Doing a cross country trip, any DR's that will hold up to long distance?

[JBN]

So, a hobby of mine is doing long distance road trips. I've done it multiple times in different vehicles. This time though I'm planning on doing something different. I will be driving from west texas to New Jersey next month, 1800 miles, and plan on making a few passes at their local track. I'm going to buy a new set of drag radials, drive there on them as well as drive back to texas.

My question to you guys is this... are there any drag radials that will hold up to the mileage, be able to make a few passes, then drive back on them? I hear stories of people only being able to get 10k miles or less out of a pair of dr's, and that's my only concern. Loading up a pair in my car to carry with me is not an option as I will already be loaded down with personal items, tools, etc. any suggestions on a decent tire that can withstand some highway cruising? Thanks in advance.

Jay

 

[1320 Junkie]

Nit to NT05R's...I run them myself full time as my street tires. I have also gone 10.70's on them when driving to and from the track is required...even hit a snow shower my last return trip home of 2013. Awesome tires.

 

[fullboogie]

I'd say 555R's. At least they have full tread for such a long trip in which you may encounter bad weather. I would not want to drive on NT05R's in the rain...

 

[19COBRA93]

I'll throw a vote out there for the Mickey Thompsons. They're awesome, and even work well in rain and snow as I found out a few weeks ago. No smokey burn outs on the street, and any drag radial will last you quite a long time.

 

[Black Sex]

I wasn't overly impressed with my 555R's in the rain.
Every year I drive out to the Sturgis Mustang Rally and usually put on 1500-1800 miles in 5 days with some auto cross and drag racing. I stopped driving out there on drag radials because of the rain we always seem to hit on the way out there or on the way home. Nothing worse than going 45-50 when everyone else is 75-80. I now carry my drag radials with me.
Other than that the tires did fine. I even auto crossed with them.

 

[fullboogie]

19Cobra93 - Which MT's are you referring to? I'd be interested in checking them out, as my 555R's will be due for replacement by summer.

 

[Silver_Serpent]

I think you will have to slow down with any drag radial i the rain. That being said, I have done several 10+ hour one way, then back, trips on my 555rs

 

[19COBRA93]

19Cobra93 - Which MT's are you referring to? I'd be interested in checking them out, as my 555R's will be due for replacement by summer.

305-35-20's. These:

http://www.americanmuscle.com/micke...reet-radial-305r18-GSBasicFitmentV1&year=2002

 

[JBN]

Those MT's look nice. Thanks for all the responses guys.

 

[NightRide]

Out of all these tires the only one's I haven't run are the mickeys but guy's love them, cross country trip idk but definitely not on the nt05r unless you have balls of steel. 555r’s would be a nice pretty safe tire unless it's a down pour, my new favorite dd tire is the kuhmo ecsta xs, similar to the 555r’s with better rain traction.

 

[devilish64]

I just wore out a set of NT-05R 315-35-20's in not much more that 1k miles..... Compounds would seem to be lil too soft for my pocket books to travel on. As per your original question.... In my opinion.... I would say no, there it not really a good drag radial for an 1800 mile trip with drag strip passes in between. Your gonna wind up eating them up on the highway..... these things are soft and NOT cheap! I would just buy a good street tire and call it a day if I liked to drive my car long distances. Good luck, Chad

 

[19COBRA93]

That's interesting. I've got probably 1500 miles on my MT's since I put them on. Most of those miles are just highway and some city, as well as countless full throttle multi-gear blasts, and several dyno pulls. I would say they have about 90% left from where I started. They're holding up great, and I wouldn't hesitate for one second to make a 2000 mile road trip on them.

Now I'm not saying these are any better or worse than any others, I just find it really hard to believe you've killed a set of $700 drag radials in barely 1000 miles. My Mickey's are incredibly soft too, but I expect them to last well past 6,000 miles at least. And that's on an 800hp+ car.

 

[devilish64]

That's interesting. I've got probably 1500 miles on my MT's since I put them on. Most of those miles are just highway and some city, as well as countless full throttle multi-gear blasts, and several dyno pulls. I would say they have about 90% left from where I started. They're holding up great, and I wouldn't hesitate for one second to make a 2000 mile road trip on them.

Now I'm not saying these are any better or worse than any others, I just find it really hard to believe you've killed a set of $700 drag radials in barely 1000 miles. My Mickey's are incredibly soft too, but I expect them to last well past 6,000 miles at least. And that's on an 800hp+ car.

Couldn't tell ya why.... I would say I probably drive more aggressive than most people do, the CAR makes me do it! When I bought them I fully expected to get 6-8k miles out of them.... just didn't happen for ME. Just from my experience.... I still would not take a drag radial on an 1800 mile road trip.... seems like a different compound tire would be more effective IMO.

 

[zporta]

do you spin from every launch? i dont see how you can burn them off in 1k with out massive burnouts and tracking the car every weekend

 

[Silver_Serpent]

About 4k on my 555r's right now and they still look really good. I would say I am maybe half way through them.

 

[JBN]

Again I appreciate all the feedback. I do not plan on driving crazy, aside from opening it up on a highway or interstate from time to time I will be maintaining the speed limit the majority of the trip, and I will drive to the weather conditions. I actually drive for a living, and I average 300-500 miles per day. Been doing this for roughly 6 years now, in every weather condition Texas and surrounding states can throw at you. I have no concern in the drive itself, im really just wanting to know the longevity of a good drag radial. Ive driven on both slicks, and drag radials of a couple brands but never really paid attention to the lifespan of them. I will say the 555r on the back of my fox GT are roughly 4 years old, have about 15k miles on them and im going to wait another few k miles before I replace them. They do last, but they don't hook up well for me anyway.

I value all opinions and feedback, good or bad. This trip is going to happen, and a big part of the tires I choose are due to everyones experiences with different DR's.

 

[PistolWhip]

I run 555r's full time and have full faith in them. With any rear wheel drive car that has 300 RWHP or more, it doesn't matter what tire you have on the back; if you don't drive responsibly in wet weather you are asking for an end swap. Double that or even triple it in some GT500's around here, and you really start to increase the odds of a bad day if your not cautious and responsible. I don't drive my car in the rain, but I've gotten caught out a few times with no problems at all from the 555r's.

555r's do not hook as good as some of the other DR options out there, but you have to take the good with the bad. You're not going to find a DR that lasts 15K+ miles, has at least acceptable wet weather traction and still turns consistent low 1.6 60's. If you figure out a way to build that tire, you're going to be a millionaire and I'm interested in investing.
For me the 555r's have been a descent all around compromise, but I will not be replacing these with 555r's when they call it quits. At my current power level, compromising straight line traction is simply wasting money and I don't drive the car enough each year to be concerned with mileage.

One other DR that I ran full time on my 600 RWHP 03 Cobra, where Toyo TQ's. They were some pretty dam good tires for the short time I had them, but I didn't get enough experience with them to really give you a full recommendation. They did work well in wet and dry weather, seemed to wear really well for a DR and hooked slightly better than the 555r's, but the 100 less RWHP and even more of a gap in torque could have had something to do with that. They look great though.

 

[GOTSVT?]

do you spin from every launch? i dont see how you can burn them off in 1k with out massive burnouts and tracking the car every weekend

Maybe it's john force

 

[70SCJ]

My NT-05R's lasted about 14-15K miles of dd. No track time just a lot of multi gear runs. I rarely ran in the rain and they were ok, but I made sure I slowed down a lot. I had some MT's before that and they wore out in about 6K miles. They did not like wet pavement.

 

[JBN]

Just to give an update on my trip, I returned tonight from my 4k mile round trip from Odessa, Tx to Monroe Township, NJ on which I used a brand new set of MT Drag Radial II's. I am beyond surprised at how well these held up not only for their wear (tread still way up above the wear bars) but the adverse road and weather conditions I encountered. I was unable to race like I had originally planned as the event was rained out, but did have some spirited driving more than a few times on the trip. I encountered light-medium rainfall in Ohio and reduced my cruising speed to 60-65 and did not have one walk out, slide or hydroplane. West Virginia I came into a heavy down pour and reduced speed to 40-45, more due to visibility. Other vehicles were doing the same speeds so I wasn't the only one driving slow. For a drag radial, these tires exceeded my expectations. Hoping to get to the track next weekend and test them out there, but if their handling on an unprepped highway is any inclination as to what to expect I believe I will again be pleasantly surprised!