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TIRE SPEED RATINGS

3413 Views 34 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  RedGTS
Guys, I havet he G-Force TA Drag Radials from BF Goodrich and they are 345/30/R18 LL's. R rated tires are slow. Does that not apply to these tires? I got these for my Supercharged car so I would hook a lot better than Pilots, but I am curious how fast they can go.

Manny
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For the dragstrip they should be fine for a quick blast up to 150 mph. I have been about 135 mph on the street with them and the car felt a little loose. I would never run them at any kind of a sustained high speed. When you get them on your car go drive it and you will get a feel for what feels comfortable. With your power and the traction that these tires provide, most races will be over by 100 mph.
Roll on races on the street or the freeway are going to be starting at 60 to 75 MPH -- I'm going to be way past 135 MPH real fast in supercharged car. I got these tires for the rear on recommendation that they hook great and will improve street experience. I don't drag race, so these are street only. Will these things blow apart at 180 MPH?
They suck at high speeds on the highway. It aint fun to feel squirly at 150 mph! If the road is not perfectly smooth, they will toss you around.
Manny C. AKA Superbar said:
Roll on races on the street or the freeway are going to be starting at 60 to 75 MPH -- I'm going to be way past 135 MPH real fast in supercharged car. I got these tires for the rear on recommendation that they hook great and will improve street experience. I don't drag race, so these are street only. Will these things blow apart at 180 MPH?
If you're on a nice highway, I don't think you need to worry. Just don't take any corners at that speed. 180.... hmmm, I dunno!
For that kind of program I would suggest you run with the stock Pilots. The drag radials wont blow apart, but I will guess that the faster you go the less stable the car will feel. You might get a little bit of tire spin in 3rd at 70 mph but if you've got a really fast car it shouldnt effect the outcome of the race.
I personally would not run mine above 135MPH on the highway going straight. You will hurt yourself if you go around a corner at high speeds or if you are going down the highway at 150+. All that has to happen is a big groove in the road or uneven pavement and they are all over the place. I have wore a pair out already and I am on my second pair.

I like them and I think you will not have to worry about wheel spin in any gear except 1st unless the weather is extremely cold.

If you are looking at doing high speed runs then I would definitely run on pilots. Listen to John he knows what he is talking about! Pilots typically do not spin all the way through third.
I checked the specs on these tires at

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/gforce_ta_drag_radial.pdf

The specs do not give a speed rating for that tire.

A check with Tire Rack says that they are indeed speed rated as "R" which would indicate a maximum tested speed of 106 MPH. At 180 MPH they will most likely come apart.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.j...mp;x=19&y=7

Tested speeds are not sustained speeds, and having different speed ratings on the front versus the rear greatly affects your handling, so I would take it real easy on those tires on the street except for the occasional light to light speedo check. I would pay special attention if the road isn't straight.
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Hmmmm..Maybe I will just keep my Pilots /images/graemlins/headscratch

I was about to pull the trigger on a set of the BFG's today , but after reading the speed ratings i'm reconsidering.

John what about the Toya R1's?? Have you any experience with those ?

Thanks !

:cheers:

Jeff
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Ulysses said:
I checked the specs on these tires at

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/gforce_ta_drag_radial.pdf

The specs do not give a speed rating for that tire.

A check with Tire Rack says that they are indeed speed rated as "R" which would indicate a maximum tested speed of 106 MPH. At 180 MPH they will most likely come apart.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.j...mp;x=19&y=7

Tested speeds are not sustained speeds, and having different speed ratings on the front versus the rear greatly affects your handling, so I would take it real easy on those tires on the street except for the occasional light to light speedo check. I would pay special attention if the road isn't straight.
That was a stupid fucking assumption! Buy the tires, you'll like them. Just don't get crazy.
We need a better tire than the pilots that you can actually run up the speedo on. :rant:
BigCarrot said:
Ulysses said:
I checked the specs on these tires at

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/gforce_ta_drag_radial.pdf

The specs do not give a speed rating for that tire.

A check with Tire Rack says that they are indeed speed rated as "R" which would indicate a maximum tested speed of 106 MPH. At 180 MPH they will most likely come apart.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.j...mp;x=19&y=7

Tested speeds are not sustained speeds, and having different speed ratings on the front versus the rear greatly affects your handling, so I would take it real easy on those tires on the street except for the occasional light to light speedo check. I would pay special attention if the road isn't straight.
That was a stupid fucking assumption! Buy the tires, you'll like them. Just don't get crazy.
You're right! What was I thinking! Everyone go right ahead and stick "R" rated tires on your Viper and run'em up to 180 MPH all day. Maximum SAFETY ratings from manufacturers don't mean shit. Not only that, you'll probably save a few bucks, too! While you're at it, go right ahead and wire that 110V appliance to the 220V line, it'll be fine. Just sit back, relax and enjoy it! :rolleyes:
Ulysses said:
BigCarrot said:
Ulysses said:
I checked the specs on these tires at

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/gforce_ta_drag_radial.pdf

The specs do not give a speed rating for that tire.

A check with Tire Rack says that they are indeed speed rated as "R" which would indicate a maximum tested speed of 106 MPH. At 180 MPH they will most likely come apart.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.j...mp;x=19&y=7

Tested speeds are not sustained speeds, and having different speed ratings on the front versus the rear greatly affects your handling, so I would take it real easy on those tires on the street except for the occasional light to light speedo check. I would pay special attention if the road isn't straight.
That was a stupid fucking assumption! Buy the tires, you'll like them. Just don't get crazy.
You're right! What was I thinking! Everyone go right ahead and stick "R" rated tires on your Viper and run'em up to 180 MPH all day. Maximum SAFETY ratings from manufacturers don't mean shit. Not only that, you'll probably save a few bucks, too! While you're at it, go right ahead and wire that 110V appliance to the 220V line, it'll be fine. Just sit back, relax and enjoy it! :rolleyes:
Thanks for the info, idiot, I'll get right on the rest of the stuff on your list. Hell, ZR rated tires are only good for 149mph, right? Those Pilots are gonna fling apart at 150! I guess Dodge feels nice and comfy about putting those on a car that's capable of 180 easily. Why not put W or Y rated tires on it? The BFG drags won't fly apart at 180, they just aren't stable at those speeds because of the less rigid sidewalls. Thaaaat's why I told him not to take any turns at that speed. You sir...... are a douche bag! :thumb:
:rofl:
Good thread, Doug told me I should get a set of BFGs for the rear. I figure a few spirited runs to 140 or so, but Houston streets can get uneven and a little bouncy????
Bouncing around at 140 or above sounds kinda bad!

Andy
not to stray fromt eh thread but is that your Shar-pei?
BigCarrot said:
Hell, ZR rated tires are only good for 149mph, right?
Nope, incorrect. "V" rated tires are up to 149 MPH, "ZR" rated tires are capable of 149 MPH "+".

As per the Speed Rating Standard, up to 168 MPH will have a "W" in the service index, up to 186 MPH will have a "Y" in the service index and the "ZR" is optional and may appear in the tire size.

Any tire that has a maximum speed capability of 186 MPH or ABOVE must have the "ZR" appear in the size.

BigCarrot said:
Those Pilots are gonna fling apart at 150!
Nope, incorrect. Obviously not, since they are a "ZR" rated tire.

BigCarrot said:
I guess Dodge feels nice and comfy about putting those on a car that's capable of 180 easily.
Yeah, I guess they would since they put a "ZR" rated tire on there capable of 186 MPH "+".

I guess Dodge feels even more nice and comfy they had Michelin design and produce a special Viper OE "ZR" rated tire as well, since Dodge was quite aware of the fact that the Viper would not only reach 186 MPH, but well exceed it into the 190s. The Viper OE Pilot Sports were designated by the "C-1" after the tire size.

BigCarrot said:
Why not put W or Y rated tires on it?
I think you understand by now why they wouldn't put a "W" or "Y" rated tire as standard equipment

BigCarrot said:
The BFG drags won't fly apart at 180, they just aren't stable at those speeds because of the less rigid sidewalls.
Nope, incorrect. If a tire was only designed for a certain maximum speed and was tested to be reliable only up to a certain maximum speed, then chances are that if you grossly exceed it's maximum, you will probably experience a blow out. I'ld say that going over a tires maximum rating by 70% is grossly exceeding it's capabilities. The chance of a blowout increases if you sustain that speed for a few minutes. It won't be every BFG drag radial, it could be 1 out of every 5 BFG drag radials, it could be 1 out of every 10 or 1 out of every 20 that experiences a blowout at 180. No matter how you spin it, It's still one too many.

BigCarrot said:
Thaaaat's why I told him not to take any turns at that speed.
Yeah, okay, you are correct on that one, you did tell him not to take any turns at that speed.

And that's all I have to say on this subject.
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Guys, it makes no sense to me why a big fat ass tire for a Viper rear end is only rated at 106 MPH. SOmething isn't right. Even if these were used at a drag strip, you would be pushing past that with a stock Viper. What gives?

Who here has the drag radials on the back and has run them up to some serious speed? Why would Doug Levin recommend them to not only me, but to others as well, for rear tires on our new S/C cars? I haven't spoken to Doug about this yet, but I am curious who out there is running on these?

Manny
Manny C. AKA Superbar said:
Guys, it makes no sense to me why a big fat ass tire for a Viper rear end is only rated at 106 MPH. SOmething isn't right. Even if these were used at a drag strip, you would be pushing past that with a stock Viper. What gives?

Who here has the drag radials on the back and has run them up to some serious speed? Why would Doug Levin recommend them to not only me, but to others as well, for rear tires on our new S/C cars? I haven't spoken to Doug about this yet, but I am curious who out there is running on these?

Manny
Manny, I will guess that the R on the tire is not the speed rating at all, it simply designates it as a radial like on any other radial tire. If it does in fact designate a speed limitation, it would most likely be some sort of product liability CYA.

What you are getting from me, UtahViper and others on here is real world opinions. If Doug has a different opinon and experience with the tire, then you will just need to decide what info. works best for you. FYI, there are a lot of people running drag radials. I am not sure how many of them have 800+ rw hp and feel confident in running these tires at high speeds.

Its a pretty simple deal, when you get your car, try them out and see how fast you feel comfortable driving them. If you can run 180 mph on them and not piss your pants then you are the man!
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