New Tires

[jmascharka]

I just put on some new shoes on the beast. Nitto 555's come in our size now. They seem to fill out pretty good and ride nice. Each were $134 for the front and $183 for the rear. Good treadwear rating as well. Just thought I'd let everyone know. I don't have my camera or I'd take pictures.

[Paul Workman]

Hmmm... Mixed reviews.

http://www.carreview.com/mfr/nitto/t...5_1577crx.aspx

Let us know how you like um.

P.

[jmascharka]

Took them for a run today and they seem to stick pretty well. All tires get mixed reviews, I'm just glad they are available in our size. They aren't as expensive as the goodyear tires, and have been around for years, mostly on muscle cars, but they do seem to grip well in the turns. I don't know about in the rain, but they have to be better than what I had on before. I was running GSC's that were 9 yrs old. They had tread, but were cracking between the lugs, and were pretty hard.

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by jmascharka

All tires get mixed reviews, I'm just glad they are available in our size. They aren't as expensive as the goodyear tires, and have been around for years, mostly on muscle cars, but they do seem to grip well in the turns. I don't know about in the rain, but they have to be better than what I had on before. I was running GSC's that were 9 yrs old. They had tread, but were cracking between the lugs, and were pretty hard.

Yeah, reviews (selected reviews at that) do not replace science, and neither does the volume of those sold, as price is a factor there as well. But, the first thing that struck me about the tread pattern was the basic similarity to the BFG KDs I had.

My experience with them (the "KDs") was pretty much what some of those reviews said: great on dry, but not so great on wet (With one exception; one "review" that was sooo far removed from what the other reviewers said and from my own experience with very similar tread pattern that I dismissed that "review" as probably financially motivated or even entirely fabricated...AKA BS!!)

What I would really like to see would be some comparisons on a skid pad; both wet and dry (pads). That would be a good place to begin to form an educated opinion, I recon. I can report that my GY F1/D3s have stayed planted significantly beyond where my BFG KDs would fade away (on wet pavement). In fact, they haven't broken or faded at all in wet that I recall.

To many, wet driving is not too much of a consideration - myself included. But, it happens unexpectedly, and so wet performance is a consideration. Put another way: The wet performance of my BFG KDs on wet was bad enough that I would get a knot in my gut when driving my 95 LT1 Vette and getting caught in a sudden shower. So, rain performance is a personal "check list item", if you will, for me - hence my interest in the tread pattern and the actual (scientific) wet performance comparision.

Having said that, my F1D3s cost me about $1400 for the set, and I had to scour the country to even find the 315s for the rear. SO! Similar performance on a tire that fits our cars for a fraction of that cost is very interesting. And, if they perform like the BFG KDs, i.e. dry only, that's fine too as long as it is known up front. Therefore, I hope they work out well for you and you can give us a review from time to time.

P.

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

My experience with them (the "KDs") was pretty much what some of those reviews said: great on dry, but not so great on wet (With one exception; one "review" that was sooo far removed from what the other reviewers said and from my own experience with very similar tread pattern that I dismissed that "review" as probably financially motivated or even entirely fabricated...AKA BS!!)

What I would really like to see would be some comparisons on a skid pad; both wet and dry (pads). That would be a good place to begin to form an educated opinion, I recon. I can report that my GY F1/D3s have stayed planted significantly beyond where my BFG KDs would fade away (on wet pavement). In fact, they haven't broken or faded at all in wet that I recall.

P.

The KD's are not that bad in the wet. I use them up here and drive my car in the middle of winter. My only tip for driving them in the winter is stay out of the ruts with standing water.

There was a review once that had a test of dry and wet skid pad as well as a lot of other tests and the KD and GSD3's were in the selection of tires.

[tomtom72]

Yea that Test is (was) over at TireRack's site. It was way back in late 04 when I found it by clicking on the "reviews" tab, or "comparason" or "Test" tab....however you get to their testing results. TireRack did the numbers game in their test. Ya know wet/dry skidpad, wet/dry track lap times, braking distances, all the usual numbers. The only thing is that test was from back in 04 or earlier as they tested the GS-D3's, BFG KD's, F1supercar's, PS-2's cup, and some others. The F1 supercar's went NLA some time in 05, that's what made me think that it was an older test session.

[Wild and Blue]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

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What I would really like to see would be some comparisons on a skid pad; both wet and dry (pads). That would be a good place to begin to form an educated opinion, I recon. I can report that my GY F1/D3s have stayed planted significantly beyond where my BFG KDs would fade away (on wet pavement). In fact, they haven't broken or faded at all in wet that I recall.

To many, wet driving is not too much of a consideration - myself included. But, it happens unexpectedly, and so wet performance is a consideration. Put another way: The wet performance of my BFG KDs on wet was bad enough that I would get a knot in my gut when driving my 95 LT1 Vette and getting caught in a sudden shower. So, rain performance is a personal "check list item", if you will, for me - hence my interest in the tread pattern and the actual (scientific) wet performance comparision.

Having said that, my F1D3s cost me about $1400 for the set, and I had to scour the country to even find the 315s for the rear. SO! Similar performance on a tire that fits our cars for a fraction of that cost is very interesting. And, if they perform like the BFG KDs, i.e. dry only, that's fine too as long as it is known up front. Therefore, I hope they work out well for you and you can give us a review from time to time.

P.

agree.

Originally Posted by jmascharka

I just put on some new shoes on the beast. Nitto 555's come in our size now. They seem to fill out pretty good and ride nice. Each were $134 for the front and $183 for the rear. Good treadwear rating as well. Just thought I'd let everyone know. I don't have my camera or I'd take pictures.

Do try to get the pics sometime. I went w/ the GY F1/D3s even though I had to wait months for them. The thing that made me go with GY F1/D3s was the picture of them stacked up next to summito's (provided by DMark, I think), huge difference in width.

[USAFPILOT]

can we get some pics...anyone bought the Khumo's in our size yet? Tire rack has them.

[jmascharka]

I'll be out of town this weekend and will pick up my camera while there. When I get back I'll get take some pics. I think they look pretty good. Not sure how they are in the rain, but then, the only time I'm driving in the rain is if I don't check the weather report first.

[USAFPILOT]

any pics yet