Ive used several drag radials on my car. For the street it has a 315/30/18 toyo proxes tq which are honestly really good for a street type tire. They do hook decently with my power 850-900rwhp. For the strip I have M&H 275/60/15 and they are definitely stickier than the toyo but also wont last as long on street driving. Ive driven with the toyos in the rain several times with no issues, sure across standing water you have to be mindful but just going 50mph on the highway it never slid out one time. Never driven the m and h in the rain. My car is also a stick shift car so it may be different than yours, first gear isnt usable on the street with any tire, but with the m&h the car will hook right after a little spin going into second and go. The toyo will spin if I hammer it in second from a roll and then catch into 3rd. When they are warmed up though, they will hook pretty good for what it is on a bare road.

 

I'm confused. I ran the ET Street Radial for years until they switched them to the "Street R" and the treads aren't that much different. They are both fine if the road is wet, but both a disaster if there's any standing water. The Street R version is fine for the highway, the Pro is not.

Obviously the compromise comes with the tread, the more grooves the better wet performance but the less total grip for drag racing.

 

I had to go grab pics of the various tires' tread patterns so I could check what I said above against what they actually look like.

Top row left to right: original M/T ET Street Radial, S/S, R, Pro
Bottom row left to right: M&H, Nitto NT555RII, Hoosier DOT (not the DR2 pattern)

Yeah, the M/T ET Street R version has quite a bit more grooving that the Pro, but the grooves are narrow and none of the siping will help disperse water on a wet surface. I'd definitely want to run the more track-oriented tire(s), but have been caught out by the weather on trips to the track over the years. Carrying extra wheels, like I used to do when I'd swap to full slicks at the track, kind of defeats the purpose of running a DOT-legal drag tire.

I'm gonna take a w.a.g. that the ET Street S/S and the Nitto RII fall into the same category of "Better than the old BFG Drag Radial, but not as good as the other options." So maybe I should ask about the M&H more specifically?

The car would 60-ft in the mid-to-high 1.4s before w/ the original M/T on 8" wheels running 17.5 psi, and that seemed to be the sweet spot for that combination. I've got 10" wheels to use now for whatever I go with.

EDIT: I know it's not just a tread pattern thing, and the compound & sidewall construction can vary between all these tires. But I gotta start somewhere, given my application. Thx

 

Yep, you're right. It's been years since I ran the old style and forgot the new R's are different. Honestly though, once you get to a 275 size tire it takes a LOT of thread to disperse a layer of standing water. But if there's no standing water, a drag radial works fine on just a wet road.

I've been driving with drag radials on the street for years. I'm in Florida so I'm no stranger to heavy rain. I've just learned a long time ago to read the road surface and it there's standing water I slow down to a crawl or pull over. It's inconvenient to have to pull over and wait but for me it's the best option. I've driven thru 2 drag weeks and in 2018 drove across the U.S. and back with a set of 295/65/15 size drag radials (R's) on the car. I need tires that will allow a 1.2x short time and won't drive around with a trailer so I've just learned to work around that.

 

If you sit one of each side by side you obviously see the tread difference, but if you start pushing/squeezing on them you’ll see that the R is built much differently. The sidewalls are very pliable and overall has a softer construction. You can easily bend it in ways that the SS won’t because the SS seems to be constructed more like a normal radial tire. It only has a slightly softer sidewall. It’s also heavier than the R.

I’ve run both on my car and the SS is most similar to the old et street radials that I ran many sets. Personally I prefer the SS and my car’s top 3 PBs have been on them. For some reason or another my car just doesn’t run as well on the R. I don’t know if the car just doesn’t hit them hard enough (footbrake) or maybe it’s because I have independent rear suspension, but it’s a noticeable difference. This is on a 3350 lb w/me LS RX7 running around 6.0 in the 1/8 with mid 1.3x 60’ times.