Gonna pull the trigger on some tires...get your input

[BamSHO]

I currently running Firestone Indy 500s. They have been great at the dragstrip. I'm looking at new rims next year that are 13lbs lighter than the flower wheels. Thinking about going to the Nittos too. I still have to take trips in the SHO, so pure track tire is out of the question.

 

[RonPorter]

Just remember the traction rating relates to braking performance, not acceleration. I’ve always been of the impression that MT’s are hands down the best for grip but their big drawback is that they wear out incredibly fast.

I’ve been considering 26” Mickey’s for some time now. I think with some super sticky and maybe traveling to one of them pinewood derby dragstrips, I should be able to hit 12.0 stock, maybe even 11.99.

And it relates to braking performance in the wet. Other than through the experience of others, the tire codes don't always tell you what you want to know. Although summer tires with treadware under 300, preferably 200 or less, are always a good place to start.

This short article explains the tire codes pretty succinctly:
https://www.z-onetoledo.com/tire-treadwear-ratings-explained/

 

[Bullpower]

I have run both the MT and the Nitto's on my Mustang GT and found consistently the Nitto was a tenth or 2 quicker in my 60 ft times. I agree terrible in the rain, got 90 degree sideways in a storm once, but great at the track.

 

[Fasterdamnit!]

One more consideration-

With your power goals and that snazzy multiport ethanol injection- Just how much traction do you really want at launch? I love a great 60 foot but I was beating on a rwd 5.0 w/ built 8.8, police aluminum driveshaft at 3000lbs. 6k and side step the clutch on MT ET Streets. The Xsport trans, Cv joints and even suspension mounting points on the front end will see shock loads the SHO folks have not had to deal with with all that mass to get moving. The rear diff is fine but that clutch for AWD will be another question mark.

Granted, you are capable of replacing and upgrading anything that breaks. Just be careful what you wish for...

 

[stripSHO]

Sidestepping a clutch and footbraking an automatic are worlds apart. All the aforementioned components are already preloaded well in advance of any real torque being applied.

 

[Fasterdamnit!]

True. Still- John hits his goals of up to and possibly over 700lb/ft of torque, that is still serious loads on all mentioned components.

And I look forward to those big numbers!

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

True. Still- John hits his goals of up to and possibly over 700lb/ft of torque, that is still serious loads on all mentioned components.

And I look forward to those big numbers!

Yeah transmission will give up before I get to that point if that isn't addressed at some point in this journey. I feel like if I keep avoiding the transmission, the problem will work itself out...lol...

And my "goal", though lofty, is to hit the 700 HP mark, not the FT/LB mark...

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

so, the more and more I'm reading and hearing reviews...I'm leaning toward the Toyo's...seems the MT are very sticky, but can be sketchy in wet conditions. It's not a daily driver, but I do hit the streets of Mexico from time to time and there are wet sprinklered roads sometimes...and they are comparable in 60' times to the MTs, if not just a tiny bit slower. But they have a firmer sidewall and actually weigh a bit less, so for my needs, I think the Toyo's might be the ones...

 

[Dieselcircuit]

Almost completely anecdotal, but I'm fairly certain Ken Block is running Toyo Proxies on the Hoonicorn, High horsepower, AWD. Probably knows what he's doing.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

Almost completely anecdotal, but I'm fairly certain Ken Block is running Toyo Proxies on the Hoonicorn, High horsepower, AWD. Probably knows what he's doing.

Yes he is, but he's also got a sponsorship from them and, more importantly since they are technically road course tires, suit his needs better than a drag radial would. The Toyos have a firmer sidewall than the MTs. That's a better characteristic to have when getting sidways...you don't want your tire to roll off the rim mid-corner while sideways, lol.

I think, for me, the selling point over the MTs is the pucker-factor. Though they may not be quite as sticky, they are slightly better in wet conditions which we sometimes get here. Whether from some shrubs being watered in a center-divide or a foggy day putting damp conditions on the road. I'm pretty selective about when I drive the car, but that doesn't mean I don't find myself around some water from time to time. I think I'll sacrifice a small amount in the 60' for that slight advantage.

 

[kcobra]

Some of you know I'm on the hunt for drag radials. I'd really like to stay with OEM tire diameter as much as possible with maybe slightly smaller. OEM diameter is 30.0" with the 255/50R20s on the 20x9s. I've currently got a set of 295/45R20 on some 20x11s. This puts me at 30.5" diameter. I really dislike that. But it looks pretty good and fills the wheel well nicely.

My ideal tire size would be some 305/40R20s. That would put me at about 29.6" diameter. Issue is...there are no drag radials in that size. Closest size is 305/35R20s. This size puts me close to 28.5" diameter, pretty significant change from stock and very drastic from what I currently have. And may look a bit funny in the wheel well, adding a fair amount of wheel gap (at least an additional 1")

Well, as I'm primarily performance driven, I'm going to give in and get a set of 305/35s and deal with the wheel well gap, but I'm stuck between 3 different tires. Help me out...

1) Toyo Proxes R888R
Load Rating: 104 (1984lbs)
Speed Rating: Y (186mph)
Diameter: 28.4"
Width: 12.3"
Weight: 35lbs
Tread/Traction/Temp Rating: 100/AA/A


2) Mickey Thompson ET Street S/S
Load Rating: 104 (1984lbs)
Speed Rating: Y (186mph)
Diameter: 28.7"
Width: 12.0"
Weight: 36lbs
Tread/Traction/Temp Rating: 00/C/C


3) Nitto NT555RII
Load Rating: 107 (2149lbs)
Speed Rating: W (168mph)
Diameter: 28.4"
Width: 12.3"
Weight: 34lbs
Tread/Traction/Temp Rating: 100/A/A


So, the Toyos are high on my list mainly because they look bad-ass, lol. They've got the best traction rating of the bunch, but they are also the smallest as well as the widest. I'm currently flirting with rubbing (but not yet) with my 295/45s at a width of 11.7"

The MTs are a bit better in the size department, being a bit narrower and a bit taller. But they are also the heaviest and have the worst traction rating

And finally the Nitto (I'd love NT05Rs but they don't come in 305 width) are the lightest and have a decent traction rating. But I mainly don't like the tread pattern, LOL...

Anyway, between these 3...any opinions?

Nitto 555RII is a new tire. I have them on my GT500. Love them and they actually are excellent in rain. I ran 555R drags previously and they have improved all aspects with this tire. They will outlast the other offerings you listed.
Honestly though, a good performance tire is probably all you need. The listing you have are super sticky comp tires and with AWD, probably not needed.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

Nitto 555RII is a new tire. I have them on my GT500. Love them and they actually are excellent in rain. I ran 555R drags previously and they have improved all aspects with this tire. They will outlast the other offerings you listed.
Honestly though, a good performance tire is probably all you need. The listing you have are super sticky comp tires and with AWD, probably not needed.

Oh the car definitely needs them. I have crazy traction issues right now and that's with a 420 traction tire all the way down to 28psi...I'm not happy at all. Going to go with a 100 traction rated tire. No thanks on a standard comp tire, definitely in the market for a drag radial/race tire.

That being said, on paper the Nitto's look great. But they didn't stack up quite as good as the MTs in a few of the reviews I saw. And since I'm not going MTs, it's the Toyo's...

But...if Nitto came out with a 305 width in their NT05R, my interest may be perked again toward a Nitto.

 

[kcobra]

Oh the car definitely needs them. I have crazy traction issues right now and that's with a 420 traction tire all the way down to 28psi...I'm not happy at all. Going to go with a 100 traction rated tire. No thanks on a standard comp tire, definitely in the market for a drag radial/race tire.

That being said, on paper the Nitto's look great. But they didn't stack up quite as good as the MTs in a few of the reviews I saw. And since I'm not going MTs, it's the Toyo's...

But...if Nitto came out with a 305 width in their NT05R, my interest may be perked again toward a Nitto.

To each his own but my KB and cammed GT 500 hooked with the 555RII. They will get much more mileage than an M/T also. NT05's melt quickly too.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

To each his own but my KB and cammed GT 500 hooked with the 555RII. They will get much more mileage than an M/T also. NT05's melt quickly too.

I don't care about mileage, but thank you for the input. I'm sure they are good tires, they've just moved way down my list of options.

 

[RonPorter]

In looking for performance tires, track or street/strip, tire mileage is at the bottom of my list. I've run multiple sets of Hankook RS2, RS3, RS4, Azenis 615. All with (wink wink) SCCA approved 200 treadware. And none of them were anywhere near 200! More like 100! Most miles I got was on the RS2s, at 8k. But, that was with both front tires at the cords after the caravan back from the Seattle SHO Convention!

Buying performance tires, just like performance mods and single digit mpgs, are just part of the cost of having fun!

 

[PaulTAutoX]

I'm a big fan of Tire Rack, so much of what I put here will refer to them.

Every year the 200 TW tires get grippier (and no, I don't believe the 200 number either....). The top ones can brake the Tire Rack test BMW down at ~1.15 G's. While braking on regular pavement does not /exactly/ equal drag racing, it's longitudinal accleration! These are some hecka sticky tires, equal to what a DOT race tire was maybe a decade ago. To get the size you want, I searched by size, put in 305/35-20 and there are only two tires, of which I would pick the Goodyear Eagle Supercar F3's, which are very competitive in the Extreme Performance Summer category. But like all tires in that category they aren't meant to be driven at or below freezing, won't hook up well below about 50 degrees F, and may or may not depending on which one you get be adequate in water. But if you want to go lower treadwear....

For DOT "street capable" tires for track use, you might look at the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2, available at TR as large as 305/30-20. For a non-TR purchase, I know of a few track day guys who like the Nankang AR-1, which is DOT legal also, and 100TW. There is a very large variety of sizes but the largest is 305/30-20.

As the OP may or may not know, searching Tirerack.com for the size you want is a quick way to narrow things down. Also you can search tires for type of use, for instance Drag Radials. Doing that I found that they carry Hoosier drag radials (you probably don't want to go as small as these are), Nexen "N FERA SUR4G Drag Spec" drag radials (275/40-20 is the only size) and Toyo TQ drag radials (315/35-18 is the largest).

Why mostly smaller sizes? Drag racers know that you don't want to go to huge diameter because the rotating mass makes a big difference in "absorbed" horsepower. If you want to go for maximum performance, you may have to sacrifice your looks/wheel well fill. Going to a smaller wheel will give you a LOT more performance difference than the "go less sticky on the rears" ideas that were being discussed earlier.

You might even consider going to a smaller wheel and bumping up the aspect ratio to a 40, 45, or whatever to get back to your desired total diameter range. Maybe they would wrinkle a little more too though track day tires have much stiffer sidewalls in general as has been discussed here. Anyway, the Nankangs are made in 335 and 325 widths in 18 and 19 inch wheel diameters FWIW.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

I'm a big fan of Tire Rack, so much of what I put here will refer to them.

Every year the 200 TW tires get grippier (and no, I don't believe the 200 number either....). The top ones can brake the Tire Rack test BMW down at ~1.15 G's. While braking on regular pavement does not /exactly/ equal drag racing, it's longitudinal accleration! These are some hecka sticky tires, equal to what a DOT race tire was maybe a decade ago. To get the size you want, I searched by size, put in 305/35-20 and there are only two tires, of which I would pick the Goodyear Eagle Supercar F3's, which are very competitive in the Extreme Performance Summer category. But like all tires in that category they aren't meant to be driven at or below freezing, won't hook up well below about 50 degrees F, and may or may not depending on which one you get be adequate in water. But if you want to go lower treadwear....

For DOT "street capable" tires for track use, you might look at the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2, available at TR as large as 305/30-20. For a non-TR purchase, I know of a few track day guys who like the Nankang AR-1, which is DOT legal also, and 100TW. There is a very large variety of sizes but the largest is 305/30-20.

As the OP may or may not know, searching Tirerack.com for the size you want is a quick way to narrow things down. Also you can search tires for type of use, for instance Drag Radials. Doing that I found that they carry Hoosier drag radials (you probably don't want to go as small as these are), Nexen "N FERA SUR4G Drag Spec" drag radials (275/40-20 is the only size) and Toyo TQ drag radials (315/35-18 is the largest).

Why mostly smaller sizes? Drag racers know that you don't want to go to huge diameter because the rotating mass makes a big difference in "absorbed" horsepower. If you want to go for maximum performance, you may have to sacrifice your looks/wheel well fill. Going to a smaller wheel will give you a LOT more performance difference than the "go less sticky on the rears" ideas that were being discussed earlier.

You might even consider going to a smaller wheel and bumping up the aspect ratio to a 40, 45, or whatever to get back to your desired total diameter range. Maybe they would wrinkle a little more too though track day tires have much stiffer sidewalls in general as has been discussed here. Anyway, the Nankangs are made in 335 and 325 widths in 18 and 19 inch wheel diameters FWIW.

Thanks, awesome info.

But sadly, I can't go smaller than 20" rim due to brake rotor size. Actually, I MIGHT be able to go to 19s, but what's the point of buying ANOTHER set ultra light wheels only 1 inch smaller? Not enough payoff for me to do that, might as well stick to my 20s. And I'm definitely looking for a 100 rated tire if at all possible. I'm not really a fan of tire rack, tbh. Prices can be got cheaper elsewhere and a few other websites out there that actually have better info on tires then on there. for tire info I prefer www.tiresize.com they give way better specs than tirerack and another awesome tire/wheel website resource is www.wheel-size.com they have one of the best wheel/tire calculators I've seen.

As for going smaller in size, the 305/35-20s are already going pretty small. Stock height tire is 30", the 305/35s get me in the low 28", so it's already quite a bit smaller, making my final drive a bit better, so yes...I've already thought of that angle.

All roads are still pointing to the Toyos for me, they are just checking all the right boxes (but damn are they pricey...) unless Nitro drops some 305s in their NT05Rs, lol.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

uh oh, what's going on here?!



Even lighter than I had anticipated...

Subtract this:


From this:


And ya get to right about 34lbs....very nice! Compared to the Hankooks, which came in at 38.5lbs. And considering the wheels weigh in at 21.5lbs....not too shabby. Going from 60lbs (minus air and wheel weights) down to 55.5lbs per wheel. Not bad considerng the stock wheel/tire combo came in at about 75lbs a wheel!

 

[802SHO]

uh oh, what's going on here?!



Even lighter than I had anticipated...

Subtract this:


From this:


And ya get to right about 34lbs....very nice! Compared to the Hankooks, which came in at 38.5lbs. And considering the wheels weigh in at 21.5lbs....not too shabby. Going from 60lbs (minus air and wheel weights) down to 55.5lbs per wheel. Not bad considerng the stock wheel/tire combo came in at about 75lbs a wheel!

Man those tires look soooo good