[70barcuda]

I'd suggest getting rid of the Nitto's and getting a good drag radial. I like the M&H 275/50/17's or the M/T 305/45/17's.. You can get rims for either of these set ups relatively cheap (use Cobra R rims for a bit over $100 new shipped each or find a used set for even less) with the M&H's and it makes for a good combo. I'm currently running a set of race star rims with the M/T 305/45/17's and that works well too. But with either combo I'd think your 60' times will drop to the 1.7 range with an 8 speed. I've had two friends go with the Nittos and neither had much success with them, in both cases they eventually went to the M&H set up with the cobra replica rims. With either of the above set ups I usually run about 18lbs of pressure.

The only thing to note if you do go with a set of the Cobra replica rims you need to open the hub area a bit. I just used a sanding wheel and cleaned up the hub area a bit, then made a few test fits until I got it right. When I changed rims to the drag stars I sold my set of Cobra replica rims to a friend with a twin turbo 392 and he's now running low 10's with them, so that's a pretty good testament to the combo.

 

[70barcuda]

Don't have the money to get rid of the Nitto's I just bought, but I should be able to get better launches than the 245 sized Nexens that came on the car when I got it even if the Nittos aren't that great.

I understand the money thing completely, so if you haven't tried it I would leave the traction control on for your next series of runs. Before I got drag radials my best runs (I had an R/T at the time though not an SRT) was to leave the traction control on and launch at basically idle, then roll into the throttle, moderating the gas pedal if I felt traction giving. It takes some passes but eventually you should get a feel for how hard you can get on the throttle without the tires breaking loose.

That said I looked your tires up on Summit and they state the following:
Nitto NT05R tires are DOT-compliant competition drag radials designed for serious drag race enthusiasts. They feature dual-purpose sidewall construction and an all-new specialized race compound to enhance traction during launch and deliver stability on the top end of the race track. This results in improved consistency and controllability from the tires.

So if these are serious drag radials than they certainly should hook up at the power levels that we are talking. I've used three or four brands of drag radials over the years and basically what I did worked for all of them. That is air the tires down to 18-20 psi, traction control off, heat them up (this varied a bit by brand as to how much works best) generally when I start to see the some smoke coming around the car I roll out of my burnout. Then I would think you should be able to foot brake to about 1,800 rpms for the launch. Perhaps the tires need to break in a bit, but usually with most tires after a good burn out or two to take off any initial glaze they are good to go.

As I said before I'd suggest trying some runs with the traction control on, rolling into the throttle if that seems to work get more aggressive as you go to see what works best. How much traction compound the track puts down can also affect things but if others making more power are hooking up that's probably not a factor. Good luck next time out.