Any radial tires better than others with straightline traction?

Have you seen a difference between different radial tires?
(Lets leave the drag radials out).
Any brand / type better than another on the street ?
I wonder is the treadwear rating of any help when trying to choose the best tire, if I have understood correct the higher the rating the harder the tire, better the life and the worse the grip? If we take the BFG product line as an example there are numerous tire designs available and those which have the highest treadwear rating ( like 400) are marketed as hi-milers ( up to 60 000 miles of life).Modern ultra hi-perf tires like the G-force KD have a treadwear rating of 200 or even less.I suppose the rubber compound on these tires is soft and gives a good traction, even in acceleration?
Which tires you have and do you get any grip on the street?I have used cheap,( cant even remember the brand), radials and have virtually no grip at all below, say 30 mph. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_bicker.gif[/img]
..even less in the future- got my new AFR 205s today[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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Leaving out the "Drag Radials"...most (performance) radial tires are built for either milage/fuel economy or to attain a Speed rating (H, Z, X). Even those that are listed as having an "A" traction rating are referencing traction in the sense of Mud, snow, rain...not acceration. The tread compounds, needed to get high speed ratings are usually the opposite of those needed for high powered drag racing type street cars...I guess that's why they came out with the "Drag Radials".

You may want to look at something like the old Yokohama(sp) A04(?) which had dual tread compounds. Half the tread was made of a softer compound, for traction and the other half was harder (the outside tread) to keep a high speed rating. Also, the tread design, whether it is bi-directional or uni-directional makes a lot of difference too.

I don't think you are going to be able to get past this easily. It's kind of an either/or situation. To get good off the line traction in a street tire, probably the best bet is bigger is better and your milage will go down the drain. To get good road traction, a decent "Speed" rating and not have to replace the tires every 2 or 3 months, you are going to have to give up a lot of off the line traction. I have Michelien XGT's (Z rated, unlimited) on one car, BF Goodrich Comp T/A's on another. But are useless under full acceleration anywhere under 40 mph. The T/A's are a little better, but not by much.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 4/17/04 10:21pm ]</font>

Put the drag radials back in for a second and you'll note that the BFG DR's have a tread wear rating of ZERO. That's the only way to get stickup - the tread has to be soft and sticky. They just don't build road tires like that. Most people don't want to buy a performance radial tire that wears out in less then 3000 miles of normal driving.

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On 2004-04-16 17:30, ville wrote:
Have you seen a difference between different radial tires?
(Lets leave the drag radials out).
Any brand / type better than another on the street ?
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Agreed...that's the point I was rambling around. But, that was the limitation he put on the question. It is an either/or situation. You can't get both in tires on the market today, and even the best compromise fals way short...especially if you are pumping out rwp over 300+. Kind'a makes 1st, most of 2nd gear redundant..[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Life is harsh, when you are having fun!

I've been running the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 radials for about 6 months and I really like them. They are a 1/2 the price of a Drag radial and with good straight line traction, excellent wet traction and treadwear. I am able to get 1.85-1.90 60' times at the track with an easy launch, but they WILL go up in smoke with too much throttle. They give a smooth ride but not stiff enough for race cornering.
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[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]the nitto 555(not the drag radials) tires seem to be the best for traction, but they do wear fast.
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I wonder if the treadwear rating can be of any help in this.Bluestreek ,do you happen to remember that spec from the Firestones?
In BFG product line the Comp T/A ZRs have a treadwear of 180 vs for example their G-force KDWS which have a rating of 400.

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Street radials and traction used in the same sentence is an oxymoron[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]
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I am also running the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's. I've had them for almost a year now and I really like them. Traction seems better than the BFG TA's I had b/4.

Aaron.

Michelin Pilot Sport tires come standard on several supercars. They are expensive but have very good traction. Falken 451s use a silicone / rubber blend in the tire for superior traction. That's what I decided on and they are holding the line much better than I expected. 245s in back and 225s in front. I have a 400 HP 331 and the traction is acceptable. Off the line from a standstill I still get a lot of tire spin, but rolling starts aren't too bad and 2nd / 3rd gear shifts are scratches now instead of tire spinning. Falken 451s are reasonable in price too. I've heard several good things about nitto 555s but they do wear quickly. Falken 451s have a 280 wear rating so they'll probably go 15000 to 20000 miles.
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