Bias ply slicks vs drag radials

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63SplitWindow

63SplitWindow

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Looking to buy my first set of race tires for my small block Dart Sport and I'm wondering what would be best for my application? Any insights into this?
Thanks,
Bill
 
What do you run on the front? The general rule of thumb is to run the same on the rear as on the front. Radials and bias plys sometimes don't play well together.
 
My avatar car has M/T bias ply up front. On the street, I run M/T ET Street drag radials. At the track, I run bias ply slicks. I have not seen an issue but the car doesn't get more than a few hundred miles a year on the street.
If the OP's car would hook at the track with the drag radials, I'm told they are a bit faster. I have not tried mine at the track.

No info was provided on the OP's car - don't know if it's a 9 sec car or a 13 sec car.
 
I've ran the bias/radial mix both ways and have never had any issues. Drag radials or slicks? Depends, more info needed as DemonX2 mentioned.
 
justinp61 said:
I've ran the bias/radial mix both ways and have never had any issues. Drag radials or slicks? Depends, more info needed as DemonX2 mentioned.
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same here, bias in the front, drag radials on the rear.
To the OP, depending on how much power you make, etc, the bias tires are typically a little slower than radials( assuming both hook)
Bias tire is more forgiving regards marginal track prep/ chassis setup. In other words, often things can be less than perfect and the bias tires will still work.
Having had both, much prefer radials. More stable, run more air in them, they don’t grow
 
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.
 
I run nitto drag radials 275/50/15 on the back with a quality radial 225 50 on the front sizes may vary to your need but I love the nitto drag radials for a dry weather Street tire and they got some serious grab when needed. I really couldn't see myself ever going back to a bias ply unless it was a race only car.
 
Be aware that on marginal tracks radials may not work well. The four link will help, good shocks will be a plus too. What's the combo?
 
You driving to the track, as opposed to trailering, run the Drag Radials, trailering run the slicks.

So I last raced 32 years ago when there were only slicks. Retired a few years ago, put a modest car together, that I drive to the track, so I got the radials, MT & then M&H. Both working pretty well, but found I spun the rim on the tire at 15psi last runs.

Never had that problem with the race only car as the rims were screwed since I only ran 4psi. Broke down the new radials and Scotch brighted the tire beads and rims with alcohol, so we'll see in couple weeks at the next race. My conclusion is the radial tires are sticking, ... and that's good.
 
Outsder said:
You driving to the track, as opposed to trailering, run the Drag Radials, trailering run the slicks.

So I last raced 32 years ago when there were only slicks. Retired a few years ago, put a modest car together, that I drive to the track, so I got the radials, MT & then M&H. Both working pretty well, but found I spun the rim on the tire at 15psi last runs.

Never had that problem with the race only car as the rims were screwed since I only ran 4psi. Broke down the new radials and Scotch brighted the tire beads and rims with alcohol, so we'll see in couple weeks at the next race. My conclusion is the radial tires are sticking, ... and that's good.
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Interesting.....this will be a track only car that will be trailered
 
If you run the car on the street i'd recommend not switching tires to go to the track and running M/T sportsman Pro tires. They are full tread, drag slick compound with a wrinkle wall design. I run 10's on them with 16-18lbs or air, dead wrinkled hook.

I prefer bias ply for the strip and in many cases on the street as well. IMO the popularity of drag radials is three fold.

1. They produce these in modern tire sizes
2. The next latest great bestest bullshit product you HAVE to have
3. Race classes that require them

If you go drag radial, which I advise against, they like a wide wheel. So if you buy a 12.5" section width tire, it wants a wheel damn close to that.
 
Outsder said:
You driving to the track, as opposed to trailering, run the Drag Radials, trailering run the slicks.

So I last raced 32 years ago when there were only slicks. Retired a few years ago, put a modest car together, that I drive to the track, so I got the radials, MT & then M&H. Both working pretty well, but found I spun the rim on the tire at 15psi last runs.

Never had that problem with the race only car as the rims were screwed since I only ran 4psi. Broke down the new radials and Scotch brighted the tire beads and rims with alcohol, so we'll see in couple weeks at the next race. My conclusion is the radial tires are sticking, ... and that's good.
Click to expand...
They are supposed to dead hook at the track, that is in their design, whereas a slick is fastest when there is a little bit of controlled spin. I personally have only used the M/T drag radials for street and strip use.....never had a treaded tire on the Barracuda
 
roccodart440 said:
If you run the car on the street i'd recommend not switching tires to go to the track and running M/T sportsman Pro tires. They are full tread, drag slick compound with a wrinkle wall design. I run 10's on them with 16-18lbs or air, dead wrinkled hook.

I prefer bias ply for the strip and in many cases on the street as well. IMO the popularity of drag radials is three fold.

1. They produce these in modern tire sizes
2. The next latest great bestest bullshit product you HAVE to have
3. Race classes that require them

If you go drag radial, which I advise against, they like a wide wheel. So if you buy a 12.5" section width tire, it wants a wheel damn close to that.
Click to expand...
A good drag radial, which would not include Nitto are proven to be faster and more stable than a slick or bias ply......FACTS
 
roccodart440 said:
If you run the car on the street i'd recommend not switching tires to go to the track and running M/T sportsman Pro tires. They are full tread, drag slick compound with a wrinkle wall design. I run 10's on them with 16-18lbs or air, dead wrinkled hook.

I prefer bias ply for the strip and in many cases on the street as well. IMO the popularity of drag radials is three fold.

1. They produce these in modern tire sizes
2. The next latest great bestest bullshit product you HAVE to have
3. Race classes that require them

If you go drag radial, which I advise against, they like a wide wheel. So if you buy a 12.5" section width tire, it wants a wheel damn close to that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rocco. This will be a track only car so there won't be a need for tire changes. I have 15 x 10 wheels on the back and I was hoping to run about a 12" tire. Can I do that with a slick?
 
63SplitWindow said:
Thanks Rocco. This will be a track only car so there won't be a need for tire changes. I have 15 x 10 wheels on the back and I was hoping to run about a 12" tire. Can I do that with a slick?
Click to expand...
Your doing it backwards and if you haven't bought any tires yet you should get a set of 275/60/15 M/T Pro Bracket Radials and spread the tire out across your 10" wheel. The less sidewall "bulge" the better from at least a drag radial standpoint.
 
63SplitWindow said:
Thanks Rocco. This will be a track only car so there won't be a need for tire changes. I have 15 x 10 wheels on the back and I was hoping to run about a 12" tire. Can I do that with a slick?
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Absolutely. That width combo would work, and will work quite well in a bias play.

Unless your class requires there is literally no reason for you to run a drag radial.
 
'68cuda416 said:
A good drag radial, which would not include Nitto are proven to be faster and more stable than a slick or bias ply......FACTS
Click to expand...

So why would you run one? Unless you are running heads up no prep, you are bracket racing. The minute amount of time a drag radial may yield means nothing. You are going in a straight line, and I can't say my car has ever felt unstable, even up to 140+MPH.
 
roccodart440 said:
So why would you run one? Unless you are running heads up no prep, you are bracket racing. The minute amount of time a drag radial may yield means nothing. You are going in a straight line, and I can't say my car has ever felt unstable, even up to 140+MPH.
Click to expand...
I don't race no prep, that is for the mentally challenged, I personally run one because the car see's double duty. The OP's car is track only I guess from what he stated and although I have never personally ran a slick on any of my cars I do know of a few people that have went from a slick to a radial and they all agreed that the radial is faster and it's more stable, if that is not your experience then it is what it is, but have you ran both styles to even be able to compare? Everybody for the most part really wants to run as fast as they can, and yes I understand the bracket racing aspect but still guys want to run as fast as they can get the car to do and then work on consistency from there, I mean if not running fast was so important then everybody would just race their daily drivers. I will concede to this although it doesn't take away from the other facts I have stated......a drag radial is a dead hook tire and if it spins they do not recover whereas a slick is fastest with some controlled spin and will recover a lot better than a drag radial. So there is that....
 
For a bracket car only, that sees no street use I'd still run a radial. Probably the M/T Pro Bracket Radial in a 28/10.5 on your 10" wheel. I've ran radials and slicks on my Dart and much prefer the feel of the radial, it's much more stable and it is faster. The problem is it isn't very forgiving.

I've ran a 325 and currently have a 275 on my 10" wheels, imo the 325 really needed a 12" wheel. My slicks are bias M/T 28/10.5S on a 10 wheel and it's a nice fit.

Everyone that I've talked to that runs this tire likes it.
Mickey Thompson | Pro Bracket Radial (mickeythompsontires.com)
 
I have run both a DOT bias slick( Hoosier quick time pro 28 by 10) and a Hoosier DOT drag radial( 28 by 10) on an assortment of 9, 10, and 11 sec NA small block stuff.
Since running the radial, would never go back to bias ply.
I have yet to be on a track where they don’t stick, except Bowling Green one morning couple years ago. Prep was either non existent or horrible, or both. Made one spinning hit, they had issues with lots of guys, dragged and resprayed the track..all was back to normal again, good hook.
Big thing with the radial, don’t need much burnout, see any smoke, get out, they are ready.
 
For the power level and use the o.p. stated, I would use either the ET street radial pro, 315/60 (which I use, on a twelve inch wheel) or the appropriate size pro bracket radial.
But as said above, bias slicks would be better on a poorly prepared racing surface.
Head to your local track, look at what the cars running similar to yours are running. If they are mostly on bias, the prep is probably not great. If they are dead hooking on radials, then your choice is obvious.
 
'68cuda416 said:
I don't race no prep, that is for the mentally challenged, I personally run one because the car see's double duty. The OP's car is track only I guess from what he stated and although I have never personally ran a slick on any of my cars I do know of a few people that have went from a slick to a radial and they all agreed that the radial is faster and it's more stable, if that is not your experience then it is what it is, but have you ran both styles to even be able to compare? Everybody for the most part really wants to run as fast as they can, and yes I understand the bracket racing aspect but still guys want to run as fast as they can get the car to do and then work on consistency from there, I mean if not running fast was so important then everybody would just race their daily drivers. I will concede to this although it doesn't take away from the other facts I have stated......a drag radial is a dead hook tire and if it spins they do not recover whereas a slick is fastest with some controlled spin and will recover a lot better than a drag radial. So there is that....
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Yes, I have run both. I would run a drag radial on the street if I ran a 16"+ wheel or if the class required it. That would be the only reason.

I also think no prep is a lot of fun. It definitely isn't for the mentally challenged nor the financially challenged.
 
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