MYTHBUSTED: Drag Radial vs Street Tire

If you’re looking at your options to obtain more traction with your car, than one of the best areas you should be looking at are tires.

There are two kinds of street/strip cars – street cars that occasionally see the dragstrip, and drag cars that that occasionally see the street. Both cars need tires, but can that really be the same tire? Engine technology has outpaced tire technology and the game has always been to get a starting line advantage over the guy in the next lane.

Does a tire really make that much of a difference? Andrew from Motive Garage wanted to put the old saying to the test, 0.1 in the 60 foot is worth 0.2 at the big end. Did he find out its true, or a myth?
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He pushed his 650whp R32 GT-R pretty hard on stock engine and street tires. At first, he used Achilles 123S, a track day and competition summer tires designed to be fitted to passenger car. In the second part of the test he used a set of Hoosier DOT Drag Radials bolted on.

Check out the video below to find out the result.

Keep in mind that drag radials are engineered from the ground up for racing use. They are intended for use on dry pavement only and aren’t really suitable for extended highway use. That said, modern drag radials also hook with a capital “H.” And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?