[32valves]

I just picked up two bmw z3 rims for $40 of craigslist. They are 17x8.5 41mm offset. I have a chance of buying some 275/40/17 drag radials cheap. But will they fit? Or what should I run on those 17's?

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by 32valves

I just picked up two bmw z3 rims for $40 of craigslist. They are 17x8.5 41mm offset. I have a chance of buying some 275/40/17 drag radials cheap. But will they fit? Or what should I run on those 17's?

I'll be running a 245/45/17" Hoosier drag radial.

Tdiwyse had good luck with those and also the same tire in a 225 variant

[32valves]

this guy got those brand new 275's for $200 which is a smoking deal. just wondering if they would fit...

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by 32valves

this guy got those brand new 275's for $200 which is a smoking deal. just wondering if they would fit...

They would possibly fit but not ideal for drag racing, would probably hinder mph quite a bit actually

You can get brand new nitto NT555r drag radials in 245/45/17 or 150-160 a piece

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by petey_highboost

They would possibly fit but not ideal for drag racing, would probably hinder mph quite a bit actually

You can get brand new nitto NT555r drag radials in 245/45/17 or 150-160 a piece

Why would 245 be better than 275 or 295? Weight? His rim width? I'm looking at both of these now size wise myself. Going to be 650-700 hp track day. Was looking at 275 or 295 on 17" apex arc 8 rims, either 9.5 or 10 wide.

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Why would 245 be better than 275 or 295? Weight? His rim width? I'm looking at both of these now size wise myself. Going to be 650-700 hp track day. Was looking at 275 or 295 on 17" apex arc 8 rims, either 9.5 or 10 wide.

Mostly height, tdiwyse picked up MPH and dropped his ET by going to smaller tire to take more advantage of the gearing and not having to shift into 5th (he went from a 245 to a 225)

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by petey_highboost

They would possibly fit but not ideal for drag racing, would probably hinder mph quite a bit actually

You can get brand new nitto NT555r drag radials in 245/45/17 or 150-160 a piece

I wouldn't bother getting an nt555r in any width and definitely not 245s to put down 600 lb ft.

OP, they should fit fine and I would suggest giving it a try IF you're willing to launch hard enough to make it worth it. Those should stick nicely and you will probably have the best 60' anyone has posted yet. So far I've seen a lot of 60' times on fairly skinny drag radials that are only slightly quicker than the 60' times that have been done on stock runflats.

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

I wouldn't bother getting an nt555r in any width and definitely not 245s to put down 600 lb ft.

OP, they should fit fine and I would suggest giving it a try IF you're willing to launch hard enough to make it worth it. Those should stick nicely and you will probably have the best 60' anyone has posted yet. So far I've seen a lot of 60' times on fairly skinny drag radials that are only slightly quicker than the 60' times that have been done on stock runflats.

If you say so, I've got first hand experience with the nittos and there not bad for what they are.. A 275 is going to be way to big and suck down the mph a good amount....

[Fundguy1]

I'm talking sizes. I was actually looking at Nitto NT05R Competition Drag Radials in 275/40-17 and Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial II in 295/40-17. I was wondering why the earlier poster said 245 over 275. Weight? Fitting the available rim? I'm figuring the larger widths will hurt on the top end a little but help early with my available power. The NT05R in that size was the tire used to make the n54 10.71 130 mph record run.

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

I'm talking sizes. I was actually looking at Nitto NT05R Competition Drag Radials in 275/40-17 and Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial II in 295/40-17. I was wondering why the earlier poster said 245 over 275. Weight? Fitting the available rim? I'm figuring the larger widths will hurt on the top end a little but help early with my available power.

It will be the height, and yes it will hurt the trap speed.. No arguing that. I know a 245/45/17 tire is 26" tall. I don't know about a 275/40/17 is.. I got a killer deal on a 245/45/17 hoosier, only reason I'm running them. If I was buying a set for retail it would be the m&h 245/45/17 or the new MT pro-R radial in the same size

[Fundguy1]

It's 25.8" for the 275s, 27.2" for the 295s. Shiv did the previous record run on 28" drags. I've got a manual with 3.08 rear so I don't know where I'll be in the torque band up vs autos in the higher gears. Shiv was manual. New guy with 275s had an auto.

[QUIKDZL]

Originally Posted by petey_highboost

I know a 245/45/17 tire is 26" tall. I don't know about a 275/40/17 is..

Easy to calculate. 275 is width in mm, 40 is aspect ratio, and of course 17 is wheel diameter in inches. To get tire diameter (or height), you need to add both sidewalls to the wheel diameter. In this example, take 40% of 275, double it, convert it to inches, and add the wheel diameter.

((275 mm x 0.40) x 2) x 0.03937 in/mm + 17 in = 25.66 in

That would make the 245/45-17s 25.68 in. The equation is what tires are supposed to be, but tires rarely follow it exactly. The diameter published by the manufacturer is actual, but this equation gets you close. These tires would be considered equivalent.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by petey_highboost

If you say so, I've got first hand experience with the nittos and there not bad for what they are.. A 275 is going to be way to big and suck down the mph a good amount....

I assume "what they are" is a cheap drag radial that's comparable to a fairly good street tire. Yes I have experience with them too. A good amount of MPH is one or two MPH right? It's not likely to cost him more than one or two MPH and if he is after times over MPH it will be a good change. FWIW the 275/40 r17 is shorter than the 245/45 r17 so the only downside is too much tire on the ground in third and fourth gears, but there is always going to be that trade off and when you consider the weak 60' times we have had so far it's an experiment worth doing.

The OP stated he already has the tire, wouldn't make much sense not to run them.

[Fundguy1]

Depends on the power too. If you're breaking loose on launch on 245s you're leaving much more on the table. My setup is about 650-700 depending on the tune I choose. And the record was set with the 275s with a similar setup.

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by QUIKDZL

Easy to calculate. 275 is width in mm, 40 is aspect ratio, and of course 17 is wheel diameter in inches. To get tire diameter (or height), you need to add both sidewalls to the wheel diameter. In this example, take 40% of 275, double it, convert it to inches, and add the wheel diameter.

((275 mm x 0.40) x 2) x 0.03937 in/mm + 17 in = 25.66 in

That would make the 245/45-17s 25.68 in. The equation is what tires are supposed to be, but tires rarely follow it exactly. The diameter published by the manufacturer is actual, but this equation gets you close. These tires would be considered equivalent.

Right, I know the nittos I have on my other car are 25.7, the Hoosiers are exactly 26" iirc

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

I assume "what they are" is a cheap drag radial that's comparable to a fairly good street tire. Yes I have experience with them too. A good amount of MPH is one or two MPH right? It's not likely to cost him more than one or two MPH and if he is after times over MPH it will be a good change. FWIW the 275/40 r17 is shorter than the 245/45 r17 so the only downside is too much tire on the ground in third and fourth gears, but there is always going to be that trade off and when you consider the weak 60' times we have had so far it's an experiment worth doing.

The OP stated he already has the tire, wouldn't make much sense not to run them.

What kind of 60ft's have you cut with your 335d?

And you can't really say 1-2mph since I'm assuming you haven't tried the two different tires back to back, only one who has done a back to back with drag radials is tdiwyse.

I've actually gained 3mph going from a 235/35/17 to a 245/45/17 in my Evo since a IX 4th gear is so short and the stock turbo is out of steam past 7k. Apples to oranges.. I know but just an example of what a tire size changes, as you know I'm sure from your drag racing experience also

He actually has an opportunity to buy the tires, he does not already have them fwiw

[32valves]

if he didn't sell them yet, I'm tired of thrashing my street tires. but a couple times I put down 1.9 60fts, with 275/30/19 continentals dws.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by petey_highboost

What kind of 60ft's have you cut with your 335d?

And you can't really say 1-2mph since I'm assuming you haven't tried the two different tires back to back, only one who has done a back to back with drag radials is tdiwyse.

I've actually gained 3mph going from a 235/35/17 to a 245/45/17 in my Evo since a IX 4th gear is so short and the stock turbo is out of steam past 7k. Apples to oranges.. I know but just an example of what a tire size changes, as you know I'm sure from your drag racing experience also

He actually has an opportunity to buy the tires, he does not already have them fwiw

I cut a 1.92x if I remember right on the stock runflat. I picked up about 1 mph going from 255/35 r18 to 275/35 r18 non runflats. I don't have any reason to believe the tires caused that but they obviously didn't hurt my mph.

The nt555r experience I have is the 245/45 variety on another car, I never cut a better 60 than I did on the stock 225 all season tires after close to 100 passes on them trying all sorts of things. They are just crappy drag radials, I've never seen them recommended by anyone with a lot of drag racing experienced, they only get recommended if you're on a tight budget and honestly if you're on a tight budget you shouldn't be getting drag radials.

[TDIwyse]

Originally Posted by petey_highboost

...only one who has done a back to back with drag radials is tdiwyse...

Just wanted to clarify that I didn't really do this back to back. Different track days with different levels of modifications. The larger diameter tires worked well for a ~113mph trap speed as it kept the car from shifting into 5th. After adding more power and getting up to ~120 mph range the car had to shift into 5th, so I went with a smaller diameter tires.

I've never been able to hook with an aggressive launch with this car after getting to the present power/torque level, so I'm not going to claim any expertise in this area... I'm hoping to learn from others who will do it better than me.

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

I cut a 1.92x if I remember right on the stock runflat. I picked up about 1 mph going from 255/35 r18 to 275/35 r18 non runflats. I don't have any reason to believe the tires caused that but they obviously didn't hurt my mph.

The nt555r experience I have is the 245/45 variety on another car, I never cut a better 60 than I did on the stock 225 all season tires after close to 100 passes on them trying all sorts of things. They are just crappy drag radials, I've never seen them recommended by anyone with a lot of drag racing experienced, they only get recommended if you're on a tight budget and honestly if you're on a tight budget you shouldn't be getting drag radials.

The only experience I had with them was on an awd car making 400hp and would cut 1.5x's all day no matter what I did. Now making double the power they work great on the street from a roll once you get some heat in them. But they are hard tires (compared to other radials) and marginally better than a summer tire. No brainer for a street tire summer only car imo.

[petey_highboost]

Originally Posted by TDIwyse

Just wanted to clarify that I didn't really do this back to back. Different track days with different levels of modifications. The larger diameter tires worked well for a ~113mph trap speed as it kept the car from shifting into 5th. After adding more power and getting up to ~120 mph range the car had to shift into 5th, so I went with a smaller diameter tires.

I've never been able to hook with an aggressive launch with this car after getting to the present power/torque level, so I'm not going to claim any expertise in this area... I'm hoping to learn from others who will do it better than me.

I guess we'll see what 245/45/17 Hoosiers can do on a well prepped track on the 13th

[32valves]

I picked up some nitto's 555r 245/45/17
and on my $40 Z3 wheels. 17x8.5 et41