I got a pair of 15's off a 1g and want to know what size tire would be best and what air pressure to run it at? I have a buddy that will hook me up with some used tires of choice for next to nothing and I can't afford slicks right now. I couldn't hook up at the track and I just got some new tires on the 17's so I wasn't burning them up. I'd just roll through the water and spin them enough to get them clean, but I really didn't have any great traction.
#1975, "RE: what tires on 15's" In response to Reply # 0
okay dude... I know that long smokey burnouts look really cool, but if you want to hook, learn to stay the hell out of the water box, drive around it. That box is for cars with slicks on them. You may want to dust off your tires a LITTLE bit, but that shouldn't involve any water what so ever. Stay out of the burnout box, that'll help you hook.
#1976, "RE: what tires on 15's" In response to Reply # 1
Well I'd love to, but the box at my local track has no room to drive around and it's usually wet way before I can get there. I know that radial tires loose traction as they heat up, so burn outs are bad... but they sure look good. OK, back to which tires sizes and air pressure should I get? I thought like a 225-55-15, but I'm not sure if 225 will fit.
#1977, "this should help a little" In response to Reply # 2
A 205/60R15 tire OR a 225/55R15 tire would match the stock tire diameter, giving you the same final drive (it would be the same as a 195/70R14 or a 205/55R16 tire) if you are going to use those 15 inch rims on the street all the time. Of course, a tire with a smaller diameter would give you better acceleration, at the cost of fuel economy on the street (you'd drive around at a higher rpm all the time).
225 tires will fit if you still have the same stock offset on those rims. You should post more questions specifically about tire sizes in the handling section if you are unsure about offset and other tire/wheel issues involving fitment.
When it comes to what to do for a drag race though, keep posting here Run your tires at about 24 psi, and lower it from there if you need a little more taction. About 24-25 psi seems to work for me (stock tires on an RS) I typically don't go lower than 18-10 psi because they're just street tires. With a stiffer side wall/lower profile tire you can get away with less tire pressure, and you'll have to since the sidewall doesn't have as much "give" to it on a lower profile tire and you'll need to take out a few more pounds of pressure to get your tire to stick a bit better.
As for the burnout box, try to go around it as much as possible. If you still get the tires a bit wet, just pull in front of the box and spin the tires out a bit, that should dry them enough. Actually, even if you do go around the box completly and don't get the tires wet, you can still spin them a bit if the tires are cool or it's a cold day.
Now, you are right that when a street tire gets really hot it looses traction, but a cold tire is not a good tire to race with either. I usually give the tires a little spin right before a race to get them a bit warmer AND THAT'S IT! That is VERY different from a burnout in the burnout box! If you do that you will heat the tires up too much.
Just give them a little spin for about one half a second or so (maybe a whole second if they got wet) and you should be all set. That should make sure the tires heat up a litle bit more to get you some traction but not heated up too much where you would start to loose it.
#1978, "RE: this should help a little" In response to Reply # 3
Thanks! These tires and wheels are only for drag racing, but since I'm in college, I'm on the budget of used tires until I either get out of college or I get a whole lot better at driving to buy slicks. Thanks again, I'm going to see if I can get a set of 225's.
Run your tires at about 24 psi, and lower it from there if you need a little more taction. About 24-25 psi seems to work for me (stock tires on an RS) I typically don't go lower than 18-10 psi because they're just street tires. With a stiffer side wall/lower profile tire you can get away with less tire pressure, and you'll have to since the sidewall doesn't have as much "give" to it on a lower profile tire and you'll need to take out a few more pounds of pressure to get your tire to stick a bit better.