275/60/15 DR wheel width

SVTSINR

SVTSINR

Club Member
I plan on running a 275/60/15 this year and was curious if there is a benefit from using a 10" wheel over an 8" wheel. Since it's a radial with a pretty stiff sidewall I can't imagine it would be more stable. I was thinking the benefit would be increasing tread width. Any experiences?

TIA
 
If you are running this on a mustang, the car will be way too light to make that tire work on a 10" rim. It will actually make it too stiff.
 
QuickLX said:
If you are running this on a mustang, the car will be way too light to make that tire work on a 10" rim. It will actually make it too stiff.
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yep, on a mustang. I know you don't like the DR's but I want them for the street. Maybe I'll just save some money and buy 8's.
 
Look at the NMCA Mean Street class...I think they run that combo. Maybe even post over there (or NMRA Factory Stock - they run 10" rims and DR's also, and they work).
 
NVR2FST said:
Look at the NMCA Mean Street class...I think they run that combo. Maybe even post over there (or NMRA Factory Stock - they run 10" rims and DR's also, and they work).
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The FS cars are not really a good example as they do not make much power and they are relatively heavy some weighing in around 3300#. On top of that you are giving an example that is based on drivers that make hundreds of passes a year in an effort to make a tire work for a specific class. Now take a light weight car (3000# or less), add an engine that make some real power, and now you have a severe hooking problem. If there is a power adder involved it would make things a little easier, since the car could leave like a sissy and then pour the power on later in the run.
 
SVTSINR said:
yep, on a mustang. I know you don't like the DR's but I want them for the street. Maybe I'll just save some money and buy 8's.
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Its not that I don't like them in general. I just really hate them for my setup. steep gears, light car, and a manual trans make for a disasterous combo when meshing with a DR, especially when in an N/A situation where maximum HP out of the hole is needed.

Is your car an Auto or a stick? What gearing? whats the weight? Have you thought about a quicktime pro? does it have to be a radial? For easy street driving, the DR's are cool, but most like to stomp it once in a while and thats what cured me of liking them. I matted it once while on the expressway from about 55-60 and when I hit third gear they broke loose and I was nearly perpendicular to the road at ~80mph!!!
 
use a 9" wheel. and keep your little boy in the back seat. that will make sure you keep your head on. dont play on the freeway like steve!
 
I'm aware of the FS stock class cars. But, just because it might take some work, doesn't mean that it can't be a successfull combo. I decided to buy a 10" wheel so that when I do put slicks on, I don't have to have another set. My car is coming out in the summer with 275/50 DR on a 10" wheel. I didn't even want to go with a 60 series because I wanted the gearing. Mine is also a stick with 4.56 gears, and it will hook just fine with some work.

SVTSINR - If you're just looking for a good street wheel for DR's, then go narrower, if you eventually want to run slicks, I would get at least a 9" as stated above.

QuickLX said:
The FS cars are not really a good example as they do not make much power and they are relatively heavy some weighing in around 3300#. On top of that you are giving an example that is based on drivers that make hundreds of passes a year in an effort to make a tire work for a specific class. Now take a light weight car (3000# or less), add an engine that make some real power, and now you have a severe hooking problem. If there is a power adder involved it would make things a little easier, since the car could leave like a sissy and then pour the power on later in the run.
Click to expand...
 
NVR2FST said:
I'm aware of the FS stock class cars. But, just because it might take some work, doesn't mean that it can't be a successfull combo. I decided to buy a 10" wheel so that when I do put slicks on, I don't have to have another set. My car is coming out in the summer with 275/50 DR on a 10" wheel. I didn't even want to go with a 60 series because I wanted the gearing. Mine is also a stick with 4.56 gears, and it will hook just fine with some work.

SVTSINR - If you're just looking for a good street wheel for DR's, then go narrower, if you eventually want to run slicks, I would get at least a 9" as stated above.
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Thanks Guys for the input. Just to answer some questions.

I haven't weighed the car yet but I guess with the c4, turbo kit and cage it's close to 3600 lbs with me in it. There's a car that is similiar to mine that weighs 3500 with no driver. So it's a heavy pig.

I already run a 10" wheel with my MT 26x10's slicks. I have a set of 275/60 BFG DR on my GN that I need to rotate out so I thought I would pick up a set of wheels and burn them off this summer. The car has 3.55's and with the c-4 I thought the 275/60 would lower the cruising RPM.

I'll see if someone has some back to back comparisons.
 
Anthony said:
use a 9" wheel. and keep your little boy in the back seat. that will make sure you keep your head on. dont play on the freeway like steve!
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I never considered a 9. That might work....

Highway testing with the wideband is the only way to go :rockwoot:
 
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Here's a little known size that I use and works great.
M/T 255/60/15 on an 8" rim. It's nice because there are absolutely no fitment issues on a Fox and at 27.1" tall it's a little shorter than the big baloneys. They feel great on the street!

My notch has gone 10.83 @125 with a 1.53 60 ft. (blower/AOD car) on these tires. Drove it to Ubly, ran it, and drove back home.
 
NVR2FST said:
I'm aware of the FS stock class cars. But, just because it might take some work, doesn't mean that it can't be a successfull combo. I decided to buy a 10" wheel so that when I do put slicks on, I don't have to have another set. My car is coming out in the summer with 275/50 DR on a 10" wheel. I didn't even want to go with a 60 series because I wanted the gearing. Mine is also a stick with 4.56 gears, and it will hook just fine with some work.

SVTSINR - If you're just looking for a good street wheel for DR's, then go narrower, if you eventually want to run slicks, I would get at least a 9" as stated above.
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Good luck in your DR adventure!
 
I'm sure it will be an adventure. I just wanted a challenge, I know what the car will do on slicks (ran NMRA Pure Street for years), now I want to pull the wheels on street tires!

BTW - Nice to see another N/A stick shift car on the board! How do you like the Tremec? I ran a Gforce, but have considered switching...

QuickLX said:
Good luck in your DR adventure!
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NVR2FST said:
I'm sure it will be an adventure. I just wanted a challenge, I know what the car will do on slicks (ran NMRA Pure Street for years), now I want to pull the wheels on street tires!

BTW - Nice to see another N/A stick shift car on the board! How do you like the Tremec? I ran a Gforce, but have considered switching...
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The tremec is smooth. I had it face-plated as well. The higher I spin it the better it gets and so far it has been a beast. I am changing to a slightly lighter clutch setup this year, so the launch RPMs will likely go up even more (7400 or so).

I am surprised that you would want to try a radial after running in a class such as PS. All, I can tell you is this...I had SEVERAL top DR guys (local and NMRA front runners) at a private track rental helping me with dialing it in and nothing worked very well. They basically told me that something major had to change. My launch RPMs on a slick are up there, but with the radials I couldn't even let it out above 3400 RPM without blowing the tires off and getting a ton of tire-shake. We tried air pressures from 10 to 22 lbs in 1 lb increments and nothing seemed to help that much. Then by the end of the day they felt in necessary to let me in on the fact that there is a reason why all of the cars that work well with a DR have automatics. The 5-speed just plain hits the tires too hard and when you have a light car, with a very stiff walled tire, the sidewall just cannot do its job. They said I could switch to an adjustable long style clutch to ease the hit on the launch, but there was no way to know for sure that it would solve the problem or even help at all. The best 60ft I could muster was a 1.80 spinning thru the first couple hundred feet pedaling the hell out of it. The car nets consistant 1.3X's and has been a best of 1.33 on a slick. Being an N/A car I need everything I can get out of it at launch, so easing it out sucks. If you figure it out hook a brother up!!

What is the first gear in the trans you have now?
 
I was running a 3.22 first with 4.56/4.88 gears and leaving anywhere from 7,100-7,600rpm. I sold the Gforce, but was maybe going to get a syncro'd version for the street (or a TKO). One thing I've learned is most of the heavy hitters running auto's can't get stick cars to hook - they've just never had to.

I drove a F-body (with an LS7 in it) on 17" DR at the track this year and was able to cut 1.5x 60ft times lifting the stock 17x9 front wheels (5,500-5,700rpm launch). This car was far from a drag car, so I'm hoping for nothing less out of mine with a less HP. I'll keep you posted once I get the thing back together!
 
NVR2FST said:
I was running a 3.22 first with 4.56/4.88 gears and leaving anywhere from 7,100-7,600rpm. I sold the Gforce, but was maybe going to get a syncro'd version for the street (or a TKO). One thing I've learned is most of the heavy hitters running auto's can't get stick cars to hook - they've just never had to.

I drove a F-body (with an LS7 in it) on 17" DR at the track this year and was able to cut 1.5x 60ft times lifting the stock 17x9 front wheels (5,500-5,700rpm launch). This car was far from a drag car, so I'm hoping for nothing less out of mine with a less HP. I'll keep you posted once I get the thing back together!
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Nice! So your PS setup was very similar to mine. However, your initial gearing was significantly greater than mine. I have a 2.87 first gear. The only issue with a tremec and the synchros is, they don't like to be shifted around 7K.
 
Yeah, I'm a little worried about the 7k plus shifting on a Tremec because I've heard that. The LS7 car I drove had a 6spd in it, but someone had gone through it so it actually shifted pretty nice at just over 7k. Shoot me your email and I'll send you some pics of my car...
 
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