Hook this train up! Woo Wooooo!

Anybody who's got over 400hp please respond on how you're dealing w/ traction. I've got homemade Cal-tracs, Z85 springs, 315/35-17 Sumitomos (I'm thinking about some cheater slicks in my future), I'm running a posi in my 8.8. It just doesn't want to hook! What to do, what to do...??

sumitomo what?

stickier tires is the best way to find the weak points.

get some wide 15's on there, sidewall always hooks better. That or get some sticky 17's. I found that my 215/70r14's hooked better than my 255/40r17's!

get some wide 15's on there, sidewall always hooks better. That or get some sticky 17's. I found that my 215/70r14's hooked better than my 255/40r17's!

problem with 15s is there are very few wider tire sticky compounds in DOT spec.

true, most are in a drag radial anyway. For some reason when he said "hook up" I completely ruled out cornering. If you're going straight, try some Mickey Thompson 275/60r15 street radials on a 15x8. Lots of grab with those.

Anything smaller than a 17" rim is out. Traction bars are AT 1/2" above SCRUB LINE currently. I'm looking for a stickier tire but don't know which. BFG drag radial?

R888's

R888 what..?

http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-r888-DOT-competition-tires

im a big fan of r888s.

Some of the local track/lapping guys around here claim that the r888's don't hold up well on heavier cars relative to other brands - any thoughts on that?

Some of the local track/lapping guys around here claim that the r888's don't hold up well on heavier cars relative to other brands - any thoughts on that?

That comment needs some more clarification.
heavier cars meaning what, and hold up, in what sense?

I do agree they will last longer on a miata compared to a vette.
they will also probably not last more than a season on the road, less if you are running hard track miles.

That said, I'm probably getting toyo R1Rs for the rx7 since it will see more street duty than track (plus r1rs have better sizes for me)

I think they were specifically talking about lapping days and comparing things like miatas to "heavy" stuff like BMWs and pony cars. 

If you are talking about as a daily driver, about the only thing you can do is  drop the rebound damping up front and reduce the compression damping in the rear to try to get some more weight transfer. There are many things you can do for the strip, but none of them are good for handling. In that case I can offer some very specific mods...........

No weight will be transfered into, or out of, this car, except for the battery jump starter I have & a passenger or two & myself.

Shocks I have already transfer  the load quite well. Car is not a daily driver. I just don't want to get $600 tires that only last the 5 months I'll drive the car... OR LESS. I've had the problem w/ traction since I first pulled the car out of the garage. I made traction bars & have changed out the rear springs. There's not too much I can do aside from throwing sand bags in the trunk... I really think it's gotta be a tire issue. Or that's what I'm really hoping it is...

Nice, I'm getting called out for verbiage again   A couple of questions..... what is your pinion angle, and have you tried preloading the bars asymmetrically L to R? I would start with the pinion angle at 6° down. If your pinion angle is much less than that, the car will be a skate, and the caltracs will do nothing but stop violent wheelhop and won't be much benefit to traction. After you check/correct the pinion angle, try unhooking the front swaybar just to gather more info for troubleshooting later on.