(Nitto) Drag radials out back, but up front too?

[Jason Green]

Well I was with him today when he ordered up the set. Four 555dr's it was.

Official answer is in. Yes they will work fine. A drag radial is a steel belted tire just like any other. They have a stiff side wall. Only difference is the soft rubber compound.

 

[gt50stang89]

Thats gonna look strange having them in the front. i have the 450's in the front with the radials out back. too late now though...

 

[Klunky]

I would feel like a retard if I had DR's on the front of my car.

 

[ponyboy19]

Well
Official answer is in. Yes they will work fine. A drag radial is a steel belted tire just like any other. They have a stiff side wall. Only difference is the soft rubber compound.

Drag radials are softer compound but they also have a softer side wall to give some and help plant the tires. even on just the rear of my stang going from BFG Comp Ta's to the same size Nitto Drags, there was a noticable difference in feel and performance in the mushyness of the tire. sounds like the offical answer was either one that somebody convinced themselves of, or one of a "Sales Rep"

 

[Jason Green]

555dr has the same side wall construction as the 555zr. Just different compound.

How will it look strange? The non drag 555 has virtually the same tread pattern as the drag.

 

[ponyboy19]

555dr has the same side wall construction as the 555zr. Just different compound.

Think about what your saying. we all know that the rubber that the tire is made of is a softer compound.. that obviously means the side wall is also made of a softer rubber, which in turn will make it more flexable and perform much worse than a regular 555 when it comes to cornering. drag radials are made to have give in the side wall to help curl and bite the track. this isn't rocket science. If you want to go back in the MM&FF mags on the MAD MAX write ups they did just that, putting 555 drags on all four corners and although they said it wasn't too bad on the track you had to let the car settle on the flex before punishing the corners. not to great for the street. Good luck.

 

[468LC]

IMO there is a lot of miss information in this thread.

The NITTO DR will be fine up front so long as it is at full street pressure.

It's been done thousands of times.

 

[468LC]

Think about what your saying. we all know that the rubber that the tire is made of is a softer compound.. that obviously means the side wall is also made of a softer rubber, which in turn will make it more flexable

Umm the rubber does NOT hold the car up.

 

[maverick0716]

It says right on their website that they designed them to be used in the 1320 ft. 1/4 mile......why would you want them on the front? Waste of money.

 

[wishihadastang125]

he should have just gone with M/T et drags all the way around he would get better traction

 

[Jason Green]

The car is BARELY driven as it is. When it is, hard cornering is not an issue. Thanks for all the replies. Another advantage of putting them on all fours is now he can rotate the tires.

 

[stang lover]

Drag radials are softer compound but they also have a softer side wall to give some and help plant the tires. even on just the rear of my stang going from BFG Comp Ta's to the same size Nitto Drags, there was a noticable difference in feel and performance in the mushyness of the tire. sounds like the offical answer was either one that somebody convinced themselves of, or one of a "Sales Rep"

That's not true. Drag Radials are steel belted radials, and they have the same sidewall stiffness as the NT555ZR's, or any other radial for that matter. They are V speed rated I believe, good to 130mph.

You guys are confusing steel belted drag radials with bias ply tires. Bias ply will flex, steel belted radials will not.

And in the rain, they are fine too, as long as there's tread. The nitto's have an aggressive tread pattern that sheet away water, just look at a set.

 

[ponyboy19]

That's not true. Drag Radials are steel belted radials, and they have the same sidewall stiffness as the NT555ZR's, or any other radial for that matter.

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm just wondering when all steel belted radials were made the same. I especially like the last one. "the sidewall of the carcass is as SOFT as that of a racing slick" being a drag RADIAL and using your theory i would have thought it would all have been the same.

Is drag radials on all four livable on the street.. Probably... is it optimal, hardly.

 

[PURESTREET5006]

You must be parts Ricer or do you have the worlds only FWD mustang....DragRadials go on the rear ONLY!!! Unless your auto crossing then maybe??