you lower the pressure, its going to change slightly when they cool if ure stuck in the staging lanes forever, and same thing goes after u do the burnout. simple physics, but it shouldnt affect your run that much, least i dont think.

**LS2Tuner** · 09-30-2007, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by 1LoudSS

ive got a set of Mickey Thomson drag radials, and usually lower the pressure to 14, 15, or 16, and ive tried launching at 1500-4000k rpms, and last time i launched at 4000 jus experimenting it finally hooked an got a 1.8 60', and launching at the lower rpms would jus make the car bog out and give me a 2.0-2.2 60' which is horrible, so i still have to get the launch down, but i jus started racin with drags this year. like it was said above, every car is different. jus have to really try different pressures an see how it works. jus remember if your tires are hot and you lower the pressure, its going to change slightly when they cool if ure stuck in the staging lanes forever, and same thing goes after u do the burnout. simple physics, but it shouldnt affect your run that much, least i dont think.

They are 16" or 17" you are running????

**greatwhiteZ28** · 09-30-2007, 07:42 PM

i didnt lower my rear tire pressure today at track since it was a cheap ass track with no air compreesor, and ran 1.9 60' time and 13.2ish on motor with 35 psi on all tires.

how would my run differ with dropeed psi??

what is prefered street tires psi.. bfg g force ???

front and rears????

**LS2Tuner** · 10-01-2007, 08:24 AM

On the 17" BFG's I usually have the best luck at 24-26.
Don't drive through the water!!! Drive around it back up stoping BEFORE the water and just clean the tires off. NO SMOKEY BURNOUT!!
And on the fronts I usually inflate to max pressure unless I'm runnuing front runners (15x3.5") to make as skinny of tread contact as possiable.
You can go to a nice concrete parking lot and figure out exactly what pressure will give you the best contact pacth on the rears. Just do light burnouts looking at the marks varying pressure by 2 lbs at a time until the mark is uniform as in even across the tire.

**greatwhiteZ28** · 10-01-2007, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by LS2Tuner

On the 17" BFG's I usually have the best luck at 24-26.
Don't drive through the water!!! Drive around it back up stoping BEFORE the water and just clean the tires off. NO SMOKEY BURNOUT!!
And on the fronts I usually inflate to max pressure unless I'm runnuing front runners (15x3.5") to make as skinny of tread contact as possiable.
You can go to a nice concrete parking lot and figure out exactly what pressure will give you the best contact pacth on the rears. Just do light burnouts looking at the marks varying pressure by 2 lbs at a time until the mark is uniform as in even across the tire.

thanks and

, but you said no smokey burn out. like i see our cars( fbodys/stangs) doing 15 ' tall burn outs while some 8 sec cars are just lighting up a lil , with barley any smoke.

and is it better to do a burn out holding like mid 2000 rpm or go like 5000, ? which one is safer? /efficaent

**LS2Tuner** · 10-01-2007, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by greatwhiteZ28

thanks and

, but you said no smokey burn out. like i see our cars( fbodys/stangs) doing 15 ' tall burn outs while some 8 sec cars are just lighting up a lil , with barley any smoke.

and is it better to do a burn out holding like mid 2000 rpm or go like 5000, ? which one is safer? /efficaent

Just in short term answer. You never want to buzz or rev a motor high in the water box.....Thats why soooo many people blow there shit up doing a burnout. You want to up shift as soon as you can efficiently to increase tire speed. Unless your breaking into the 1.2-1.4 60' times there is NO need to do a John Force.
On any mid to high 11 second car you should NOT need anymore than a slight cloud and rolling into the beams.

**greatwhiteZ28** · 10-01-2007, 04:17 PM

thanks, but i just leave in OD, i dont shift my auto, seen lots do it before on tv. but never tryed it.

**Lawnman** · 10-04-2007, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by 0rion

I ended up at 15 psi. Had bad traction problems all day. Even rolling off the line I was getting some wheel spin and averaging 1.9-2.0 60' times. I feel those 60's should've been much better with drag radials and a stall. Granted, most of it is probably operator error because I don't have much experience at the track.

What track ?
I am going to NTR east of Columbus tomorrow , I would like to see as many f-bodies as possible.