Thread: Tire question
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Old 02-06-2020   #5
Paul Workman
 
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Squires (near Ava MO in the Mark Twain N'tl Forest) - Missouri
Posts: 6,466
Default Re: Tire question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Blue View Post
I went with Nitto NT555G2 and do not regret it. I have done three years of Touring laps at the Gathering and they have held up well. Not a track tire, but a good compromise and they perform well when it is wet. The price is significantly less than Goodyear and Michelin. A great tire for the money. I had older Kuhmo's on the car when I bought it. They were hard, but I had no experience with them when they were new.

David
+1 on the Nittos. I have been using them - on my 3rd set in 10 years.

Our 2 Zs have the 285 555 G2s on the front, and the 315 555r (drag radials) on the rear. I rarely drag race, but the Nitto drag radials DO stick much better than the GY GS D3s do, and I find the combo do 'behave'*quite well (IMO) in the mountain twisties and up to ~ 50 mph in a straight line in heavy rain.

*when they loose traction, there is nothing sudden or unexpected. They just begin to skid gradually, thus requiring normal steering and throttle adjustment: no sudden panic maneuvers required!

As for the GY GS D3s, Road and Track (10+ years ago) did a comparison of many sport tires in which the GY GS D3s performed very well between dry and wet grip. IIRC, they rated ~ .9± on dry and something like .85 on the wet skid pad. (I had a situation where the wet grip saved my bacon when meeting another car that had drifted across into my lane on a wet curve. I was already "pushing the limits" myself and had to suddenly crank in A LOT more turn to avoid a head-on crash. Those GY GS D3s took it all in stride w/o a hint of slipping. WOW! Was I impressed!)

By switching to the Nitto drag radials, my launching traction at the 1/4 mile contests was much better than the "D3s", true. But, w/ the "G2s" on the front to plow aside the sheeting water, I could live with compromising the wet performance of the "D3s" for the few times I got caught in the rain.

I hear good things about the Michelin P2s, but bigger wheels (bigger than 17") might be needed to fit them (e.g., 18"/19" staggered wheels is common). Hib Halverson may have some print data on other tire options for both street and track tires he may have researched.
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