Any Monaro drag racers on here?

[bonesxu1]

I was wondering if there is anyone on here that runs slicks on there Monaro for drags?
Reason is I was wondering rim and tyre sizes.
I am linking of getting some proper drag tyres for the ute, the other thing I need to know is what is the smallest rims I can use to clear my 4 pots on the rear.
Plus it would be nice if someone had some wheels and tyres for sale too!

[anonymous-user]

Many have tried but broken drive shafts and prop donuts seem to be the limiting factor.

[Global-i]

Ran some 26 x 9.00-15 Hoosiers on mine at a couple for club events, I had to change the rear calipers from the HSV / AP four pots to the standard CV8 one's for the wheels to fit.

[bonesxu1]

Hmm, broken shafts now that I'm not too keen on and if the shaft donut goes I'm sure that'll make a nice racket! and mess.

Global-i for some reason I thought you were going to say I would need to change calipers which I suppose isn't too bad. I thought I would have a look at your profile to see if you had some pics of your car with the slicks on.
I noticed you use to have a HS Chevette and thought I would show you the car I built. Not a HS but it did have a genuine HS axle, but then something a little different. A drysumped Honda S2000 engine on throttle bodies.

[Global-i]

Your Chevette looks really nice. Mine was pretty quick in its day (mid 80s) with only about 190BHP, but I would imagine yours is way quicker with that motor, probably less weight and the additional grip / handling from the Group 4 setup.
Certainly with today’s values on these cars I wish I had kept mine, especially the Ascona 400.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the Monaro with the drag wheels on it.

[SturdyHSV]

Propshaft and half shafts are going to be your weak link (I'm assuming you've already upgraded the diff to a truetrac or something)

A set of drag radials as opposed to slicks may give you more options for tyre size and allow you to post better 60' times without going the whole hog and sticking slicks in there.

What sort of times are you looking to achieve? Or just want to go faster

Also, www.ls1gto.com will get you a LOT more experienced replies on this subject (quantity, not necessarily quality)

[stevieturbo]

Your easiest and best value option will be a decent set of drag radials for the wheels you have now.

Nitto's 555R or something like that arent too daft and still perfectly road usable if you wanted to drive on them

[bonesxu1]

SturdyHSV said:

Propshaft and half shafts are going to be your weak link (I'm assuming you've already upgraded the diff to a truetrac or something)

A set of drag radials as opposed to slicks may give you more options for tyre size and allow you to post better 60' times without going the whole hog and sticking slicks in there.

What sort of times are you looking to achieve? Or just want to go faster

Also, www.ls1gto.com will get you a LOT more experienced replies on this subject (quantity, not necessarily quality)

Maybe full drag tyres aren't the way to go then, (discs, calipers, wheel tyres ect)
As for times traction is the problem and maybe I should get some sticky track day tyres so I can do both track and drag days. I think maybe some more seat time would help and possibly roll the Ute off the line rather than 4k rpm and go.
I'll see about tyres this week and see how much cash I have to spare.

[SturdyHSV]

bonesxu1 said:

I think maybe some more seat time would help and possibly roll the Ute off the line rather than 4k rpm and go.

Over the years I've done a fair few runs at Santa Pod, few at Shakespeare and a few at York. Always had Pilot Super Sports, 245/35 initially and 255/35s in the latter years, so a 19inch street tyre, always left at normal road pressures, so ~32psi.

In this time I've only had 1 day at Santa Pod where the track was actually grippy enough that I could launch with some rpm and balancing the clutch to actually pull away quickly like you would on the road. On that day I managed a 2.0 60' so I was quite happy with that and ultimately ran a 13.1.

Otherwise it's always been a case of bringing the clutch up basically from idle, obviously a slight flare up to 1,500 or 2,000 and then progressively feed the throttle in through first gear, generally for a 2.1s or 2.2s 60'.

You might want to load the bed up with sandbags, the Corvette guys do this in the states for traction

[stevieturbo]

Sporty road/track tyres will do pretty much nothing for you at Santa Pod.

Drag radials will be like night and day.

[bonesxu1]

SturdyHSV said:

Over the years I've done a fair few runs at Santa Pod, few at Shakespeare and a few at York. Always had Pilot Super Sports, 245/35 initially and 255/35s in the latter years, so a 19inch street tyre, always left at normal road pressures, so ~32psi.

In this time I've only had 1 day at Santa Pod where the track was actually grippy enough that I could launch with some rpm and balancing the clutch to actually pull away quickly like you would on the road. On that day I managed a 2.0 60' so I was quite happy with that and ultimately ran a 13.1.

Otherwise it's always been a case of bringing the clutch up basically from idle, obviously a slight flare up to 1,500 or 2,000 and then progressively feed the throttle in through first gear, generally for a 2.1s or 2.2s 60'.

You might want to load the bed up with sandbags, the Corvette guys do this in the states for traction

Thanks for your input it's nice to see what other people have been running.
Here on the Isle of Man we have access to Jurby airfield which won't be as sticky as Santa Pod and the drags are only on 2 to 3 times a year so fast road/trackday type tyres are the way to go I think.

[stevieturbo]

bonesxu1 said:

Thanks for your input it's nice to see what other people have been running.
Here on the Isle of Man we have access to Jurby airfield which won't be as sticky as Santa Pod and the drags are only on 2 to 3 times a year so fast road/trackday type tyres are the way to go I think.

Airfield surfaces can be a huge variable and nothing remotely like a drag strip.

The likes of 888's might be decent enough but the bottom line is airfields as with roads are just crap for grip.

Some Nitto 555R's would be worth trying....but any tyres from the US will carry a hefty price tag by the time they're on the car.
Although if you did move to the likes of 15" wheels you might stand a chance of picking up some 2nd hand slicks

If anything a nice slippable clutch and learning to use it will be of great benefit. If you can soften power delivery at launch to try and prevent wheelspin in the first place that will really help the 60ft.
Or get an auto lol.

I seen a big auto Merc years ago pull off 1.8s 60fts years ago at Jurby, just a big fancy regular road car ! And it did it run after run with ease. Very impressive for the surface.

Or try the likes of Lee at https://www.facebook.com/motorsportonline/photos/a...

those 18" M&H's would be worth a shot if they fit existing rims. Although not road legal at all.

[bonesxu1]

stevieturbo said:

Airfield surfaces can be a huge variable and nothing remotely like a drag strip.

The likes of 888's might be decent enough but the bottom line is airfields as with roads are just crap for grip.

Some Nitto 555R's would be worth trying....but any tyres from the US will carry a hefty price tag by the time they're on the car.
Although if you did move to the likes of 15" wheels you might stand a chance of picking up some 2nd hand slicks

If anything a nice slippable clutch and learning to use it will be of great benefit. If you can soften power delivery at launch to try and prevent wheelspin in the first place that will really help the 60ft.
Or get an auto lol.

I seen a big auto Merc years ago pull off 1.8s 60fts years ago at Jurby, just a big fancy regular road car ! And it did it run after run with ease. Very impressive for the surface.

Or try the likes of Lee at https://www.facebook.com/motorsportonline/photos/a...

those 18" M&H's would be worth a shot if they fit existing rims. Although not road legal at all.

I'm running 19" VXR wheels at he mo so I have just ordered some Michelin Pilot 4S to save having to fit CV8 brakes setup on the rear and buying wheels ect, might look into it more in the future. I'll get some practice in later on in the year I think.
Thanks dude.

[MyM8V8]

You can get 18" drag radials. I've got a set on Monaro rims I'm not using.

[SturdyHSV]

bonesxu1 said:

I'm running 19" VXR wheels at he mo so I have just ordered some Michelin Pilot 4S to save having to fit CV8 brakes setup on the rear and buying wheels ect, might look into it more in the future. I'll get some practice in later on in the year I think.
Thanks dude.

You'll enjoy those, in my experience they leave excellent 11s!

I'm not enjoying them paired with PSS on the front, but your mileage may vary as they say

[bonesxu1]

MyM8V8 said:

You can get 18" drag radials. I've got a set on Monaro rims I'm not using.

Thanks for the offer if you are offering that is but I'll just stick with my Michelins for now.


SturdyHSV I have them on the front of the Ute and they seam pretty good but I haven't really driven it in anger since fitting them.