The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support RTM Racing
Please Support STM Tuned

24,24.5,26,28. What size slicks to fit on a AWD ?

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

CPHunter

15+ Year Contributor
1,006
2
Aug 3, 2004
Winnetka, California
So what size are people using out there on an AWD? I just wanna see what people are using, what size is the tire, what size is the wheel, offset, etc. I finally need slicks. Yes i searched, nothing 2 useful
 
The most popular bias ply slick size is going to be either

Hoosier Quicktime Pro DOT slick in 26x9.5x16" and will fit on pretty much any 16" wheel, oem stock wheels included. This practically the only tire option for 16" wheels and is very popular. The tire is a bit heavy at 17.8lb each.

The other option is to move down to 15" wheels and that opens up a large variety of tire options, with most people going for 24 to 24.5" od sets. These weigh in the area of 14.5lb per tire.
24.5x8x15" M&H Racemaster
24.5x8x15 Mickey Thompson ET Drag

Seems most guys running large turbo/2.0l engine combo tend to want the shorter 24" tires to help tighten up gearing. I think that the 26" tires are more suited to automatic, stroker, or small turbo cars that don't want to be run at higher rpm or have overall gearing issues.
 
Thanks for the info. Seems like a taller tire would be best for me. Im auto on a 4k stall. 2.0 on a hx-35 on a big shot of nitrous. The only reason I ask is because someone gave me a free set of 28x10x15 slicks and they fit. They might be over kill. But you cant beat free
 
How well do they fit under the wheel wells/clear the knuckles? I ask because when you're lowering psi and get the slicks start rotating fast they get taller. What looks like them fitting now might not be the case when you start going fast. That seem's like some serious rubber, maybe not so much the width, but the circumference. Really, I suggest trying to sell them and get some money to put towards a set of 24" or 25" QTP's.

:dsm:
 
I'm running the new Hoosier DR's in 245/45/17 and they sit perfect on my Evo IX wheels.

:dsm:

How long have you been running them, and what are you expecting for tire life?
 
I am wondering if anybody has ran a 28" tire in a 1g and if so how fast they got up to. Was it stock rideheight? What were your sixties and did it rub? Did it rub in the shutdown area? It would be a cheap tire for me to pick up used as a lot of local bracket racers run them and retire them when they still have plenty of life left for an AWD car.
 
You must be logged in to view this image or video.


28x10x15
 
28x8.5 on an auto would be ideal IMO if your having to jump into OD durring a pass. A 10" wide tire isn't necessary and it's heavier. Leaving the car in 3rd has alot of advantages VS switching into OD. I'm assuming the OP would be shifting into OD with that setup.

All my turbo auto cars loved low gearing and tall tires. Launch torque/power isn't a problem with a properly setup auto. A tighter converter can also be used (even stock) with the right amount of nitrous. This will give you alot more top end.
 
Last edited:
28x8.5 on an auto would be ideal IMO if your having to jump into OD durring a pass. A 10" wide tire isn't necessary and it's heavier. Leaving the car in 3rd has alot of advantages VS switching into OD. I'm assuming the OP would be shifting into OD with that setup.

All my turbo auto cars loved low gearing and tall tires. Launch torque/power isn't a problem with a properly setup auto. A tighter converter can also be used (even stock) with the right amount of nitrous. This will give you alot more top end.

So are you saying that you have ran a 28x8.5" tire on an auto awd car? Was the rideheight stock or lower? My friend has scraped 24.5" slicks on his rear wheel wells at the launch so I was wondering if you ran into any of these issues?
 
So are you saying that you have ran a 28x8.5" tire on an auto awd car? Was the rideheight stock or lower? My friend has scraped 24.5" slicks on his rear wheel wells at the launch so I was wondering if you ran into any of these issues?

No, just going from the picture of the 28X10 above. It will all depend on your suspension travel for fender clearance. Factory ride height would be a must. You'd need some stiff suspension as well. I've spoken to a few people on here that run 27"x9 and have slight rubbing when trying to make tight turns. You really don't need crazy wide tires. People are pulling 1.4 60's on 225x60x16 snow tires. I go for max height and sacrifice width as necessary for the setup.
 
I am wondering if anybody has ran a 28" tire in a 1g and if so how fast they got up to. Was it stock rideheight? What were your sixties and did it rub? Did it rub in the shutdown area? It would be a cheap tire for me to pick up used as a lot of local bracket racers run them and retire them when they still have plenty of life left for an AWD car.

That's a good ? i don't think i've come across any DSM running a tire that tall while researching on the web :confused:

Not yet at least.............:D
 
There's a land speed DSM over on the Talk forums running a 28" tire. It looks like that's about as big as you can fit. It helps them with their top speed, but I doubt it would be nessacery for drag racing on the factory gear ratio.

A 24.5" tire will get you pretty close to the factory circumference. A 26" will get you a few more MPH out of each gear, so it can really help if you find yourself shifting (or needing to shift) right before crossing the beam on a shorter tire.

I have a set of 26x9.5-15 QTP's on some 15x6.5 (+35 offset) wheels. Check my gallery for pics.
 
For any fast auto cars (9.50 or better) a 27" or 28" tire is a really nice thing as shifting into overdrive with that sort of power is not going to hold for long if at all. I've been helping darren a lot with his 2x IFO points champion auto 1G and we are going to be at a point real soon where a 26" tire just wont cut it. We have made some serious brake changes and could actually fit a 14" wheel if we had to. Logic there is the more sidewall we can get the more absorption the tire will take and it should be easier on the drivetrain. We are working on having 3 bullets for his car all of which should be capable of taking the car to deep 8's. If all goes as planned we will be at the IFO race in kansas seeing what we can muster.
 
Last edited:
For any fast auto cars (9.50 or better) a 27" or 28" tire is a really nice thing as shifting into overdrive with that sort of power is not going to hold for long if at all. I've been helping darren a lot with his 2x IFO points champion auto 1G and we are going to be at a point real soon where a 26" tire just wont cut it. We have made some serious brake changes and could actually fit a 14" wheel if we had to. Logic there is the more sidewall we can get the more absorption the tire will take and it should be easier on the drivetrain. We are working on having 3 bullets for his car all of which should be capable of taking the car to deep 8's. If all goes as planned we will be at the IFO race this weekend seeing what we can muster.

What rpm and speed are you guys going through the traps with the 26s?
 
I don't have a rim for it yet. I kinda just sat it where it should fit. I still have to figure out how to measure backspacing. ( I don't know how to do that) but I figure its gonna be something like +/- 30 offset. If anybody help me out with that. That would be awesome. I'll probably end up dropping the HX35 for a HX-40 and 2 stages of nitrous.
 
What rpm and speed are you guys going through the traps with the 26s?

~144mph and 9500rpm. We have not totally run out of gear but its getting close. With what we are expecting to run this year I'm sure we will find the limit. I know Jesse has got to be in the same boat.
 
I still have to figure out how to measure backspacing.

Rear spacing = back spacing

You must be logged in to view this image or video.



More backspacing means more of the wheel/tire is inside of the wheelwell, but you can only go so far before compromising clearances. You're going to want quite a bit of offset to fit a 10" wide tire. And even with alot of offset, a good amount of the wheel and tire will be sticking out the side.

To give you a rough idea on fitment, the following car ran a 15x8" wheel with a 4.5" backspacing, and a 1/2" hub spacer to clear the brakes.

attachment.php
 
~144mph and 9500rpm. We have not totally run out of gear but its getting close. With what we are expecting to run this year I'm sure we will find the limit. I know Jesse has got to be in the same boat.

IF thats all your getting out of 9500 the converter is slipping to much. On 26" tires going through the traps at 162 i see 96-9700. I have been 1.28 60ft on 26x8.5x15 slicks so i dont see much need to down size to a 14" wheel combo.
 
Here is what 15x8" 4.5" backspacing Welds look like on my 1g (back in 2005) with no spacers. The biggest backspace Weld offers is 5.5", which still has the wheel/tire well past the fender edge. They just don't fit well/correctly.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.


You must be logged in to view this image or video.


You must be logged in to view this image or video.


These were Weld Pro-Star's, but all the weld wheels use the same size/fitment/lugs. One major pita with Weld wheels is they are about 2.5-3" thick at the hub and use a special style lugnut that centers the wheel and also requires longer wheel studs. Those studs generally only have american knurl diameters, meaning your going to be drilling the hubs for a different diameter stud. This can open up a new can of worms in the future if you want to go back to normal acorn style wheel/nuts or specifically a wheel that needs "tuner" small nuts that fit deep into a recessed hole, but are hard to find with an american thread.

I sold those pro-star's back in 2006, but I have a set of Weld Drag-lites and the 15x8 are more like 14.2lb on my shipping scale. If memory serves me, those 15x8 Weld pro-star wheels were more like 12.8 to 13.0lb. Certainly not 10lb, not even close.
 
Last edited:
IF thats all your getting out of 9500 the converter is slipping to much. On 26" tires going through the traps at 162 i see 96-9700. I have been 1.28 60ft on 26x8.5x15 slicks so i dont see much need to down size to a 14" wheel combo.

We have been having issues with the converter but since we (think) have fixed that issue we have not been back to the track. We are also running the 26x9.5x16" QTP which if I'm not mistaken does not roll out to a true 26" so your slick is prob a little taller. Not saying we dont have room to grow, just saying we dont have much, like you said hopefully it was a converter issue. I personally dont think a 14" is needed either but darren seems to think it will be easier on drivetrain parts. :hmm:
 
The most popular bias ply slick size is going to be either

Hoosier Quicktime Pro DOT slick in 26x9.5x16" and will fit on pretty much any 16" wheel, oem stock wheels included. This practically the only tire option for 16" wheels and is very popular. The tire is a bit heavy at 17.8lb each.

There's no way that the QTP's weigh 17.8lbs each! I have a set, and they are stupid light! I'm pretty sure when I ordered them the lable said 15lbs for two!
 
There's no way that the QTP's weigh 17.8lbs each! I have a set, and they are stupid light! I'm pretty sure when I ordered them the lable said 15lbs for two!

put them on a scale and find out for yourself if you don't believe me. My scale reads in #'s, not degree's of "stupid light". I stand by my measurements that the hoosiers I had were nearly 18lb each and the MT and M&H tires I also have on hand are significantly lighter.
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top