Anyone have any opinions or experiences with different brands of street tires?

It really is disappointing to buy new tires only to find they have horrible traction off the line. It would be great if we could collect some info here to get an idea before we purchase.

Here is some info on a few different street tires I tried on my mid 14 sec Malibu with a basically stock 406:

Baseline tires were a cheap set of Sears Guardsman 40 T/E tires in the 205/70 14 size. These would spin pretty easily if powerbraked or if full throttle was used right off the line. 60 ft times were 2.35, 2.32

Next were a set of 245/45 17 Bridgestone Potenza RE730s that I borrowed from the front of my 69. Right from the first run the increased traction was obvious. They could still be made to spin but you had to try harder by powerbraking or mashing the gas from a stop. 60 ft times were 2.13, 2.19, 2.12, and 2.24. I had bought these tires about 2 years ago from Tirerack.com after reading several users comments about their straightline traction.

Next were Dunlop GT Qualifiers in the 235/60 15 size. These basically provided no traction and were worse than the original set of 14 inch cheapo tires. The 60 ft times were pretty bad:
2.42 and 2.54. These Dunlops came with a car I bought so I don't know if the rubber was getting old, but FWIW, they felt like they were greased with butter

Anybody have any input, good or bad, on street tires they've tried???
Chris

I have a set of 275/60-15 Goodrich Excentia's on the rear of my car. They are made with extremly hard rubber and spin like crazy! 60' times around 2.29-2.32

Thanks for the info Gary...I'll be sure to stay away from those!

Anybody else have any opinions on which tires are on the sticky or slippery side?

Any of the hard radial tires you buy will not be good for drag racing. Also vry low profile tires don't work very well due to the stiff sidewalls. For your combo (17's) I would suggest Nitto drag radials, I doubt you will be able to spin them at all, they hook really well. I have seen cars go deep into the 10's on them, the tread pattern and life is better that BFGoodrich drag radials. With 17" wheels your options are limited as far as drag tires.

Have you thought about an extra set of wheels for when you go to the track? A set of 15" wheels with a set of McCrearys, Hoosiers, or Mickey T's would really make the car hook.

I almost squeaked in below 2 with a 2.02 on elcheapo Road Hugger Radial 245's. However I think I just got lucky because I was easing into it and happened to hit it just right. Just an opinion but I wouldn't buy street tires based on how well they hooked at the track. I'll eventually get a set of Nittos like Royce suggest.

I have had good success with the Nitto 555's, and can echo the above comment on their long life.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I was hoping to get away with one set of tires that gave reasonably good traction off the line. You know, having a car that's pretty quick in it's every day street trim.

Once I do a few upgrades (cam, heads, intake, rockers) to the 406 in my Malibu, I will almost definitely go for the Nitto Drag Radials in the 275/50 15 size. I had thought about BFG Drag Radials, but they wear much too quickly for my budget.

The 69 will be also be upgraded soon with a few things (posi, Trick Flow heads, RPM intake, and 1.6 roller rockers). I will see if I can get by with the 275/40 17 Bridgestone RE730s that are on now, since they are pretty sticky as far as regular street radials go. The car is a convertible with no cage and is going to stay a relatively mild street car. If I can get in the 12's I'll be happy.

My brother pulled a 1.98 on a set of Falken 245/50/16's.

my69gofast -

I have a set of Nitto Drag Radials on my 69, 275/50/15. I am still learning what works best at the track. My best 60' to date is 1.933. That was with a healthy warm up through the water. I think along the same lines. I like to drive the car to the track, run it, and drive it home without much thrashing at the track.

With my limited experience with them, I am happy. I do not have any experience with other types of drag radials.

-Bill