Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

TBatt · 07-24-2018, 09:45 AM

What I have found is that tires that are good at hooking up for straight line acceleration are pretty bad for handling corners (race tires are the exception) and tires that corner really well aren't the best for straight line traction. It has to do with the sidewall design. Drag tires have very soft sidewalls so that when the load transfers to the rear they flatten out and gives more contact area. Watch a top fuel car coming off the line. Good cornering tires have very stiff sidewalls (check out an F1 car in a corner) you will have very little flex in the sidewall.

I upgraded my diff to a Quaife ATB diff and it made a world of difference with control ability. The rear tires still spin in 1-2 and above 80mph in 3rd. I'm using Bridgestone RE-11 tires with 305 rears. These tires are known to not be great at straight line traction but oh my, when it comes to cornering, you have a hard time reaching the limit anywhere except on a track. These are great autocross tires but you do have to watch the power application.

As someone else already stated, you can improve the rear traction by taking out some rear negative camber so the tires are more upright to improve the footprint and load across the tread. It is a small improvement but it does help. I'm running 0 degrees camber. With the great grip I get with the RE-11s I can get away with this and still have a great handling car.

One other thing to keep in mind, the Z was never intended to be a drag car. It was designed to handle and if you want more grip you will need to dive into the suspension to get any improvement. Street tires can only do so much.

My $0.02

Good luck!

07-24-2018, 09:45 AM	#14 (permalink)
TBatt Track Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 832 Drives: 2019 GT-R Rep Power: 20168	What I have found is that tires that are good at hooking up for straight line acceleration are pretty bad for handling corners (race tires are the exception) and tires that corner really well aren't the best for straight line traction. It has to do with the sidewall design. Drag tires have very soft sidewalls so that when the load transfers to the rear they flatten out and gives more contact area. Watch a top fuel car coming off the line. Good cornering tires have very stiff sidewalls (check out an F1 car in a corner) you will have very little flex in the sidewall. I upgraded my diff to a Quaife ATB diff and it made a world of difference with control ability. The rear tires still spin in 1-2 and above 80mph in 3rd. I'm using Bridgestone RE-11 tires with 305 rears. These tires are known to not be great at straight line traction but oh my, when it comes to cornering, you have a hard time reaching the limit anywhere except on a track. These are great autocross tires but you do have to watch the power application. As someone else already stated, you can improve the rear traction by taking out some rear negative camber so the tires are more upright to improve the footprint and load across the tread. It is a small improvement but it does help. I'm running 0 degrees camber. With the great grip I get with the RE-11s I can get away with this and still have a great handling car. One other thing to keep in mind, the Z was never intended to be a drag car. It was designed to handle and if you want more grip you will need to dive into the suspension to get any improvement. Street tires can only do so much. My $0.02 Good luck! __________________ RJM pedal, Hotchkis Sway Bars, FI TDX, FOG Light, Z1 Slotted Drilled rotors, Stillen SC, Quaife ATB, Z1 Oil cooler, AEM Gauge Set, Galeforce gauge mount, Avant Garde M590 Hypersilver w/RE-11, TopgunZ A2A kit., ECUtek tuned by Seb: ROLL TIDE!