When it comes to tires for the dragstrip and ¼ mile runs, there’s nothing that will get the job done like drag tires. Regular performance tires or all-season tires aren’t designed for the extreme torque and horsepower of a vehicle that’s tuned for the dragstrip and can’t get you down the track without considerable wheelspin and if you’re sitting there spinning tires before you get out of the hole, you’re running out the clock on your elapsed time.

The Atturo AZ850 DR is a DOT-approved drag tire that can be used on the street as well and is designed for a world where every tenth of a second counts. Let’s get in for a closer look at this Atturo AZ850 DR tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the features that make the Atturo AZ850 DR a great choice for the dragstrip:

• The super sticky, soft tread compound is designed for glue-like adhesion to the pavement, getting you out of the hole and down the quarter mile with minimal wheelspin
• Extra-wide center rib is designed for stability, improved handling, better on-center feel, and driver feedback on the strip
• Directional shoulder tread blocks help generate extra traction for a quicker launch
• Dual wide channels are designed to help reduce noise at the strip or on the street
• DOT compliant for limited street use
• Radial construction
• 50 psi inflation

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Super sticky tread compound is optimized to handle extreme amounts of horsepower and torque while still delivering traction
• DOT certified
• Designed in conjunction with automakers and the drag racing community

CONS:

• Not good on wet pavement
• Not designed as a street tire, even though it’s DOT-compliant
• Specialty tire for the strip

SimpleTire’s view on Atturo AZ850 DR tires

Atturo, based in Waukegan, IL, is a tire manufacturer that’s mainly been focused on performance tires, light truck tires, and all-season tires. That all changed when they introduced the Atturo AZ850 DR, though. The design team at Atturo listened to the drag racing community and the performance teams at Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge when they were developing the AZ850 DR, and the end result is a drag racing tire that’s completely up-to-date and designed for the performance of today’s muscle cars. If a muscle car can generate a huge amount of power and torque, that’s quite an achievement – but it’s wasted if it can’t make it to the pavement efficiently with a tire that can grip the road well enough to support all that power.

The team at Atturo had already heard good feedback from their AZ850 UHP tire, then addressed those opportunities for dragstrip performance with the AZ850 DR. The market for street-legal dragstrip tires is pretty limited, and the AZ850 DR definitely fills that niche with a tire that heats up quickly for maximum grip and a tread compound that’s soft and pliable and holds heat a bit longer than a conventional tire.

The shoulder of any dragstrip tire is as important as the tire’s center section when it comes to grip at launch time, and the shoulder blocks of the AZ850 DR are wide and robust along with a wide center section for improved handling and stability. The proof is in the numbers and drivers everywhere have been praising the Atturo AZ850 DR as they shave tenths off their elapsed times, and while the AZ850 DR isn’t a great tire for daily drivers, it’s DOT-approved for trips to the strip and back (at least). Wear with a racing tire is dependent on the driver’s right foot, but drivers report that the AZ850 DR’s wear properties are pretty respectable, with longer tread life than you might expect with a drag tire. If you don’t need a wrinkle-wall slick for the strip but can’t get the kind of hookup you need with a UHP tire, the Atturo AZ850 DR is a great option.

Vehicles the Atturo AZ850 DR is a good replacement tire for

The AZ850 DR would be a great choice for modern muscle cars such as:

• Ford Mustang
• Chevrolet Corvette
• Chevrolet Camaro
• Dodge Challenger
• Dodge Charger
• Dodge Durango R/T