W211 AMG Discuss the W211 AMG's such as the E55 and the E63

So there are no tires as soft as Drag Rad's??

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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 06:23 PM
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So there are no tires as soft as Drag Rad's??

Had my PS2's on for a week or so now and love um, yet I long for the grip my draggers had. PS2's corner like nothing I have ever felt....plus the fear of death is greatly diminished (hated cornering on Drag Radials). Yet, punch it at the red light and we are spinning away even with LSD.

I just am going by the finger poke factor. You could push your fingers into the drag radials like they were soft butter....PS'2 would break your nail if you pushed to hard.

My question is.....are their no street tires as soft as the Drag Radials. Like a road race tire or something. I called BF Goodrich and the "reading from the brochure" guy on the phone told me the Goodrich G Force T/A KDW's were pretty close to the Drag Radial softness rubber. Is he full of crap? Anyone have any ideas....I want the drag radial launches WITH cornering darn it!!!! Whew, thanks for letting me vent.
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 07:17 PM
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i don't know from experience but i think those BF goodrich tyres (tires) are softer than PS2s
I dont think they have the wet weather grip tho
I may be wrong, don't listen to me
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 08:31 PM
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Jackpro, you say you are still spinning the tires with the LSD. Would you still do it again? Can you estimate a % improvement the LSD has given you?
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 08:34 PM
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The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires are probably the softest. It is a road race tire, though, so they will wear quickly. These are the tires that come on the Porsche GT3.
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 08:41 PM
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You could go with some DOT legal Competition tires, like the ones e554jlp mentioned.
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 09:18 PM
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Kumho Ecsta V700's are probably the next stickiest thing to the bfg drag radial and come in 245, 265, and 285 widths in 18". I'm not sure of the sidewall profiles on all of them, but they are a DOT legal competition tire like the Pilot Cup. They might not stick quite as well as the drag radials in a straight line, but your car will corner like it's on rails.
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 09:26 PM
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Jak,

Unfortunately I don't think you are going to find anything that 500+lb/ft of torque won't burn. I have been thru BFG, Goodyears, Michelins on my Vette and nothing will stick like DOT slicks.

I went from 275s to 315s and it helped a lot. Still I can light em up to 50 with ease. With nitrous it's down right dangerous. My Vette is pretraction control era and I have just learned to use less left foot. The LSD in the Vette works great, you can burn forever and it goes strait as an arrow. Maybe MB needs to take lessons from the guys from Chrysler, I know they know how to get torque to the pavement.

Several of the guys that autocross around here swear by cheapos like kuhmos and yokohomas but they last less than 10k miles. I have no personal experience with these tires. Not even sure they are street legal.

It's a really good problem to have. Here's to monster torque.
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 10:44 PM
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Jackpro, you say you are still spinning the tires with the LSD. Would you still do it again? Can you estimate a % improvement the LSD has given you?
No, no....don't wanna give the wrong impression. LSD is the only thing saving me from hating my mods. Without it, I would be miserable. I know it would smoke tires all over town....probably would lose to a Focus.

All it really does now is squeal the tires a fraction at launch and LSD may light up once.....again that is with estimated 585hp and 640Tq. I guess I am just spoiled in thinking you can dump that much torque on street tires.

Again, LOVE the LSD and mods....don't really know how to do the percentage thing, just know I am loving it. I know if I had the drag radials on, I could dump all the torque to them with not much spin at all.

Thanks for all the info.....any other info on tires...please pass um on.
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 11:07 PM
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Jackpro1,

"pretty close" is a very subjective term and in reality no street radial will be as close to being as soft as the G-Force drags, I'm sorry to say. The KDWs are a nice soft tire and are actually pretty damn soft for a performance tire (I've had experience with them through the Supra community). I know people here just scream PS2s all day but there are actually a number of terrific tires out there that I am pretty sure will give more grip than PS2s. I will not be using PS2s as my tires when I upgrade my wheels.

-m
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 11:11 PM
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go with the Kumho Ecsta's...... I had them on my Viper GTS for a while, and they are amazing..... they are made for cornering, you'll think you just got into a different car with them on....

as for straight line acceleration, I could actually keep the power down from a roll in 1st gear with these tires.... my viper makes about 450rwhp and 500+ rwtq....

the only drawback is you have to be careful while driving in the rain with them as the tread grooves are shallow...
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Old Mar 14, 2005 | 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Marcus Frost
Jackpro1,

"pretty close" is a very subjective term and in reality no street radial will be as close to being as soft as the G-Force drags, I'm sorry to say. The KDWs are a nice soft tire and are actually pretty damn soft for a performance tire (I've had experience with them through the Supra community). I know people here just scream PS2s all day but there are actually a number of terrific tires out there that I am pretty sure will give more grip than PS2s. I will not be using PS2s as my tires when I upgrade my wheels.

-m
In addition,no tire (so far) can provide both the dragracing bite you've grown accustomed to and optimum cornering ability.
The BFG Drag radial is optimized to give maximal starting traction while trading away lateral grip, which explains the spooky cornering misbehavior...it's not designed to go around corners the way a PS2 or other high-end street tire is.
I'll bet the belt designs of these two tire types are very different-there's a lot more to a tire than what the eye can see or the finger can touch.
Different tools for different kinds of fun.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 10:53 AM
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Thanks for all the input. Never EVER thought I would even consider Kumho tires, but I am going to look into them. Found this great article online....they really gave thumbs up to Kuhmo Ecsta (think that's it)....there quote.."the grip of Drag Rads...and you can go around corners too"

Sweet

http://popularhotrodding.com/tech/0501_phr_kumho/
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Jakpro1
Thanks for all the input. Never EVER thought I would even consider Kumho tires, but I am going to look into them. Found this great article online....they really gave thumbs up to Kuhmo Ecsta (think that's it)....there quote.."the grip of Drag Rads...and you can go around corners too"

Sweet

http://popularhotrodding.com/tech/0501_phr_kumho/
The V700/V710 will be better then the PS2s at the expense of treadwear, but the MX is not as good as the PS2s.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 11:42 AM
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I remember looking into the Goodrich G Force T/A KDW's but I had limited choices for 19 inch rims. I now have the PS2 on my new rims and drag radals on my stock rims. On the street, with the LSD and 275 PS2s I still spin the tires at 35 mph for maybe 2 seconds. I have not yet tried my drag radals with the LSD. Cornering is very good on the PS2s
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:00 PM
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I've been trying to decide what to do with tires on my new 19" wheels that will be arriving soon.

I was comparing the BFG G-Force T/A KDW2 to the Michelin PS2.. Surprisingly the stats show the PS2 is a better handling tire?? But, the KDW has an XL load rating while the PS2 doesnt.

Here is the info on the 2:

(Left: PS2 275/30YR19 Right: BFG 275/30YR19)
SPEED RATING YR YR
HANDLING RATING 9.20 9.10
DRY TRACTION 9.5 9.4
WET TRACTION 8.9 8.8
RIDE COMFORT 8.6 8.1
NOISE COMFORT 8.6 6.9
WEAR 7.6 7.9
TREADWEAR RATING 220 300
TRACTION RATING AA AA
TEMPERATURE RATING A A
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by vrus
I've been trying to decide what to do with tires on my new 19" wheels that will be arriving soon.

I was comparing the BFG G-Force T/A KDW2 to the Michelin PS2.. Surprisingly the stats show the PS2 is a better handling tire?? But, the KDW has an XL load rating while the PS2 doesnt.

Here is the info on the 2:

(Left: PS2 275/30YR19 Right: BFG 275/30YR19)
SPEED RATING YR YR
HANDLING RATING 9.20 9.10
DRY TRACTION 9.5 9.4
WET TRACTION 8.9 8.8
RIDE COMFORT 8.6 8.1
NOISE COMFORT 8.6 6.9
WEAR 7.6 7.9
TREADWEAR RATING 220 300
TRACTION RATING AA AA
TEMPERATURE RATING A A
My 19 inch 275 PS2 are extra load rated
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Jakpro1
Thanks for all the input. Never EVER thought I would even consider Kumho tires, but I am going to look into them. Found this great article online....they really gave thumbs up to Kuhmo Ecsta (think that's it)....there quote.."the grip of Drag Rads...and you can go around corners too"

Sweet

http://popularhotrodding.com/tech/0501_phr_kumho/
The reason I recommended them is because lots of Viper guys with 800+ rwhp have tried various alternatives to drag radials, and the V700 is the consensus favorite for a tire that corners great and still sticks well in a straight line. They will pick up every little pebble or bit of debris you run over though, so I would watch for signs of sandblasting and consider some 3M film for any affected areas.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by saber
My 19 inch 275 PS2 are extra load rated
Hmm... Maybe its just a typo on the tirerack site.. I think I am just going to stick with the PS2 tire.. I wanted a 285 for the rear, but they are backordered with no estimated delivery date.

Thanks for the confirmation on the load rating.

Last edited by vrus; Mar 15, 2005 at 12:19 PM.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:30 PM
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The reason I recommended them is because lots of Viper guys with 800+ rwhp
Hey, is that really true....can a Vip really put out 800 rear wheel hp.....is that with a garbage gan size bottle of NOS....wow, that would be unreal to drive.

**on the V700's....anyone know what speed rating they are...hopefully not the Drag Rad 110mph rating again.

Last edited by Jakpro1; Mar 15, 2005 at 12:34 PM.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Jakpro1
Hey, is that really true....can a Vip really put out 800 rear wheel hp.....is that with a garbage gan size bottle of NOS....wow, that would be unreal to drive.
There is a member on another board that I frequent that just had a Twin Turbo kit put on his new Viper. It pulled over 1000RWHP on the dyno. Needless to say, there are a couple of tuners out there putting out huge numbers on these cars.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 12:55 PM
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...falken

just wanted to toss this in...falken has a new azenis the 615 and it's made in a few sizes that may work. (no 19s tho)

the old azenis had very stiff sidewalls from personal experience and i suppose with the heft of the "beast" this would be a welcome upgrade to turn in response plus you should get very decent grip.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 01:30 PM
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Originally Posted by vrus
There is a member on another board that I frequent that just had a Twin Turbo kit put on his new Viper. It pulled over 1000RWHP on the dyno. Needless to say, there are a couple of tuners out there putting out huge numbers on these cars.
Yes, the power levels have skyrocketed the last 3 years or so as more tuners have experimented with supercharged and turbocharged cars and learned a few tricks. My Viper makes 860 rwhp on a very rich tune with 93 octane (custom Paxton Novi 2000 setup), and there is a lot more there, particularly if I want to run race gas.
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 01:39 PM
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Last question...what the h)(*l does it feel like to punch it when you are pushing almost 1000hp at the crank....does your vision get blurry or anything...

For real...back when the spare tire wouldn't hang over the tank (like it would now) , I used to run a tricked out Suz GSX1100 and when you'd really get on it...things got a little blurry...maybe G's or something.

What a ride man..post a pic when you can.

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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Jakpro1
Last question...what the h)(*l does it feel like to punch it when you are pushing almost 1000hp at the crank....does your vision get blurry or anything...

For real...back when the spare tire wouldn't hang over the tank (like it would now) , I used to run a tricked out Suz GSX1100 and when you'd really get on it...things got a little blurry...maybe G's or something.

What a ride man..post a pic when you can.

Well, the first few times the rear tires break loose at 80-90 mph it has a significant effect on your blood pressure and certain other normally voluntary bodily functions. You're absolutely correct on the "blurring" effect of the acceleration--it does remind me of a bike. Lots of sc'd or turbo'd Vipers go looking for bikes, because most cars aren't much of a challenge. If you want to download it, here is a good vid of a turboViper doing a roll-on race with a GSX1000: http://www.streetcarforums.com/video...20gxsr1000.wmv. As the Gixxer said afterward, "It wasn't even a race."

Here is a pic of my engine bay:
Attached Thumbnails So there are no tires as soft as Drag Rad's??-3508sc_viper_003-med.jpg  
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Old Mar 15, 2005 | 02:42 PM
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Well I know what my next car is gonna be. That was awesome....thanks!!
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