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Old 03-13-2008, 10:46 AM
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1998whitecoupe-a4
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Default Another question on drag radials.

I'm about to purchase drag radials, and have narrowed it down to Nitto's, I need to stay with 18"

It will be either NT-01's or Nitto 555's RII

Any one have experience with either of these?

The car is not a daily driver and never driven in snow or rain - intentionally that is.

The car would mostly be run on the street with very limited track time.
Old 03-13-2008, 10:50 AM
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Drewstein
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The Nitto 555 RII is a good tire. I ran it for a while before getting the BFGs. It lasts longer than the BFG but isn't as sticky. Since my car isn't a DD either, I got the stickier of the two. It was nice having a DR that lasted longer than 3 months if constantly driven though.
Old 03-13-2008, 11:51 AM
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b18c1950
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nitto does lasts longer

i would go with bfg for more traction.
Old 03-13-2008, 12:09 PM
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Brad@RevXtremeAutoSports
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word of caution, drag radials make cops' lives a lot easier, if you know what I mean.

Just my 2 cents worth of caution.

Old 03-13-2008, 12:12 PM
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BADMFR
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Originally Posted by Brad@RevXtremeAutoSports
word of caution, drag radials make cops' lives a lot easier, if you know what I mean.

Just my 2 cents worth of caution.




R1 and R2's are awesome tires. Have had both.
Old 03-13-2008, 12:12 PM
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1998whitecoupe-a4
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ya, I looked at BFG also, problem is the sizes they have

275/35/18 or 295/35/18

The first one 275/35/18, I think it would look funny as the sidewall height is too short, my car is at stock height.

295/35/18 - Would this work on a stock 18" wagon wheel - I've heard it would work and pepole have done it though.
Old 03-13-2008, 12:40 PM
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You can put the 295-35x18 on the stock 9.5" wheel - it's not really recommended. You should have a slightly wider wheel, at least a 10" wide wheel. Also - I question the reason why someone would want a drag radial on a mostly street driven vehicle. I have no personal experience with them - but I have had many discussions with friends that have run them on the street, and they have found them to be crappy handling tires. They are designed to hook up at a drag strip, not handle the potential extreme lateral loads when driving a vehicle like a Corvette through curves.

Why not mount a set on a pair of 10" wide wheels, and have a set of street tires for the rest of the time that will be more effective for the streets.

A wise man once told me that you can teach a pig to sing, but all you get is a gawd awful noise and one pi$$ed off pig......if you know what I mean.
Old 03-13-2008, 01:10 PM
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1998whitecoupe-a4
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Originally Posted by blacksedan87
You can put the 295-35x18 on the stock 9.5" wheel - it's not really recommended. You should have a slightly wider wheel, at least a 10" wide wheel. Also - I question the reason why someone would want a drag radial on a mostly street driven vehicle. I have no personal experience with them - but I have had many discussions with friends that have run them on the street, and they have found them to be crappy handling tires. They are designed to hook up at a drag strip, not handle the potential extreme lateral loads when driving a vehicle like a Corvette through curves.

Why not mount a set on a pair of 10" wide wheels, and have a set of street tires for the rest of the time that will be more effective for the streets.

A wise man once told me that you can teach a pig to sing, but all you get is a gawd awful noise and one pi$$ed off pig......if you know what I mean.

I hear ya, we can debate all day why I need them but I dont want to waist your time.

One could argue why they would need over 400 rwhp for a "street" car also, and I know a few of those people.

But arent some of these drag radials designed for autocross too?
Old 03-13-2008, 01:13 PM
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kingsey
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I looked into this myself cause I know after my cam I would needto loose the old tires I have now. I went with street tires because if it rarely sees the strip u want a tire that will hook but also give u good handling why have a vette that handels like a box mustang?
Old 03-13-2008, 01:22 PM
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Here is my take on the Nitto NT-01s as I run them in the 315/30/18s and love them on dry pavement. Actually for the first 5k they were ok in wet weather. There is nothing short of a real slick to hold my power, so I have learned throttle modulation.

My take on the NT-01s are that they offer superior handling and traction over treaded tires as I run Falken's for my wet and normal day to day driving. The NTs have stiffer sidewalls over the R tires or the BFGs and with the spirited country driving I do the NTs are the ticket. They put my Vette on rails and my car sticks in the turns where I plant her and they are very stable in turns and I have been over 170 mph with them on and they are fine at high speeds. For your needs you need to determine if you want the best handling NT-01s or a little better traction with the R series or the best traction and worst handling of the BFGs
Old 03-13-2008, 01:34 PM
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1998whitecoupe-a4
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Originally Posted by peter pan
Here is my take on the Nitto NT-01s as I run them in the 315/30/18s and love them on dry pavement. Actually for the first 5k they were ok in wet weather. There is nothing short of a real slick to hold my power, so I have learned throttle modulation.

My take on the NT-01s are that they offer superior handling and traction over treaded tires as I run Falken's for my wet and normal day to day driving. The NTs have stiffer sidewalls over the R tires or the BFGs and with the spirited country driving I do the NTs are the ticket. They put my Vette on rails and my car sticks in the turns where I plant her and they are very stable in turns and I have been over 170 mph with them on and they are fine at high speeds. For your needs you need to determine if you want the best handling NT-01s or a little better traction with the R series or the best traction and worst handling of the BFGs
Thanks for the info, appreciate it

The NT-01's are the ones I'm really interested in.

Since you have experience with them, I hear they kick up a lot of road debris on the street? Did you notice this at all?
Old 03-13-2008, 09:05 PM
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Originally Posted by 1998whitecoupe-a4
I'm about to purchase drag radials, and have narrowed it down to Nitto's, I need to stay with 18"

It will be either NT-01's or Nitto 555's RII

Any one have experience with either of these?

The car is not a daily driver and never driven in snow or rain - intentionally that is.

The car would mostly be run on the street with very limited track time.
The 555r11 is not a drag tire.It has the Nitto drag pattern but has a stiff sidewall it is considered a fusion tire.The Nitto 555 drag radial has the same tread pattern with a soft sidewall.I have the 555R11 on my 581rwhp Z and it is a great tire hooks well and sticks like glue on the twistys.I felt the 555R11 was a better choice over the NT-O1 due to the up size from stock 295 35 18 to 305 35 18.I will tell you these tires warm up quick even with minumal driving.

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