Which tires are the best?

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Originally Posted by SS-Power

I didn't know how picky people were on the specifics. If you read the first post, you would see BF Goodrich g-force sport or Nitto Nt555, which is a performance summer tire.Not drag. I should have made my title differnet,my mistake. I want a tire with performance for everyday driving. Just bolt-ons mods. Wet,dry, cornering.. how about all of the above.

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LOL, yea there is more to a tire than what most people give credit. It all really depends upon what is being asked of a tire. A slick is great for dry traction on asphalt but not worth a crap in snow, rain or the mud. A good street tire is a tire that performs well in many areas but doesn't excell in any one particular area well...

In your case since longevity and all around operation is of parimount, then a Nitto 555 or BFG g-force T/A KD would both be excellent choices. Expect about 20,000 miles of use from them and fair handling in the rain & snow. That's not too bad for a tire that isn't a competition tire.

Those of us who are looking for something a bit more aggresive have to deal with the trade offs. Such as less wet traction performance and longevity. If I drove my car more often then I'd be purchasing a Nitto 555 or a BFG g-force T/A KD. As it is I'm looking more at the Nitto 555R , Nitto 555RII, BFG Drag radial and maybe even the MT ET Street radial (5,000 mile tire)

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Originally Posted by *JC*

Very well said... :)

I just wasn't getting my point across very good about how different tires really are. A great street tire is just that "a great street tire" well behaved in various conditions but not excellent an any one particular area.


Factory


Street only driving, but something more along the lines of street/drag.


on a scale of 1 - 10
10


7 or 8


2 or 3


LOL... Don't see any of that white stuff here in Florida and it rarely ever gets below freezing maybe five to ten days in the heart of winter total . So, the answer is 0


Not a real concern, I'd be happy if they only got 10,000 miles.

Summary: Just looking for something that grabs really good on dry pavement. It'd be nice to be able to take off without spinning the wheels at such low RPM's...

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having that in mind... it's much clearer...
REAR: 555R (drag radials) rear
FRONT: 555RII (look alike drag-radials)... but stiffer sidewall... same thread, same compound... but limited sizes... 275/40-17 are available for sure.

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Originally Posted by SS-Power

I didn't know how picky people were on the specifics. If you read the first post, you would see BF Goodrich g-force sport or Nitto Nt555, which is a performance summer tire.Not drag. I should have made my title differnet,my mistake. I want a tire with performance for everyday driving. Just bolt-ons mods. Wet,dry, cornering.. how about all of the above.

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Not that we're picky... but without more information, it's hard to give decent advice... not knowing what you are really looking for.... that's all.
Anyways... knowing that you are focusing more on a street tire... I would lean towards the GoodYear F1 GS-D3... great tire that sticks and deals very well with wet conditions... and doesn't just melt away.

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Originally Posted by *JC*

LOL, yea there is more to a tire than what most people give credit. It all really depends upon what is being asked of a tire. A slick is great for dry traction on asphalt but not worth a crap in snow, rain or the mud. A good street tire is a tire that performs well in many areas but doesn't excell in any one particular area well...

In your case since longevity and all around operation is of parimount, then a Nitto 555 or BFG g-force T/A KD would both be excellent choices. Expect about 20,000 miles of use from them and fair handling in the rain & snow. That's not too bad for a tire that isn't a competition tire.

Those of us who are looking for something a bit more aggresive have to deal with the trade offs. Such as less wet traction performance and longevity. If I drove my car more often then I'd be purchasing a Nitto 555 or a BFG g-force T/A KD. As it is I'm looking more at the Nitto 555R , Nitto 555RII, BFG Drag radial and maybe even the MT ET Street radial (5,000 mile tire)

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In your case, i'd really consider looking into the Nitto NT-01 which has a better compound that the 555R and 555RII and do well in cornering.
Heck that's what i chose for my "street" tires ;) but haven't installed them yet.

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Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS

In your case, i'd really consider looking into the Nitto NT-01 which has a better compound that the 555R and 555RII and do well in cornering.
Heck that's what i chose for my "street" tires ;) but haven't installed them yet.

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Yea, I know it seems a bit silly to use some sort of R compound tire for the street. Yet, I hardly drive the car and a good street tire will start cracking and rotting from having it on the rim for too many years. It took 5 years to wear my previous tires down to 6/32 but did it in only 18,000 miles...

So, with such low usage and despite the fact the car doesn't go to the track. I'm still more interesed in a tire that will out perform a regular street tire. That's why I mentioned the ones I brought up and I'm aware of the NT-01... Just not sure I want a tire more directed at autoX than Drag? I really like the MT ET Street Radials but I hear about 5,000 ,iles is all one can expect out of them? Plus I don't know if they are tubless and will I have to roll the wheel well lip to get them to fit? That makes a great difference in my selection? Otherwise, I may go with something more autoX and comprimise a little less grip than a Drag radial... But I should still have far superior grip than a regular street tire. If I could get the car to take off at 2,000 RPM with no wheel spin that would be nice... As it is anything above an idle will light the tires up, I have to roll about 80-100 ft out before you can really get into the throttle... then second shift is again useless have to ginger it or it will be all sideways...

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Originally Posted by *JC*

Yea, I know it seems a bit silly to use some sort of R compound tire for the street. Yet, I hardly drive the car and a good street tire will start cracking and rotting from having it on the rim for too many years. It took 5 years to wear my previous tires down to 6/32 but did it in only 18,000 miles...

So, with such low usage and despite the fact the car doesn't go to the track. I'm still more interesed in a tire that will out perform a regular street tire. That's why I mentioned the ones I brought up and I'm aware of the NT-01... Just not sure I want a tire more directed at autoX than Drag? I really like the MT ET Street Radials but I hear about 5,000 ,iles is all one can expect out of them? Plus I don't know if they are tubless and will I have to roll the wheel well lip to get them to fit? That makes a great difference in my selection? Otherwise, I may go with something more autoX and comprimise a little less grip than a Drag radial... But I should still have far superior grip than a regular street tire. If I could get the car to take off at 2,000 RPM with no wheel spin that would be nice... As it is anything above an idle will light the tires up, I have to roll about 80-100 ft out before you can really get into the throttle... then second shift is again useless have to ginger it or it will be all sideways...

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The way i see it, the NT-01 will stick just a bit more than a drag radial... but with much better cornering abilities.
Many ppl drive w/ 555R and 555RII on the street.
The NT-01 is meant to replace the 555RII... it's an improvement.
I find that driving w/ R-compounds on the street is a pretty basic requirement at least for me, since i like cornering, and with 508-511 rwhp within the 4400-6600rpm... gotta have something with decent traction.

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Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS

The way i see it, the NT-01 will stick just a bit more than a drag radial... but with much better cornering abilities.
Many ppl drive w/ 555R and 555RII on the street.
The NT-01 is meant to replace the 555RII... it's an improvement.
I find that driving w/ R-compounds on the street is a pretty basic requirement at least for me, since i like cornering, and with 508-511 rwhp within the 4400-6600rpm... gotta have something with decent traction.

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I've spent more hours than I care to remeber reading up on this tire stuff. But I think I'm coming close to a decision...

I've read several post you have made throughout the LS1 site and you seem to be very informative. You echo pretty much what the reality is and don't side with the tire articles unless they speak the truth. We know how each company likes to claim their the best and sometimes this is true and sometimes it's not, but you won't ever hear them say how their tire is less superior than the competition.


I guess my last real question is how much difference is there in the Nitto 555R and the Nitto 555RII, when it comes to a launch with normal air pressure (30lbs), since the tire will be operating 99.9% of the time in that fashion?

The reason I ask is to see if there is any real benefit to having a DR on the rear axle? IF not then I might look more closely at the NT-01's?

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Originally Posted by *JC*

I've spent more hours than I care to remeber reading up on this tire stuff. But I think I'm coming close to a decision...

I've read several post you have made throughout the LS1 site and you seem to be very informative. You echo pretty much what the reality is and don't side with the tire articles unless they speak the truth. We know how each company likes to claim their the best and sometimes this is true and sometimes it's not, but you won't ever hear them say how their tire is less superior than the competition.


I guess my last real question is how much difference is there in the Nitto 555R and the Nitto 555RII, when it comes to a launch with normal air pressure (30lbs), since the tire will be operating 99.9% of the time in that fashion?

The reason I ask is to see if there is any real benefit to having a DR on the rear axle? IF not then I might look more closely at the NT-01's?

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for all intent and purposes... the launching on the 555RII is identical to the 555R... lots of people running 1.6-1.9sec 60' on the drag radials and 555RII.
Both tires share the same rubber, thread, the RII just has an extra steel belt.
Having said that... some ppl that use 17x11 on all corners also use 555R for AutoX (due to available sizes limitation on RII) and the tire takes it well... even if sidewall is a bit softer. The NT-01 is meant to be a little uprade on the present setup... after all it's been several years using the same compound and technology has evolved a bit... allowing for better advantages without necessarily getting some drawbacks anymore. (ie raising the bar a bit... but let's be realistic... won't be night and day difference... the tire is meant to stick as much if not a tad more, but handle better, without sacrificing the present longevity and not getting into the heat-cycling horror)
In all honesty, you won't see much difference between the 555R and 555RII... you only notice a bit on the front tires in an autox environment.
since the RII has good grip on launches... i don't see why Nitto actually made 2 tires that are so similar to each other.... the 555R doesn't seem to outperform the 555RII while launching... so why bother w/ it ?... make them all RII, imho... but i guess marketing and perception of the consumers disctate otherwise...

Also, the thing with R-compounds is that you get close to a limit where you can get more grip, but are prone to heat cycles... it's tough to find a balance where the tire won't dry and heat cycle to death by using it on the street.
So far, Toyo RA1 and Nitto 555RII/555R are among the only ones not affected by heat cycles... the Yoko A032R is on the borderline and gets affected by heat cycles... so that's why I'm trying the NT-01.

the Yoko A048 seems interesting... but i'd like to test it first... maybe i'll get a set for free from Yoko directly for some more testing w/ their R&D + marketing department as i've done in the past. (but since they no longer sponsor me... not sure how that'll work... for now, I'll be on Hoosiers @ the track) They Sounds promising, though... but not willing to take the risk of getting it and notice the same as the A032R that heat cycle and become hard, losing the grip with time while there is still plenty thread left... so i'll wait to see how it proves itself first.

fwiw... in case you haven't noticed... tires in 315/35-17 are getting more and more rare... especially in the R-compound world... and there are more and more 18s... it looks like the bigger wheels are winning the market, although you get better performance with smaller wheels, as long as it clears the brakes... anyways.
Having the dilemma i was mentioning above concerning the heat-cycling, i ended up saying f*** it... keep my 17s for slicks and get 18s for street w/ R-compounds.
As of now, there are 3 possible tires that seem to be great candidates:

Nitto NT-01: http://www.nittotire.com/tires_nt01.asp
Pirelli PZero Corsa: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....tTire=13YR80CR
Yoko Advan A048: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....1=yes&place=12

At the limit the Kuhmo, the V700-ECSTA, not the V700-Victoracer can also be considered...

p.s: I'll stfu and let others comment too... lol

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Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS

for all intent and purposes... the launching on the 555RII is identical to the 555R... lots of people running 1.6-1.9sec 60' on the drag radials and 555RII.
Both tires share the same rubber, thread, the RII just has an extra steel belt.
Having said that... some ppl that use 17x11 on all corners also use 555R for AutoX (due to available sizes limitation on RII) and the tire takes it well... even if sidewall is a bit softer. The NT-01 is meant to be a little uprade on the present setup... after all it's been several years using the same compound and technology has evolved a bit... allowing for better advantages without necessarily getting some drawbacks anymore. (ie raising the bar a bit... but let's be realistic... won't be night and day difference... the tire is meant to stick as much if not a tad more, but handle better, without sacrificing the present longevity and not getting into the heat-cycling horror)
In all honesty, you won't see much difference between the 555R and 555RII... you only notice a bit on the front tires in an autox environment.
since the RII has good grip on launches... i don't see why Nitto actually made 2 tires that are so similar to each other.... the 555R doesn't seem to outperform the 555RII while launching... so why bother w/ it ?... make them all RII, imho... but i guess marketing and perception of the consumers disctate otherwise...

Also, the thing with R-compounds is that you get close to a limit where you can get more grip, but are prone to heat cycles... it's tough to find a balance where the tire won't dry and heat cycle to death by using it on the street.
So far, Toyo RA1 and Nitto 555RII/555R are among the only ones not affected by heat cycles... the Yoko A032R is on the borderline and gets affected by heat cycles... so that's why I'm trying the NT-01.

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i don't see why Nitto actually made 2 tires that are so similar to each other.... the 555R doesn't seem to outperform the 555RII while launching...

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From my understanding it didn't start off that way. The 555R came first and had been on the market for a couple of years when Nitto realised people were using the drag tire on all four corners in autoX. It was then Nitto realised there was a market they had overlooked and that if the 555R was doing so well at a job it wasn't really designed for, then it wouldn't be too hard to redesign the same tire in a configuration that was geared more to that aspect. They just took a proven design and adapted it to be a little stronger in certain areas. Unlike the NT-01 which wasn't even on the drawing board at the time and is a complete ground up new design that has it roots based on what they learned from the 555R & 555RII...

So out of the two 555RII or the NT-01?
I know there isn't a night to day difference between them.

But either are a far improvement over regular street tire like a Goodyear F1 or a BFG g-force T/A KD, right or no?

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Originally Posted by *JC*

From my understanding it didn't start off that way. The 555R came first and had been on the market for a couple of years when Nitto realised people were using the drag tire on all four corners in autoX. It was then Nitto realised there was a market they had overlooked and that if the 555R was doing so well at a job it wasn't really designed for, then it wouldn't be too hard to redesign the same tire in a configuration that was geared more to that aspect. They just took a proven design and adapted it to be a little stronger in certain areas. Unlike the NT-01 which wasn't even on the drawing board at the time and is a complete ground up new design that has it roots based on what they learned from the 555R & 555RII...

So out of the two 555RII or the NT-01?
I know there isn't a night to day difference between them.

But either are a far improvement over regular street tire like a Goodyear F1 or a BFG g-force T/A KD, right or no?

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I'd go NT-01... it's meant to be the next 555RII with several improvements.
Note that the NT-01 was the tire used in av8ss last year... so there is plenty of feedback on it ... and it's unanimous that the tire is an improvement over the 555RII.
Now i'm just anxious to have fun w/ it on the street. ;)

I know that there is a lot of varibles such as horsepower, weather, highway/track conditions etc,. But all said:

60 ft times:
MT ET Streets radial =
Approx times (1.5) 3000 mile life expectance, dry only tire...

Nitto 555R, 555RII & NT-01
Approx times (1.8 - 1.9) 10,000 mile life expectance, mostly dry only tire but can handle some water

BFG Drag radial
Approx times (1.7 -1.8) 10,000 mile life expectance, mostly dry only tire

Street Tires: GY F-1, Nitto 555, BFG g-force T/A KD
Approx times (2.0) 20,000 mile life expectance. good in dry but handle well in rain too.

Hey, I'm just making this up and in no way am I advertising that this is real world numbers. This is meant only as a compatative view for argument sake. Perhapes we can narrow the reality of this to a more precise measurement in general for those who have experience with tires... I believe we would all like to see a nice graph of where each tire can be expected to perform?

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Originally Posted by *JC*

I know that there is a lot of varibles such as horsepower, weather, highway/track conditions etc,. But all said:

60 ft times:
MT ET Streets =
Approx times (1.5) 3000 mile life expectance, dry only tire...

Nitto 555R, 555RII & NT-01
Approx times (1.8 - 1.9) 10,000 mile life expectance, mostly dry only tire but can handle some water

BFG Drag radial
Approx times (1.7 -1.8) 10,000 mile life expectance, mostly dry only tire

Street Tires: GY F-1, Nitto 555, BFG g-force T/A KD
Approx times (2.0) 20,000 mile life expectance. good in dry but handle well in rain too.

Hey, I'm just making this up and in no way am I advertising that this is real world numbers. This is meant only as a compatative view for argument sake. Perhapes we can narrow the reality of this to a more precise measurement in general for those who have experience with tires... I believe we would all like to see a nice graph of where each tire can be expected to perform?

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note that most of these #s are based on stock hp, and suspension setup plays a role.
As an example... w/ the A032R... when i was @ ~325rwhp, i was consistantly doing 1.8-1.9 60' ... and i'm not the best launcher.
now, if i'm able to get under 2.3, I'm lucky... but i also have 510+rwhp NA (same suspension setup)
also... using ET streets, they will suffer from heat cycling... and won't stick as much as the amount of times you drive add on, without necessarily putting lots of miles.

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Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS

note that most of these #s are based on stock hp, and suspension setup plays a role.
As an example... w/ the A032R... when i was @ ~325rwhp, i was consistantly doing 1.8-1.9 60' ... and i'm not the best launcher.
now, if i'm able to get under 2.3, I'm lucky... but i also have 510+rwhp NA (same suspension setup)
also... using ET streets, they will suffer from heat cycling... and won't stick as much as the amount of times you drive add on, without necessarily putting lots of miles.

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Now I'm only guessing, never put the car on a dyno but I'd say its some where around 350-370 HP at the crank?

Also note I'm lucky if I put 2000 miles on the car over a years time. Just since the begining of the year I might have put on 150 miles? So, tire longevity from highway use is not much the tire is more likely to age than wear out from use...

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Originally Posted by *JC*

Now I'm only guessing, never put the car on a dyno but I'd say its some where around 350-370 HP at the crank?

Also note I'm lucky if I put 2000 miles on the car over a years time. Just since the begining of the year I might have put on 150 miles? So, tire longevity from highway use is not much the tire is more likely to age than wear out from use...

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heat cycles will kill you more than a person doing lots of mileage.
remember this... everytime the car is driven, you removed 1 heat cycle out of the tire... those tires have limited heat cycles.
once ran out of them... traction is limited even if almost full thread of rubber left.
also, the rubber dries, loses cycles with time as well... but slowly.

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Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS

heat cycles will kill you more than a person doing lots of mileage.
remember this... everytime the car is driven, you removed 1 heat cycle out of the tire... those tires have limited heat cycles.
once ran out of them... traction is limited even if almost full thread of rubber left.
also, the rubber dries, loses cycles with time as well... but slowly.

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Thank you, your very informative :)

there is wear by material (obvious visual one) and wear by heat cycles... a heat cycle is defined by bringing the tire to temperature and cooling phase. ie as long as you keep the tire @ operating temperatures, it's the same heat cycle.
basically, it's a chemical reaction that happens every time the tire cools. Also note that the 1st heat cycle is the most important for good grip throughout the tires life.
I'll find some links on heat cycling and post for information.

some info on heat cycling: http://insideracingtechnology.com/tirebkexerpt3.htm

The best I 've found so far is:

A set of 4
Nitto Nt-01 = $836
Nitto 555RII = $672