I think your talking in theory vs reality. Do I believe you can get the same amount of traction on a 20" wheel that you can get on a 17" drag radial?....unlikely, but I'm sure its possible. If you could get equal traction from a 20" wheel, why wouldn't everyone forgo buying 17 or 18" drag wheels with the larger tires. The bigger (sidewall) tires and the lower pressures seem to be big thing with the big boys who get these monster launches. The low profile tires just dont seem to have the flex/give to them that allow the really good launchs/lots of traction. As for the wheel hop thing, i aint smart enough to answer that one....but especially with the more grippy DR (of any size)...i would guess wheel hop is going to be the end of you....once you break traction...as soon as it grabs...i can just hear that snapping sound lol. Did that do anything to address what you said? lol
Sure it's possible. The size of the wheel has nothing to do with traction. That's 100% the adhesion of the rubber in contact with track (and the weight on it). The reason for a smaller wheel is the effective gearing you get and less weight and less rotational force needed to accelerate it in a circle. That's different. The "wrinkle" effect absorbs that huge impact at the instant of launch but stores it in the sidewall. It's like stretching a rubber band. Not sure how it changes the contact patch while it's wrinkled. Less bad if you got a big sidewall DR that wrinkles a lot... well... at least someone talked to me. I'm pretty pumped about that.
I am sticking with my "its possible but highly unlikely" theory here, even if its just due to the majority of us not being able to get the grip out of a "street tire". Or maybe we just havent been using sticky enough street tires lol. I have (as usual) failed to make a decent point...but i think the idea of what i'm saying makes sense...to me at least lol
Wait a minute... I wasn't talking about street tires vs DRs. I was talking about the different wheel size with the same tire? ummm, errr, so you were only saying go to a 17 or 18" wheel because they don't make DRs in 20"? I thought you were saying a 17" or 18" wheel with the same tire (street or otherwise) is going to give you better traction than a 20". never mind...
Yeah thats probably my bad.... I was talking about the whole package....street tires on 20's vs 17/18" wheels. If we are just talking tires to tires...your probably right lol...but thats not unusual lol.
