drag radials

[revolutionary]

Does anyone (DW maybe?) know if there is a specific ruling as to the rated speed for drag radials? Looking closely at the rulebook I see various ratings for OEM - vr/ZR rated tires but the drag radials such as Mickey Thompsons don't have a speed rated letter i.e. 255/75R15. They are listed under their 'Strip' section on Mickey Thompson's website and the description reads "this D.O.T. approved street legal drag radial will get your car down the track in record time and drive you home with sure handling and an excellent ride" indicating it is a tire made specifically for racing that happens to be street legal. I would read that as being within the "Special tires for racing as designed by the manufacturer" rule and would certainly feel safe running them at 240 but my opinion doesn't realy matter here. I'd like to know for sure if there has been such a ruling on these.

Thanks

[dw230]

I am not sure about the use of drag radials for LSR. You may want to contact either Lee Kennedy or Kiwi Steve Davies, both are in the rulebook. Maybe some one else can jump in here.

DW

[1212FBGS]

not recommended for motorcycles 
Kent

[Cajun Kid]

I recall being told MT Drag Radial Racing Tires approved up to 225mph or 250mph... Since all I need is 215mph, I can't full rememeber which was the max mph 225 or 250.

The same MT or Goodyear drag race radial slick (non street legal) is Ok to 250 from what I read... I would think the street legal version may be as good or better for LSR  as it  "seems"  to have a slightly stiffer side wall...

I ran them on the Vicky at Maxton and they felt more loosey gooesy on the rear, so I went back to V rated BFG G Force Sports (extreme summer tires) and felt very stable...

May be I did not have enough air in the MT Drag Radials for LSR

Charles

[NathanStewart]

Last year I inspected a Toyota Celica that we had to limit the speed on because there was zero supporting info on the speed rating for the M/T drag radials that were on the front of the car.  The decision at that time was that we would need to see actual M/T documation stating a speed rating before the speed limit would be lifted.  Unfortunatley, "I heard they were rated..." won't get you through tech.  Bring a piece of paper with you from the tire manufacturer that says exactly what they're rated to. 

[jdincau]

     This may be a dumb question but doesn't "DOT approved" mean that they have a rating and it is branded on the tire?
     Just went and looked at the MT web site. The only ones advertised as DOT approved are the ET Drag motorcycle radial, the ET street, the ET street radial and the ET street radial II. None of the 6 "ET Drag" labeled tires are DOT approved and the ET front has a disclaimer saying it is not approved for land speed use.

[revolutionary]

Waiting to hear back from Kiwi Steve for the official word

[Cajun Kid]

Waiting to hear back from Kiwi Steve for the official word

Please let us know what he said.

Thanks

Charles

[revolutionary]

Looks like we'll be able to at least give them a try.  We'll bring backup tires in case but really want to try to get these approved permanantly for future racers.

[NathanStewart]

I still think the safest thing to do would be to contact M/T for speed rating info.  Are you just going to run 'em until they fail and then we'll know their speed rating?

[jimmy six]

Whats a drag radial look like with 60 PSI in them on an 8 or 10" rim? Just courious......

[Stan Back]

"Are you just going to run 'em until they fail and then we'll know their speed rating?"

Only if they fail in the lights.

[revolutionary]

I got a reply back from Steve that said we could run them on a trial basis with inspections between progressively faster runs.  That is exactly the kind of response that I was looking for and shows an openess to new ideas.

As far as running them til they fail - lets hope that never happens.

[NathanStewart]

I STILL don't understand why you haven't contacted M/T.

[Cajun Kid]

I STILL don't understand why you haven't contacted M/T.

I have in the past spoken to MT... "for liability reasons"  they will not even answer a question once you say Land Speed Racing  as it pertains to those tires.  They say those tires are for short distance drag racing at high speeds. 

I then reworded my question,, I asked OK,,, "on the drag strip"  would the tires be OK for 225 to 250 MPH.... the answer was yes because they are only at top speed for a few seconds.

So no real good answer.

Just relaying my experience calling MT...

Hope whomever calls again gets a more decisive answer than I did.

Charles