Bias ply slicks vs drag radials

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Some different things to consider here and I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I was hoping for some different opinions and experiences would weigh in and I wasn't disappointed. I hope to be going to Cecil County this weekend and I will see what they are using down there.
Thanks,
Bill
 
My freind went from 28.5x10.5 slicks to a m/t pro bracket radial th same size and picked up over a 10th. This is on a 9.60 car with caltracs. Always hooks. Just saying a 10th is a 10th.
 
63SplitWindow said:
Thanks for your replies guys. I am running radials up front. New car so no idea what kind of ET we're looking at here but it is a 2900 lb car with 4.56 gear and 4 link setup. The current street tires are 29 X 12 radials and I cant really go much taller.
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I would base your choice on what is important. Bracket race? Bias are more consistant but slower by maybe .15? Faster than 11.00 or high SLR? BIAS AGAIN. Eseist on drive line? Bias.
 
As much as I love new bests and going fast I chose to sacrifice the .15 that I probably give up on my car and run a big slick. My son on the flip side is a radial tire user for life. We all have decisions that we make.
 
I ran bias forever on stuff( always 28 by 10, hate big tires) and now 275/60 radial, also 28 by 10.
I have seen about 6-8 hundreds difference between the two. It’s a few for sure, but not a ton. At least not if you are comparing basically swapping same size tires back and forth.
 
B3422w5 said:
I ran bias forever on stuff( always 28 by 10, hate big tires) and now 275/60 radial, also 28 by 10.
I have seen about 6-8 hundreds difference between the two. It’s a few for sure, but not a ton. At least not if you are comparing basically swapping same size tires back and forth.
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Try it with a 14-32. Lol. But it takes a lot for my tire NOT to bite. I gave up street car stuff years ago so it only makes sense to me.
 
pittsburghracer said:
Try it with a 14-32. Lol. But it takes a lot for my tire NOT to bite. I gave up street car stuff years ago so it only makes sense to me.
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I have taken my share of lumps over the years, but never because of running a small tire. Stuff I have had has 60 footed super consistently. But I never race anywhere without good prep.
Never been a fan of dragging huge tires down the track.
On absolutely shot tires this weekend( and they were shot) I varied a total of 2 in the 60 foot and that was on a test and tune night, then a race day track.
And 2 is a ton of variance for me, more than normal for sure.
Usually at an event I might vary 1 at the most, on non worn out rubber.
Needless to say, this with a 3 speed, not a glide
 
Craziest thing I ever saw with radials was on my buddy’s big block Chevy Camero. It consistently ran 5.90’s on a 14-32 slick so around 2019 he jumped on the bandwagon when Nicky Thompson released their bigger radial (I assume it was the same size as his slick). A four link car he was soon running 5.70’s but not without a learning curve. I was standing around 50 feet from the track but could see him approaching the starting line. I heard one of the two cars spin like it floored it in a rainstorm and turned to look at his son. He looked at me and said yep that was Dad. He Dad passed away a little over a year ago from Covid and his son sold his dragster and races dads car now. I will have to ask if he’s still on the big radial. The guy that races a 5 second Pontiac from the band Trainwreck (Lou Greco) tried them and couldn’t get them to work.
 
pittsburghracer said:
Craziest thing I ever saw with radials was on my buddy’s big block Chevy Camero. It consistently ran 5.90’s on a 14-32 slick so around 2019 he jumped on the bandwagon when Nicky Thompson released their bigger radial (I assume it was the same size as his slick). A four link car he was soon running 5.70’s but not without a learning curve. I was standing around 50 feet from the track but could see him approaching the starting line. I heard one of the two cars spin like it floored it in a rainstorm and turned to look at his son. He looked at me and said yep that was Dad. He Dad passed away a little over a year ago from Covid and his son sold his dragster and races dads car now. I will have to ask if he’s still on the big radial. The guy that races a 5 second Pontiac from the band Trainwreck (Lou Greco) tried them and couldn’t get them to work.
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Lou is a real good racer. Talked to him for a while at the first ever Million race at 131 a while back. Fun to talk to..lol
 
B3422w5 said:
Lou is a real good racer. Talked to him for a while at the first ever Million race at 131 a while back. Fun to talk to..lol
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He almost pulled it off this weekend
01004A79-67D7-448A-A494-7352D9DCCEF5.jpeg
 
One of the best bracket racers I know went to the big M/T radial three or four years ago, he told me it's the best tire he's ever ran. He runs a early 2000's Pontiac of some sort, a 5.0 car.
 
About 12 years ago I changed classes to were a DOT tire was required , I went from an 11.5x 29.5 slick to a Hoosier Quick Time Pro and was surprised to see that my 60 foots remained the same ( 1.49-1.51 on the throttle stop leaving at 2,000 ) , I ran 10 1/2 lbs in both the slicks and the QTPs , a few years ago I switched to a Hoosier P295/65R Drag radial and again my 60 foots remained the same but the difference is I can run 18 lbs of air instead of 10 1/2 making the car more stable top end. At a recent outing on 7 passes my 60 foot was 1.51 each run in both lanes I have found that the drag radial brought more consistency to my 60 foots as they vary very little run to run. I run a M/T drag radial on my D150 pick up it only runs low 15s but is very consistent in 60 ft 2.00s

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63SplitWindow said:
Some different things to consider here and I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I was hoping for some different opinions and experiences would weigh in and I wasn't disappointed. I hope to be going to Cecil County this weekend and I will see what they are using down there.
Thanks,
Bill
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I have friends that race at Cecil and they brag on the incredible prep there so I can guarantee you that most will be on a radial as they are absolute fastest tire on the track.
 
Stiff side wall or not can really change what the car wants. The tire I run is a bias-ply but has an incredibly stiff side wall. So we have more in common with the drag radial crowd. As to rim width, I am about to try a stock 5.5” wheel instead of the 340’s 6.5” wheel. See if I can drop the pressure to 18 lbs and elongate the contact patch and still keep the full side to side contact.
 
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