slicks or no slicks?

[dsmtalontsi95]

That's the question, Do I need slicks? I ran 11.9 at 120 last year and this year I'm making changes. I had an act 2600 with a 6puck and ran on pump gas. This year it's going to be a quatermaster twin disk and e85. I cut 1.7 60' once at the track using potenza re01's I spun pretty good in 1st but didn't spin at all in 2nd. I found a set of slicks and wheels for 600 dollars. The slicks still have the niples on the tread, they where only used a few times at the track. So do you think a 125-130 mph car needs slicks?

 

[jepherz]

It seems to me like the better question is "can I afford to start fixing things that break because of that much traction?"

 

[dsmtalontsi95]

Truf^ I have a shep stg-4 trans and a 4-bolt rear.

 

[NateCrisman]

You'll want a 4 bolt rear regardless. But my honest opinion is you will break LESS with slicks than you will with street tires. Bias ply slicks soak up some innitial shock on clutch application. They are lighter than Radials by a long shot! I find DSM drivelines break more often when you have a slip/spin/hook/slip/spin setup going or get any kind of wheel hop. I'v broken a few Xcases AFTER spinning the tires on the launch and they seem to snap the instant the car hooks from spinning. Street tires that spin off the line then hook up halfway through first is the recipe for driveline carnage.

I run bias ply slicks on my GVR4 with a completely stock tranny. It's fine. I'v run 1.4's with it. Stock trans, stock Xcase, stock driveshaft, stock 4bolt rear. (I'v broken one drivers 4bolt axle). Upgrading the trans has pretty much NOTHING to do with starting line launch traction and breakage. If it shifts good....stock is fine. The only thing inside the trans that breaks on launch is the center diff, I recommend welding it solid.

 

[rheckert]

Which car in your sig are you talking about?
Need slicks... no. Are you breaking stuff now? When was the last time you broke and what was it?

 

[Brianawd]

You can brake just as much sh*t with street tires as you can with slicks.

 

[NateCrisman]

Lets put it this way: do you NEED slicks...no. But a set of slicks will take your 11.9 @ 120 with a mid 1.7 to maybe 11.4 @ 120 with a 1.50. I went 11.41 @ 121 on my hoosiers last year in a GVR4. Im going to run the slicks tonight with a 14B (that by everyone's common knowledge should never NEED slicks). But regardless, Ill 60' faster than anyone ever has on street tires with a 14b galant.

Slicks are pretty much going to be worth about .3 to .5 seconds of ET. More on a very high powered - big turbo car that might spin through second or have spool & shifting 1-2 issues due to first gear traction. What else are you going to get for $600 that's going to take half a second off your ET? (nothing but nitrous) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif

 

[dsmtalontsi95]

^ so you suggest getting them?

Quoting Heckert:
Which car in your sig are you talking about?
Need slicks... no. Are you breaking stuff now? When was the last time you broke and what was it?


I'm talking about the 97. I broke the center diff, hence the shep trans now.

 

[NateCrisman]

Yes. If your interested in maximizing your ET at the dragstrip, slicks are a no-brainer. Buy them now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif

 

[turbofonz]

IMO having a twindisk, slicks will help a lot.

On a street disk, with street tires , you may get some clutch slip to prevent the tires from spinning... Twin disk will just be no slip what so ever possibly causing major wheelspin.

 

[Mark]

Personally I think you could get away with drag radials..

I didn't need slicks till I hit 600+ awhp with the auto.. Yea it's a little different but i also had nitrous for spool and that hit hard off the line. Then it was a 1-3 spin w/ drag radials so I upgraded to slicks. Plus I didn't need to hit 4th on strip with 26" tires.

 

Slicks will be faster but you may break some axles or twist your output shaft on your tcase. I am going to try and run these this year click

 

[curtis]

Read up on moment of inertia on PTT's site but quarter master just came out with new disks instead of a small hub rivited in the center they have a one large hub then the disks float on that. Chris beran just bought a set for the ebo. Either way alot will change with the twin disk. There not as violent on instantaneous shock when you look at things in milliseconds and stop motion but Nate made a very valid point weight slicks weigh probably half of radials. But 6 bills for slicks and wheels is a good deal as long as they were stored in the dark and aren't old and are the correct height. You want to fly through the traps in 4th at max rpm's and not fall on your face going to fifth at 1100 feet. End of last season is fine for the slicks but a year or so old tell them to keep em.

Now with the twin the first thing I noticed is that the car is leaving dust in every gear. If anyone has ever drove a low gear Mustang Vette GN etc you know what I'm talking about. The car isn't spinning but destroying the tires slowly as the small rubber chunks are rolling off. No telling how many thousands of dollars I've wasted on tires in my old mustang from doing that. I could be out by myself on some back road and I'd slow down and hit it and instantly look in the rear view to watch the two stripes go down in every gear. The VR4 never did that until I install the PTT. Fair warning , The PTT will eat axles because the reason its leaving dust is because the clutch isn't giving up anymore. I broke a front one in less than 15 miles of install and less than 100 rung off a rear axle in the diff. But damn the thing pulled hard. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

Yeah i am a QM dealer and they have been working on that clutch for close to a year. When i talked to Jeff he said they are still around 2 months away. Tilton actually came up with the design and now that their patent is up i think you will see a lot of twin disc going this route.

 

[4thStroke]

curtis, what were you doing when you shredded an axle? Launching? Roll? What gear? What was the HP level? I'm at 410whp for daily driving and have yet to break anything from the twin. I've just been cautious about what I've been doing with it.

 

[Gizmovr4]

What about slick diameter? 23”, 24" or 26"? I know that the fastest time run on a VR4 (9sec) was run on 23". Is that the preferred size to maximize horsepower in 4th gear thru the traps? Is the diameter influenced by transmission gearing and to what extent? I'm also aware that most eclipse guys run 24”? Nate runs 26” and he has run into the 10 secs…

 

[1qkfwd]

If your gettin slicks on rims for 600 it's worth jumpin on. I've always for years ran 225-45-17 bfg drag radials on my lower power setups. I've pushed 3bolt rears, aluminum 22-spline tcases, and stock center diffs to levels others scratch there heads. Things to note wheel hop is bad and kills parts. As stated above the spinning followed by good imediate traction is bad. Half traction where the rear sticks but the front spins will break stuff. From all the cars we've built I personally believe we should be running stickier tires from the 115 mph on up. My talon ran all season last year, that's prolly 10-15 events and at min. 5 passes a night with the stock tcase, rear diff, and 4-bolt axles. This car traps 134 plus and 1.5s on almost every run. I switched to 24.5 slicks this year and still running those parts and hittin low 1.4 60' times. I have a qm twin disc and that paired with the m/t slicks is saving the drivetrain. There's alot of misinformation from people on the forums that has never had experinces with slicks or drag radials. First thing they say is it breaks stuff. Well there just goin by what they read, not from what they ran. As for sizes 24.5" slicks are good for up to around the 150 mph range on a high rev engine 9000-10,000. 26" would be over that. Hope this helps out with your decision.