Nitto Drag radials times not so good?????

[DarkShadowGT]

Hey all i just bought some Nitto 555r's for my stang. Well i went out to the track and was suprised at my best times.
60' ... 2.249
330 ... 6.250
1/8 ... 9.508
MPH ... 75.57
1000 ... 12.323
1/4 ... 14.699
MPH ... 95.13
TRACK CONDITIONS: Non-Prepped, pissy officials, and it was about 95*f outside.
So what's going on?? I did an AMAZING burnout with a Mach1 friend of mine to where everyone took pictures . So do you see anything wrong?? maybe its just me but it doesnt look good
Thanks all

 

[ZaC851]

Wow man. NO OFFENSE to you but that 60 is horrible. Keep practicing on your launching and see if that helps You should atleast be sub 2.0 second 60ft times. How are you launching?

 

[DarkShadowGT]

Well im auto so i launch at idle. sometimes at 2000rpms man it was never this bad till i put drag radials. Could track conditions cause these dissappointing times?

 

[ZaC851]

Track conditions do play a big part but still you should have a better 60 ft time. I'm not real familiar with launching a auto so maybe someone else will chime in. I have read though that some people got there best time launching from an idle
Some say that nittos suck when new also.

 

[DarkShadowGT]

BTW a guy with a Mach1 (a friend of mine) was having the same problem. 14.4's and 14.2's and he used to run 13's until tonight. I don't know his 60' time though. i was actually ahead of him until about the 1/8 i think. He also got some new nitto 555r's. don't know if this helps. I'm gonna have to check for codes because maybe theres something wrong with the car but since a lot of people were having probs with their new DR's tonight, it made me think.

 

[54life]

95 degrees plays a big part especially with v8's....yeah those 60 ft times are horrible man....at least get your rpm a bit....launching at idle is killing you

 

[ZaC851]

Well then maybe it was just the track prep pehaps.

 

[prsrizdgt]

I would think that since you are not supercharged you would power brake as much as you can, and then nail it to the floor at launch. Even with my blower (I am auto also), that is what I do because at the track there is so much rubber built up, you should grip very well. I think I am only spinning about the first 10-15 ft, where as on the street, I will usually spin thru all of first gear and part of second. I also had a problem with drag radials. My Goodyear Eagle F1 60' time was 1.974.....I put on Nitto's and it went to 2.025.......my problem was that I tried to do a short dry burn-out, which didn't heat the tires sufficiently so they weren't sticky. I was told you should roll thru the water(which you don't do with a street tire), and do a good 1st to 2nd gear burnout till solid smoke is coming from the wheel wells (maybe 10 seconds). I wound up getting rid of the Nittos cause they pissed me off in other ways. I am pretty inexperienced, so I am searching for the right things to do at thr track too. Each combo is a little differant.

 

[GregGTStang]

95* is too hot to be racing, but the officials have nothing to do with your times. Wait until the winter to race.

 

[prsrizdgt]

Good point Greg. Lotta power probably lost at those temps.

 

[rcn4him]

Did you heat cycle the nittos's and let them cure before you went to the track?

 

[stangman]

i didn't heat cycle mine. & went to the track a few days later last week, & the best 60 ft i could cut was a 2.0 i cut that all day long on my old street tires. but i've been told not to expect much out of the nitto's until you've gone to the track a couple of times don't know if it's true but i guess i'm gunna find out this week or next

 

[stangman]

Did you heat cycle the nittos's and let them cure before you went to the track?

also, how are you supposed to heat cycle them?

last night i did the nastiest burnout i've ever done in a car, trying to get em broken in. man i wish i had that one on camera

 

[98SteedaStang]

Heat'em up real good in the water box. Also what PSI do you have your tires at?? Lowering the PSI and heating the tires before the run could help. You could aslo try bringing your RPMs up to almost a tire spin then launching.

 

[White Stang]

Heat'em up real good in the water box. Also what PSI do you have your tires at?? Lowering the PSI and heating the tires before the run could help. You could aslo try bringing your RPMs up to almost a tire spin then launching.

You need to spin them for about 8 seconds in the water box to get them hot.

 

[Cobra Jay]

Track conditions and hi temps=

 

[twogts4us]

Air Pressure? You should drop this down to about 18...
But, as stated, 95 is hot!

 

[DarkShadowGT]

well my pressure was at 20psi. after that i dropped it to 18psi. then to 17 then 16. Evertime a 14.7. eh. and as most of you know its real hot in vegas this sucks. o yeah 60' times for the mach1 guy was 2.something (just a couple tenths lower than mine i think) with DR's if i remember correctly

 

[Cobra Jay]

2 1/2 weeks ago, I was running 14.7's 14.8's at 94-96 mph with 2.3-2.4 60' times. I was launching at about 1,500-1,800 & 1800-2000 and shifting at around 5900. I was getting A LOT of tire spin out of the hole and into 2nd. At the time I was all stock minus a K&N drop in and on street tires. Temps were in the low 80's and it rained earlier in the day so the track conditions wern't the greatest. I was my first time with this car at the track so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was hoping for 14.20's, but with the track the way it was I wasn't suprised on what I ran. I didn't get many runs in due to someone making a nice oil mess on the track at top end which took about an hour to clean up. I didn't have a lot of time to try different launch RPM ranges or shift points or time for long cool downs between runs. I even tried doing a small burnout outside of the water box, but I actually ran slower than just running with cold tires. I wasn't power shifting either. I'm going back next weekend to see what I can run with the pullys,gears and aluminum D/S installed. Hopefully the temps will stay below 85 and my buddy will let me borrow his Cobras rims and 315 Nitto's since he's going up north for the weekend. I'm sure the track will be in better condition since it is a some what large ALL FORD event next weekend.

 

[DarkShadowGT]

Well i checked dtc's and nothing wrong. i guess i just had a bad night we'll find out again on the 6th of august. is 10% humidity bad? lol sorry i just need to know what went wrong.
BTW: what rpm can i bring my car up to? I am stock automatic. does at least my trap speed look right??