nickyroo

Mickey Thompson just came out with a drag radial tire not too long ago and a lot of people have been asking me what I think of them. So here's my opinion...

I bought a set of these tires for my heads/cam 1995 Camaro Z28 6 speed and had them mounted four days ago. I purchased them from Performance Unlimited II on Warwick Blvd. for a total of around $360 for (2) 255/50/16 tires. After mounting and balancing (Thanks to Glenn at Bowditch Ford for helping me out) I was in about $380. When mounting them, Glenn and I decided to air them up to 25psi to see how they performed. Once they were mounted, I drove from Harpersville to Victory then stopped and got some gas to let them cool down, then gave them one more heat cycle and another cool down period for them to break in properly. After that, I gave them about a 3,000rpm hit on the gas and they broke loose on the initial hit but stayed planted all the way to 6,000rpms. My car is not a mecca of power or anything but it is making a little over 410rwhp and 372rwtq. Compared to my old Nitto 245/55/16 drag radials, these things were hooking excellent

I drove them in a light drizzle on the back roads of Windsor (where I'm from) and these tires are definitely not something you want on a slick road. I would think these things are about as safe as ET Streets on a road after a fresh rain. However, the night that it was misty and very foggy, I aired them down to 18psi and completely forgot the road was damp under normal driving conditions.

The only real problem I am having with these tires is the fact that they are extremely soft. I have had them for four days and I can see the tread difference in them. Now keep in mind I have been driving all over the peninsula for the past four days and have had a few races, but I feel as if the tread wear on these tires is almost ridiculous. I purchased them knowing that I don't drive my car much at all, especially during the winter, but this nice patch of weather has caused me to be driving it every day.

My conclusion? These tires are something you want on a weekend car only. They're pricey. They wear horribly quick. They perform like shit in rain, but they hook VERY well. I am already sold on these tires and I haven't even heated them up yet before getting on it. I would definitely recommend them to someone who has a spare set of tires to drive every day on, but these tires would definitely dissinegrate under a daily driver.

Just thought y'all might want to know

flow fx

ET ST's are the shit.

montman

Good info, thats pretty consistent with what Ive heard from a few others.

If they are no good in the rain, I think I would just get a spare set of ET streets/ET drags on a set of welds for the track, as opposed to putting them on for everyday driving.

nickyroo

yea, well thats the thing. i keep my car in a location in newport news so i never really drive too far because usually when i drive it, im just going to cruise around or what not. if i had a set of ET drags, i risk getting a ticket if i get pulled. These things definitely have tread on them, and they are DOT legal. Theyre just ridiculously soft. ET Drags and maybe ET Streets (depending on the cop) would for sure get me an improper equipment ticket regardless of my inspection sticker. Plus i'm keeping my stock wheels on the car so I needed a 16" tire and wanted a radial. If I'm gonna buy ET Streets or Slicks, theyre gonna be on spare wheels. These tires are good for what I'm trying to do with them though... just kind of cruise around on the weekends and take the car to lunch if it's nice out.

montman

Right, I agree totally.

They suit your situation perfect.
Over simplified, they are a nice in-between shitty nittos and the basically track only ETD/ETS.

boostjunkie

still havent seen them in action reuter...

MerF

Good stuff.

nickyroo

maybe tonight i'll give you a good view of the tread pattern?

Digger70chall

i heard that these things can hook so well that they may not be allowed in DR only competitions. It was a story in Hod Rod a while back and they had em hooking as well as the slicks i think. I've been hoping they would get some more tire sizes done before i purchase this spring. Spring is from like may to june up here though.

nickyroo

here's what MT has so far according to their website