New to Drags - Wheel & Tyre combo for FPV ute

[Pepscobra]

G'day guys - I've been getting alot of enjoyment from taking my ute to a few track days and would like to run it down the strip soon too.
I'd like to get a dedicated set of rear wheels/tyres for such a purpose. Nothing fancy, steel wheels are fine if thats acceptable.
What are people generally using?
What is the optimum size?
How wide should I go on a BF FPV ute?

[Quadcams]

The 275/40/17 MT street radials are your best bet, the 255/50/16 MT are better due to bigger side walls but wont fit over your brakes. Get yourself a set of second hand 17" BA alloys rims.
Run them at around 18-20 psi, a good burnout (start in 2nd gear) to get good heat into them, need to get your wheel speed up over 120kph and see good smoke. There is a big difference in traction from a cold MT to one with heat in it.
I noticed yours is a manual, you will need a good clutch with these tyres, std clutch will die real fast with the MT's, due to better traction and being able to launch harder.

Have fun but be warned, it can be very addictive.

Wade

[prasac]

agreed with Wade get the MT street radials, i'd have pressure around the 16-18psi most people i know usually run around that amount but it varies. u can get a cheap electic tyre pump from Supercheap and you can experiment.

[dieseltrain79]

Being manual i would suggest running a little more pressure in the tyre to start with . 20-22psi . Will help reduce the shock on the drive train a little bit

[Pepscobra]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I'll look into the M/T's and see what i can get.
Not too keen on rebuilding my clutch though... might take things easy to start with.

Being a ute, is it better to have weight over the rear? Or less weight?
Hard cover on or off?
Tailgate up or down?

Sounds silly I know, but i've seen things done differently.

[FPV8U]

Tailgate down = Stone Chips

Either leave it on and closed or take it off completely.

[Quadcams]

Originally Posted by dieseltrain79

Being manual i would suggest running a little more pressure in the tyre to start with . 20-22psi . Will help reduce the shock on the drive train a little bit

Wont help much with the MT 17", get up over the 20psi mark and they start to go off. Due to the smaller sidewall and less give they are going to be harsh to a degree anyway. Running from 22psi to 18psi with the MT is like chaulk and cheese, when you get the right psi they really come on like all drag tyres.
Running the MT streets 255/50/16 you can go as low as 16psi and achieve as low as 1.6 60' depending on track conditions and car, but a big factor is the burnout, getting heat into them. Harshness really depends on how aggressive your left foot is, the key to a good launch in a manual is being able to slip the clutch to a degree off the line, you dont want to just dump it.

Wade

[Quadcams]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

Thanks for the replies guys!
I'll look into the M/T's and see what i can get.
Not too keen on rebuilding my clutch though... might take things easy to start with.

Being a ute, is it better to have weight over the rear? Or less weight?
Hard cover on or off?
Tailgate up or down?

Sounds silly I know, but i've seen things done differently.

Mythbusters recons up is better lol, Ive done up and down, dont see much difference except may what Jason mentioned, possible stone chips.
Mate end of the day it all comes down to power and weight, so bacically the less weight the better, the MT streets are a sticky tyre and on a good track there going to hook up well.
Manuals are very track sensitive as they are aggressive at putting the power down, so your very dependant on good track conditions.

[dieseltrain79]

I know the ET streets are better at 16-18psi s i run them on my 11 sec car , However , Manual cars tend to bog down with these tyres on . That will kill the 60' and 1/4 time worse than a tiny bit of tyre slip but plenty of traction . Been there tried that ith other peoples cars ;)

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by Quadcams

Mythbusters recons up is better lol, Ive done up and down, dont see much difference except may what Jason mentioned, possible stone chips.
Mate end of the day it all comes down to power and weight, so bacically the less weight the better, the MT streets are a sticky tyre and on a good track there going to hook up well.
Manuals are very track sensitive as they are aggressive at putting the power down, so your very dependant on good track conditions.

yep ive heard similiar....but leave the back up and any lids OFF. The pocket of air build up in the back is better suited at higher speeds than the downforce your lid will give you. Besides the chips when the tail is down you again get the air flowwing over the roof finalling reaching low enough and will only push the tail down. You want the tail to trap the air then it builds up a swirt then new air over the roof flows fast and straight...not down onto your gate or hardlid. WOW how tecky and over the top does that sound haha

[King Dribble]

Would this set up be the same for 4sp autos? or would something be better? Sorry to hi jack the thread...Won't do it again.....

[kenz]

What would be some ok tyres to use on a set of 18s? Ive just picked up a couple of the ba fpv pursuit rims, they are 18 x 8 and also whats the best size to fit on 8" rims? Its for a BAII XR8 ute 6spd manual with about 240rwkw
Probably looking at $200 tops per tyre. Would something like this be ok Im not really sure what I should be looking for, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-X-255-4...item53e8a3a1f2
Or even just some normal street tyres that are a bit cheaper. They will only get used every now and then so I dont want to spend a fortune just something for a bit of fun at the drags. I've just been running my 20s so anything will be an improvement
cheers