[GeorgiaTech335coupe]

I think I'm going to go back to daily driving on drag radials. I'm tired of spinning my tires in 3rd gear. I use to daily drive on Toyo Proxes R888, they were ok in my opinion.

Who here daily drives on drag radials? If you do, what tires are you driving on? What are the size of the tires and what is your rim width that they are on? I'm trying to figure out my options. I currently have the stock 18s from 2008. I'm considering Nitto 555R, but they only come in 285/35 or 285/40 and that would be pushing it to fit on my rims I believe.

[Longboarder]

I think Hotrod182 and a couple others use to Nitto DR's, but not sure whether they are their daily drivers. Their results seems to be very effective. I think Hotrod was running 17's, not 18's, however. I also ran the 17" Nitto DR's on on a different car but it wasn't a daily driver so they never saw the rain, and they provided terrific traction off the line when heated up. They weren't good at all in the twisties as there was a lot of sidewall flex.

285's seem very wide for the stock wheel. I think that is only recommended for a wheel 10.5" to 11" wide.

Like you and many others, I used to spin badly with the open diff. I have 19's with Nitto Invos (poor tire in my opinion). While not a cost effective solution, I just did an LSD and switched to Michelin PSS and I hook up very well in both the turns and off-the line. I can floor it in 2nd gear from a stand-still and it hooks us incredibly well. I still get some spin, but with the LSD I do not lose momentum.

[hemi to e90]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTech335coupe

I think I'm going to go back to daily driving on drag radials. I'm tired of spinning my tires in 3rd gear. I use to daily drive on Toyo Proxes R888, they were ok in my opinion.

Who here daily drives on drag radials? If you do, what tires are you driving on? What are the size of the tires and what is your rim width that they are on? I'm trying to figure out my options. I currently have the stock 18s from 2008. I'm considering Nitto 555R, but they only come in 285/35 or 285/40 and that would be pushing it to fit on my rims I believe.

get an lsd. DDing on 555r (i did something similar for a week in my old ram hemi) is a nightmare.

[GeorgiaTech335coupe]

Originally Posted by hemi to e90

get an lsd. DDing on 555r (i did something similar for a week in my old ram hemi) is a nightmare.

Can you elaborate on that?

[hemi to e90]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTech335coupe

Can you elaborate on that?

between how loud it was, the wear, etc, id never do it again.

seriously, LSD will fix more of the issues more of the time, and provide with better cornering traction than drags ever would.

[rader1]

I have several friends that DD cars with drag radials. The main complaints they have are tire wear and wet road driveability. One of the cars is a 3 valve mustang GT with a KB blower, he's never dyno'd it but i'd say its about 400whp/440rwtq. He runs MT E/T streets and they hook really well.
Another car is a terminator with whipple blower@ 19psi and other bolt-ons. The car made 570rwhp on a dynojet and he also runs ET streets. He also hooks really well from anything other than 1st gear.
My friends single turbo 02 Camaro SS makes 830rwhp/900rwtq and he runs nittos 555R. The car DOESN'T hook. Ever. Even with a Moser rear diff and 345 width tires it's pointless in 1st-4th gear on cold roads.
They all DD their car, except in rain. And that's the DRs big shortcoming. There are a couple tire manufacturers that make a "wet" DR but i can't remember who they are. Check tirerack.com.

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by rader1

I have several friends that DD cars with drag radials. The main complaints they have are tire wear and wet road driveability. One of the cars is a 3 valve mustang GT with a KB blower, he's never dyno'd it but i'd say its about 400whp/440rwtq. He runs MT E/T streets and they hook really well.
Another car is a terminator with whipple blower@ 19psi and other bolt-ons. The car made 570rwhp on a dynojet and he also runs ET streets. He also hooks really well from anything other than 1st gear.
My friends single turbo 02 Camaro SS makes 830rwhp/900rwtq and he runs nittos 555R. The car DOESN'T hook. Ever. Even with a Moser rear diff and 345 width tires it's pointless in 1st-4th gear on cold roads.
They all DD their car, except in rain. And that's the DRs big shortcoming. There are a couple tire manufacturers that make a "wet" DR but i can't remember who they are. Check tirerack.com.

key words 'cold roads'

i'm in the same boat, looking for new tires in the spring. I only put 3-5k miles on my car a year so DD is not my issue, nor wet driving really. I do however care about handling and thats why DR's aren't on my radar. I'm thinking about R comps just not sure which ones.

[rismo]

Two words with a smile:

LSD
Michelin Pilot Super Sports with at the rear 265.....

This does the trick for me... 275 is to wide to my personal taste as you start to encounter side effects when cornering..

This combo is almost boring in terms of spinning... and both noise and wear levels are good.. these tyres wear less then the Michelin PS2's....

[boostd92]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

I have 19's with Nitto Invos (poor tire in my opinion).

I also have 19's with 275 INVOs. I definitely expected better straight line traction than they provide but other than that they are an AMAZING tire for daily driving. Mine are super quiet and comfortable (19's on H&R's and ride is great... not too harsh or noisy). Plus they are AWESOME in the rain.

I know this thread is about traction, and depending on if I go with a tune for my car in the spring, it may get PSS's as well.

[badass1g]

As others have said, DR's for daily can be awesome if the right temps outside and no wetness. But if you hit rain or cold day, WATCH OUT....

[hotrod182]

I haven't experienced any of these terrible traction woes in colder weather and rain. I'm in SoCal, so definitely not snow conditions. But I have regularly put up mid 3 second 0-60 times in temps down to about 37F on the Nitto NT555rs. In the rain, they accelerate amazingly well. As far as handling, I did the last autocross on my NTO5R drag radials, and ran as fast as many "sports cars". So I don't see how people say DRs are not ideal for the street. I think the NT555Rs are great all around tires. Those who are looking at setting competitive records on a handling course would be better looking past the DRs. But I can honestly say I had no problem beating other 335i BMWs at the autocross that were not on DRs. My regular 275/30/19 street tires are so prone to breaking traction on acceleration at 40-50mph, its almost dangerous. So on the autocross they were almost unusable. The DRs allowed me to acclerate out of the corners much harder without going into throttle oversteer.

My DRs are 275/40/17. So smaller wheel size. But you have to remember, our cars come stock with 17"s on the non sport pkg 335i BMWs anyways, so it's not like it is unliveable or anything like that.

[ar design]

Originally Posted by boostd92

I also have 19's with 275 INVOs. I definitely expected better straight line traction than they provide but other than that they are an AMAZING tire for daily driving. Mine are super quiet and comfortable (19's on H&R's and ride is great... not too harsh or noisy). Plus they are AWESOME in the rain.

I know this thread is about traction, and depending on if I go with a tune for my car in the spring, it may get PSS's as well.

Invos are terrible for straight line traction and big hp/tq..... Had them on the Corvette, so happy when I ditched em.

Originally Posted by rismo123

Two words with a smile:

LSD
Michelin Pilot Super Sports with at the rear 265.....

This does the trick for me... 275 is to wide to my personal taste as you start to encounter side effects when cornering..

This combo is almost boring in terms of spinning... and both noise and wear levels are good.. these tyres wear less then the Michelin PS2's....

I've been hearing good things about the Pilot SS.....

Originally Posted by badass1g

As others have said, DR's for daily can be awesome if the right temps outside and no wetness. But if you hit rain or cold day, WATCH OUT....

When it rains/gets cold, you just have to slow down, not drive like an idiot, and allow for more stopping distance. You obviously can't drive like a hooligan. I've DD'd Hoosier R6s, Hankooks, and various other slicks and DRs for years now in Colorado (summer of course). Makes street tires REALLY boring....

[themyst]

I run Continental DWS all-seasons in the stock 225/255 setup and I have no issues hooking in the most frigid of temps from a 2nd gear roll-on. A lot of people seem to pass these by as inferior to conventional summers, but in all honesty they have as good or better straight-line traction as my Dunlop Direzza Z1s in the warm weather, but still dead hook in the winter. Heck, I was cutting 1.9 60fts with the DWS in 45 degree temps... Try that with a summer tire. Amazing tires in the rain and more than passable in the snow. I run a FBO + meth car, so you have an idea of the power I'm putting down on these tires.

They come with a 2/32 / 1 year roadside hazard warranty included which I've used once already and a 540 treadwear rating and are very reasonable in price.

Just some food for thought instead of running around on drag radials or summers.

[Bleep]

+1 on the LSD suggestions, DRs seem to have too many downsides to DD them on a regular basis.

[Malaka1]

I have Continental DW's 275's. I can hook it 2nd gear and up, I have a manual and I have never been able to spin in 3rd gear even making 480wtq in 50 degree weather... I think some people confuse activating DTC as spinning.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Yea now that the weather is colder anything under 50 degrees and I'm literally spinning from 3rd gear 50 and 60 MPH rolls. No BS. I'm talking about traction control fully off, spinning tire sideways down a highway shredding tire.

I'm on 19's with 265 hancrap evo 12.

I'm looking to switch to the Nitto Nt05 next round and likely go to 275.

Drag radials is just not an option but I have no problem splurging on an expensive tire if its actually going to hook in a straight line.

[hemi to e90]

[themyst]

Originally Posted by Malaka1

I have Continental DW's 275's. I can hook it 2nd gear and up, I have a manual and I have never been able to spin in 3rd gear even making 480wtq in 50 degree weather... I think some people confuse activating DTC as spinning.

People seriously overlook the DW/DWS tires. Look at us getting ignored lol.

[GeorgiaTech335coupe]

Originally Posted by hotrod182

My DRs are 275/40/17. So smaller wheel size. But you have to remember, our cars come stock with 17"s on the non sport pkg 335i BMWs anyways, so it's not like it is unliveable or anything like that.

Are the 275s close to rubbing at all? What width rims are you running?

[GeorgiaTech335coupe]

Originally Posted by themyst

but in all honesty they have as good or better straight-line traction as my Dunlop Direzza Z1s in the warm weather, but still dead hook in the winter. Heck, I was cutting 1.9 60fts with the DWS in 45 degree temps...Just some food for thought instead of running around on drag radials or summers.

I have Direzzas on the back now and I hate them. Are the 1.9s in a MT or AT?

[themyst]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTech335coupe

I have Direzzas on the back now and I hate them. Are the 1.9s in a MT or AT?

RWD 6AT.
FWIW, I cut 2.02 60fts on the Dunlop Direzza Z1's on my 6MT 135i.

[GeorgiaTech335coupe]

Originally Posted by themyst

RWD 6AT.
FWIW, I cut 2.02 60fts on the Dunlop Direzza Z1's on my 6MT 135i.

I've seen 1.7s on RFTs in Autos so I don't really apply their 60' to my situation.

The Direzza are ok when its sunny out, I think I've done a few 1.9s here and there. I need a tire that I can take to the strip at night and not spin through all the gears. I drag race A LOT. Easily have close to 300 passes in the 335.

I'm in FL so it doesn't get too cold here. Also, the dragstrip closest to my house is notorious for being one of the worst for traction. 2 other tracks that are about 2 hours away are infinitely better for traction.

I'm too lazy to swap the tires off/on everytime I want to go to the track, so I want something that is relatively acceptable for DD.