[Red-key]

Stock power 2.62 A8 Hellcat Challenger here with 20x10.5 rep wheels and 305-35-20 Nitto 555R2 drag radials. I've practiced launching the car a good few times over the course of ownership of the car and with the drag radials I have on surprisingly I can't seem to break my best 0-60 at 4.0 secs on the street.

Even with regular 275-40-20 Falken Azenis performance street tires that were on stock 20x9.5 factory wheels that I had on before the Nitto drag radials I still seem to manage low 4 secs so it's no better then with the wider Nittos and wider replicas I currently have on which I thought would be a game changer and my times would improve. I know as the driver I'm definitely the one that needs to improve for better 0-60 times.

I'd love to get into the 3 second range and I noticed those on here who have Nitto drag radials or heck even with some PS4S have achieved mid to upper 3 secs from 0-60 on the street. Now I'm not blaming the car or the tires for me not being able to get into the 3 second range from 0-60. I know that I need a lot more practice and throttle control.

Does anyone have any tips that they would love to share? I tried foot braking on different rpms from as low as 800 to all the way to about 1500-1700 and anymore than that it will slip so I stay around those ranges. I've tried different tire psi ranges as well but not much luck. I'm foot braking and letting the car squat and settle then roll out, then ease into the throttle gradually without trying to slip and still averaging around low 4 second range. So if I ease into it gradually as quickly as I can with or without slipping it's hard to fight the throttle to be able to break my record and get into the 3 sec range. It just seems a little difficult to gradually ease into it when those first two gears pack quite a bit of torque.

If I give a little too much gas from the start or about midway to 60 the rear wheels will start to slip. It's either I'm too slow on the throttle carefully trying not to slip or I get a little fast in hopes of breaking my 4.0 sec record and the rear wheels will start to give out and still manage that low 4 sec range. I always put my custom settings on when doing these fun little practices on empty back roads. My custom settings are TRACK- Transmission, STREET - suspension and SPORT- traction. So I am very curious to know how you all manage to accelerate quickly in the 3 second range from 0-60 on the street? Thanks

 

[Spoolin]

I run the 325/30-20 Toyo R888R tires on the rear of my widebody and can get consistent 3.2-3.4 0-60 times on the street from a normal 1st gear launch. Wondering if the tire width may be playing a role in your 4.0 0-60 times even though you're using DR's? Mine seems to launch better around 1200-1500 rpm on the street with just a tad bit of initial wheel spin at around 1/2 throttle input. I have yet to be able to stop the initial wheel spin and need to play around with lower part throttle launching and then stabbing it once it gets moving good. Initial throttle control off the hit seems to be key. My setting are Track trans, Track traction, and Street suspension. I've also tried Track trans, Sport traction, and Street suspension and it seems to still be about the same.

You can try putting it into manual mode with the shifter and launch it in 2nd gear and see if that helps. I've tried this a few times but haven't done it enough to see if it is actually making it launch better or not.

I'm also making about 800 whp, so maybe that's in play with mine as well.

 

[Xylander]

I r

Stock power 2.62 A8 Hellcat Challenger here with 20x10.5 rep wheels and 305-35-20 Nitto 555R2 drag radials. I've practiced launching the car a good few times over the course of ownership of the car and with the drag radials I have on surprisingly I can't seem to break my best 0-60 at 4.0 secs on the street.

Even with regular 275-40-20 Falken Azenis performance street tires that were on stock 20x9.5 factory wheels that I had on before the Nitto drag radials I still seem to manage low 4 secs so it's no better then with the wider Nittos and wider replicas I currently have on which I thought would be a game changer and my times would improve. I know as the driver I'm definitely the one that needs to improve for better 0-60 times.

I'd love to get into the 3 second range and I noticed those on here who have Nitto drag radials or heck even with some PS4S have achieved mid to upper 3 secs from 0-60 on the street. Now I'm not blaming the car or the tires for me not being able to get into the 3 second range from 0-60. I know that I need a lot more practice and throttle control.

Does anyone have any tips that they would love to share? I tried foot braking on different rpms from as low as 800 to all the way to about 1500-1700 and anymore than that it will slip so I stay around those ranges. I've tried different tire psi ranges as well but not much luck. I'm foot braking and letting the car squat and settle then roll out, then ease into the throttle gradually without trying to slip and still averaging around low 4 second range. So if I ease into it gradually as quickly as I can with or without slipping it's hard to fight the throttle to be able to break my record and get into the 3 sec range. It just seems a little difficult to gradually ease into it when those first two gears pack quite a bit of torque.

If I give a little too much gas from the start or about midway to 60 the rear wheels will start to slip. It's either I'm too slow on the throttle carefully trying not to slip or I get a little fast in hopes of breaking my 4.0 sec record and the rear wheels will start to give out and still manage that low 4 sec range. I always put my custom settings on when doing these fun little practices on empty back roads. My custom settings are TRACK- Transmission, STREET - suspension and SPORT- traction. So I am very curious to know how you all manage to accelerate quickly in the 3 second range from 0-60 on the street? Thanks

I run 275/40/20 Michelin PS All Season 4s. My best 0-60 on them was set 2 weeks ago at 3.7s. Interestingly, it was 51F outside at the time. 11,000mi on the tires. Car is a HC standard body car, no performance mods of any kind aside from a JLT intake with a waterproof sock over the filter. The particular road I was on was very smooth, error free really. The reason I tried to run a 0-60 on it was because I told my passenger, "Holy crap, look at this road! Flat, smooth and it has a dense rough texture... this is gonna be great for traction." The road surface is probably a more important factor than the tires.

The potential to hit a sub 4s 0-60 is determined about 1 tenth of a second into your launch. If you spin, at all, it's going to likely go past 4s. DRs on the street are usually not as competent as a proper street radial. DRs can bite, but they will be inconsistent as their intended use is for track work. Road surface and tire cleanliness are big factors. In my case, the road surface was one of the best I'd ever seen for a traction positive public road. It was smooth as can be, but had a rocky, textured surface.

The trick to going sub 4s is to practice launching without spinning or bogging down. I set my 3.7s record by foot braking and launching no differently than you would off a red light in traffic. The difference being practice and knowing what my car's traction limits are. I launch somewhere at around a 40-50% pedal depression and quickly roll into WOT within a second. No gimmicks with putting it in second... I just set the car to my custom setting (Street suspension, all other sport) and modulate the pedal as needed. The trick here is the bump of 1/2 throttle to get the car moving followed by the quick roll on into WOT. That roll on is smooth... not a STOMP the pedal into the carpet type of action. With a good road surface, the roll on to WOT can be done faster and you can launch a little bit harder.

I only did that pull once and got the 3.7 on the first try. I am fairly certain that had I ripple fired 10 more tries that I could have probably gotten a 3.5s out of that road... but it was a rural 2-lane highway through cotton plantations and I imagine someone would have eventually gotten pissed. This is a photo of the road right after I did my pull to 60:

 

[Doublewide]

On a GOOD (mickey Thompson s/s or R) tire you can start out pretty aggressive, around half throttle, and be WOT by 20mph and will result in consistent low to mid 3 second 0-60's. Warm concrete and warm tires make things even easier. Asphalt is harder to be consistent on. Colder roads don't help either.

 

[Red-key]

I run the 325/30-20 Toyo R888R tires on the rear of my widebody and can get consistent 3.2-3.4 0-60 times on the street from a normal 1st gear launch. Wondering if the tire width may be playing a role in your 4.0 0-60 times even though you're using DR's? Mine seems to launch better around 1200-1500 rpm on the street with just a tad bit of initial wheel spin at around 1/2 throttle input. I have yet to be able to stop the initial wheel spin and need to play around with lower part throttle launching and then stabbing it once it gets moving good. Initial throttle control off the hit seems to be key. My setting are Track trans, Track traction, and Street suspension. I've also tried Track trans, Sport traction, and Street suspension and it seems to still be about the same.

You can try putting it into manual mode with the shifter and launch it in 2nd gear and see if that helps. I've tried this a few times but haven't done it enough to see if it is actually making it launch better or not.

I'm also making about 800 whp, so maybe that's in play with mine as well.

Those are good numbers from 0-60 and yea I agree with you on trying to find that sweet spot from launching well enough at the start.

By the way I was thinking of trying the Toyo r888rs next. I heard good things about them but a little hesitant to try them because of everyone saying how noisy they are so I duno I might skip it. Maybe I'll try the Nitto NTO5R next or stick with a continnental ECS tire in the rear for dailying since I have a spare set of Mickeys for the track.

How long have you had the r888rs and are they annoyingly noisy? I mostly daily the Cat around town and highway so wasn't sure if that "humming noise" to put up with was worth it. Unless if there really that good in grip and in the corners then maybe worth putting up with it.

 

[Red-key]

I r

I run 275/40/20 Michelin PS All Season 4s. My best 0-60 on them was set 2 weeks ago at 3.7s. Interestingly, it was 51F outside at the time. 11,000mi on the tires. Car is a HC standard body car, no performance mods of any kind aside from a JLT intake with a waterproof sock over the filter. The particular road I was on was very smooth, error free really. The reason I tried to run a 0-60 on it was because I told my passenger, "Holy crap, look at this road! Flat, smooth and it has a dense rough texture... this is gonna be great for traction." The road surface is probably a more important factor than the tires.

The potential to hit a sub 4s 0-60 is determined about 1 tenth of a second into your launch. If you spin, at all, it's going to likely go past 4s. DRs on the street are usually not as competent as a proper street radial. DRs can bite, but they will be inconsistent as their intended use is for track work. Road surface and tire cleanliness are big factors. In my case, the road surface was one of the best I'd ever seen for a traction positive public road. It was smooth as can be, but had a rocky, textured surface.

The trick to going sub 4s is to practice launching without spinning or bogging down. I set my 3.7s record by foot braking and launching no differently than you would off a red light in traffic. The difference being practice and knowing what my car's traction limits are. I launch somewhere at around a 40-50% pedal depression and quickly roll into WOT within a second. No gimmicks with putting it in second... I just set the car to my custom setting (Street suspension, all other sport) and modulate the pedal as needed. The trick here is the bump of 1/2 throttle to get the car moving followed by the quick roll on into WOT. That roll on is smooth... not a STOMP the pedal into the carpet type of action. With a good road surface, the roll on to WOT can be done faster and you can launch a little bit harder.

I only did that pull once and got the 3.7 on the first try. I am fairly certain that had I ripple fired 10 more tries that I could have probably gotten a 3.5s out of that road... but it was a rural 2-lane highway through cotton plantations and I imagine someone would have eventually gotten pissed. This is a photo of the road right after I did my pull to 60:

View attachment 584007

Great advice and nice pic. You have a point in regards to road surfaces being greater than others but at the end of the day I do need more practice and to be more engaged with the car as far as knowing it's limits on traction and finding the sweet spot.

3.7 is great on the PS4S. I have a set of the Continental Extreme Contact Sport as my tire up front. I heard the Conti ECS and PS4S are right about equal with eachother. I've had thoughts about getting a set of contis in the rear for longevity but was concerned about losing more traction on a street tire versus a drag radial. Since your getting good grip and know how to drive your car with those tires the Conti ecs maybe something to look into to.

How do you like your Michelins on the Cat? Are they good from slow rolls as well?

 

[Red-key]

On a GOOD (mickey Thompson s/s or R) tire you can start out pretty aggressive, around half throttle, and be WOT by 20mph and will result in consistent low to mid 3 second 0-60's. Warm concrete and warm tires make things even easier. Asphalt is harder to be consistent on. Colder roads don't help either.

Agree on the Mickeys. Just got a fresh set of them on 17" wheel 305-45-17 MT et s/s and was on the way to the track and did a 20 roll on the street and hooked, was impressed. Even managed a 3.7 0-60 with them without even trying.

 

[Xylander]

Great advice and nice pic. You have a point in regards to road surfaces being greater than others but at the end of the day I do need more practice and to be more engaged with the car as far as knowing it's limits on traction and finding the sweet spot.

3.7 is great on the PS4S. I have a set of the Continental Extreme Contact Sport as my tire up front. I heard the Conti ECS and PS4S are right about equal with eachother. I've had thoughts about getting a set of contis in the rear for longevity but was concerned about losing more traction on a street tire versus a drag radial. Since your getting good grip and know how to drive your car with those tires the Conti ecs maybe something to look into to.

How do you like your Michelins on the Cat? Are they good from slow rolls as well?

That 3.7 is on the 275/40/20 Pilot Sport All Season 4, the PS4S is a summer compound tire. Michelins are the best tires in the world. Regardless which car they’re on IMO. I did the 3.7 with temps in the 40s on all season tires. The PS4S would be better at 70F+.

The big difference between the two is longevity. The all season will last 30-40k miles. The PS4S is good for 10-12k at most. The PS4S is stickier and softer. However, the all season still does very well. Great traction and handling… near silent at all speeds.

 

[Xylander]

I'm not a super human. I've just practiced a LOT and like to think I have good pedal discipline. The reason I'm trying to make it clear that I ran a 3.7 in cold weather on 275 all seasons is to hopefully impart that for those people on wider and/or summer tires or drag radials in warmer weather, better times are a guarantee. The trick with these cars is pedal discipline. With the stock Pirrelli summer tires that came on mine, I was able to hit 3.7-3.8 (the Michelin Pilot All Season 4 has a better traction rating). Folks just have to train their foot to roll on quickly, but smoothly. No stabbing at the pedal in these cars as instant torque is what causes them to get loose. It only takes a half second or so to roll into WOT, but it has to be done smoothly. That's about the best advice I can give.

All cars are different and different tires will also behave differently. What works for me won't exactly work for someone else... hence why I'm remiss to go too in-depth. Just pay attention to the car and listen what it has to say. Adjust the roll on speed to find where the magic limit is.

 

[Booky]

I took these videos back when I had my 2016 Challenger HC with 305 555R drag radials. There were flat country roads all around my area to practice on (NW Ohio).

 

[Red-key]

I took these videos back when I had my 2016 Challenger HC with 305 555R drag radials. There were flat country roads all around my area to practice on (NW Ohio).

That's really good thanks for sharing. There's no way I'm able to launch as good as you on the street like that even with 305-35-20 Nitto 555R2s. If I left near or at 2k rpms my car would spin. For me it would have to be no more than like 1500 rpms I'd say. Even if I rolled into it smoothly and quick enough to where I'm not spinning but can feel the limit where the car would start to spin, I'd still wouldn't be as fast as you there.

I'd have to practice a lot more or something. Maybe I might try the Toyo r888r next as from what I hear they seem to be better than the Nittos but wish I could ride with someone who has them to see what this noise is all about.

 

[Spoolin]

Those are good numbers from 0-60 and yea I agree with you on trying to find that sweet spot from launching well enough at the start.

By the way I was thinking of trying the Toyo r888rs next. I heard good things about them but a little hesitant to try them because of everyone saying how noisy they are so I duno I might skip it. Maybe I'll try the Nitto NTO5R next or stick with a continnental ECS tire in the rear for dailying since I have a spare set of Mickeys for the track.

How long have you had the r888rs and are they annoyingly noisy? I mostly daily the Cat around town and highway so wasn't sure if that "humming noise" to put up with was worth it. Unless if there really that good in grip and in the corners then maybe worth putting up with it.

I've been running the R888R's for about 3 months now and to be honest, the slight hum you hear out of them is minimal. I never even notice it until I'm on the expressway doing 60+ mph and even then, it isn't that bad.

 

[Ohyupppp]

Better tires needed for sure...