Help me find drag radials

[ion] C2 · 10-02-2007, 10:13 AM

Don't know much about tire sizes, or what fits. I want to get a pair of DRs to put on my front stockers (or steelies), which are 215/60/R15. What fits, besides 215/60?

alero440 · 10-02-2007, 11:33 AM

Tirerack.com

Hoosier R6 $197 a piece.

[ion] C2 · 10-02-2007, 12:03 PM

Yeah those are complete slicks though, and relatively expensive. Drag radials still have a sort of tread, and are street legal. BFGoodrich's T/A Drag Radial is one, but it's not in 215/60, so I'm not sure what combination of sizes tells you it'll fit on whatever the stock width of the rim is.

Edit: Just went on a tire size calculator/visualizer. It appears any 215 is the stock width, the 60 is how thick/tall the tire is. What's the benefit/downside to running a larger diameter (60+) overall tire size or smaller (55 or less) for that matter?

alero440 · 10-02-2007, 02:11 PM

I know what drag radials are There have been two sets on the 240.. I was just pointing out that that is all they show for the aleros in that size.

01silveralero · 10-02-2007, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [ion] C2

Yeah those are complete slicks though, and relatively expensive. Drag radials still have a sort of tread, and are street legal. BFGoodrich's T/A Drag Radial is one, but it's not in 215/60, so I'm not sure what combination of sizes tells you it'll fit on whatever the stock width of the rim is.

Edit: Just went on a tire size calculator/visualizer. It appears any 215 is the stock width, the 60 is how thick/tall the tire is. What's the benefit/downside to running a larger diameter (60+) overall tire size or smaller (55 or less) for that matter?

higher profile further off ur speedometer will be lower profile faster the speedometer will be.

blueolds01 · 10-02-2007, 03:06 PM

taller and shorter tires change the gearing a small bit. shorter tires will give you high gearing, taller=lower gearing. higher gearing will get you off the line better. you may also want to go wider too...225-235 wouldnt be pushing it.
and when you get a slick type of tire, think about how much more stress is going to be put on your trany.

[ion] C2 · 10-02-2007, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueolds01

taller and shorter tires change the gearing a small bit. shorter tires will give you high gearing, taller=lower gearing. higher gearing will get you off the line better. you may also want to go wider too...225-235 wouldnt be pushing it..

ah. yeah but i want to use the stock rims, i got a set of steelies

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueolds01

and when you get a slick type of tire, think about how much more stress is going to be put on your trany

hmm indeed. but isnt wheel hop worse?

blueolds01 · 10-02-2007, 03:24 PM

the stock rims are what 7 inches wide? i've 245 wide tires on 7 inch rims.
i was just throwing the whole trany thing out there.

[ion] C2 · 10-02-2007, 03:57 PM

see i don't know much about tire sizes or what can be mounted lol. didn't know you can put 245s on these. i need to know what sizes work to find some tires

One size of the BFGoodrich T/A Drag Radials I can get are 225/50R15. Those would work?

alerored04 · 10-02-2007, 04:25 PM

I think those would work but i cant tell you for sure. 10 cm difference in width isnt a big deal. Plus they might be close to 215/60's in height since the height is measured as a ratio of the width. Blueolds are you sure you got that gearing right? Gearing down should be giving the hard launches.

[ion] C2 · 10-02-2007, 04:40 PM

It looks like they would work according to this nifty applet:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Not much wider at all, slightly smaller though, like 5.4% off on the speedometer.

blueolds01 · 10-02-2007, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alerored04

I think those would work but i cant tell you for sure. 10 cm difference in width isnt a big deal. Plus they might be close to 215/60's in height since the height is measured as a ratio of the width. Blueolds are you sure you got that gearing right? Gearing down should be giving the hard launches.

yes, almost positive gearings right. when i had my s-10 everyone always talked about how when they put smaller tires on there truck, the trucked seemed a bit pepier. think about it this way a monster truck takes how much power to move it? why? the tires are as big as me and you...and it weighs a lot.

the difference between 215mm wide and 225mm wide is 1 cm not 10.

taller tires=lowing gearing
shorter tires=higher gearing

higher gearing will get you off the line better...alero(3.05) vs. gagt(3.29)

hope that makes sense!

blueolds01 · 10-02-2007, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [ion] C2

It looks like they would work according to this nifty applet:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Not much wider at all, slightly smaller though, like 5.4% off on the speedometer.

i use that site all the time...

jayson_waltz · 10-02-2007, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueolds01

taller tires=lowing gearing
shorter tires=higher gearing

Pretty sure its:
taller tires=higher gearing
shorter tires=lower gearing

Its like the back sprocket on a motorcycle. The bigger the sprocket, the higher its geared, hence more top speed(tho biger tires won't give you more top speed). Smaller=geared lower= more bottom end.

Spilner521 · 10-02-2007, 08:46 PM

Here's how the gearing thing works:

By gearing, people are refering to the number you see that is the final drive ratio. The higher the number, the quicker it will accelerate. The lower the number, the more top speed you'll have. This is why high gearing=greater acceleration and low gearing=greater top speed.

blueolds01 used the GAGT as an example against the Alero:
alero(3.05) vs. gagt(3.29)

The GAGT has a higher final drive, so therefore, all other things being equal, the GAGT will accelerate faster than the Alero.

[ion] C2 · 10-02-2007, 09:21 PM

so you want a larger overall diameter on your wheel/tire combo then (with lighter wheels of course) for the perfect setup

alerored04 · 10-02-2007, 10:38 PM

That sounds right but so weird to me. Jayson im sure you will agree with me, on the sleds you gear down and pick up more grunt on the bottom, gear up for top speed. That is why i am confused, thinking snowmobile season not cars.

Cliff8928 · 10-03-2007, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [ion] C2

so you want a larger overall diameter on your wheel/tire combo then (with lighter wheels of course) for the perfect setup

Not necessarily. What gear are you at by the end of the 1/4? and how close are you to being in the next gear.

You can optimize your tire diameter to keep you in the range of power/gears that you want to be in to an extent.

spyhunter · 10-16-2007, 06:32 AM

I squeezed 24.5x8.5x15 slicks on the stock steelies... apparently it worked quite well. Learned how to launch never broke an axle.