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Since we C5 Z06 guys have limited tire choices I thought I'd share my experiences using the Nitto 555 G2's with +1 sized front and rear.
The tires that came on my 04 Z06 were stock sized Bridgestone RE 760
The new tires are Nitto 555 G2's --> https://www.nittotire.com/passenger-...formance-tire/
- I bought and mounted 275-40-17 fronts and 295-40-18 rears.
- Balanced on Hunter wheel balancer
- 900 miles so far
- Road trip including Tail of Dragon 3x
- Speedo is 3mph slow at 70mph (will have tuner fix)
- High speed.. yes
In my opinion these are a very good value and I give them a solid thumbs up
Car is at stock ride height.. and the bottom three pics are cornering hard on tail of dragon. (never once had a tire rub)
Last edited by wydopnthrtl; 07-23-2021 at 08:45 PM.
Since we C5 Z06 guys have limited tire choices I thought I'd share my experiences using the Nitto 555 G2's with +1 sized front and rear.
The tires that came on my 04 Z06 were stock sized Bridgestone RE 760
The new tires are Nitto 555 G2's --> https://www.nittotire.com/passenger-...formance-tire/
- I bought and mounted 275-40-17 fronts and 295-40-18 rears.
- Balanced on Hunter wheel balancer
- 900 miles so far
- Road trip including Tail of Dragon 3x
- Speedo is 3mph slow at 70mph (will have tuner fix)
- High speed.. yes
In my opinion these are a very good value and I give them a solid thumbs up
Car is at stock ride height.. and the bottom three pics are cornering hard on tail of dragon. (never once had a tire rub)
I bought some new Goodyear Supercar tires for the rear 2 or 3 years ago. They're 285/40/18. Got a great deal on them from Tire Rack. Anyway, I've documented my speedo off about the same as yours, around 3mph@70. The odometer is also off the same, 3 or 4 miles in 100 miles. I've left the tune alone, as it tends to keep me a bit slower, because I know at 70-72 indicated is close to 75mph actual, and we Corvette owners don't catch too many breaks when it comes to speeding tickets!!!
... have you had any adverse effects with traction control and active handling given the 1.6" size difference front to rear?
Nope none at all. And I've pushed it in every scenario too. Wet and dry.
Before trying these I read somewhere about a +/- 0.5" tolerance. But it wouldn't make sense for GM to tune out too large of a tire on the Corvette. So I took the chance and it works just fine.
A bit of an update to my experience thus far at about 1200 miles.
The initial turn in feels softer. Both front and rear.. Then at high cornering forces the tires being a bit taller, have every bit of grip and are more forgiving as the edge of slip is not nearly as on/off as the old stock sized ones were.
As long as you don't want to lower the car a lot.. I'd not hesitate to go with these tires and in this size.
The official GM stagger range is .5-1.4” difference. I had a .4 difference on my Z when I had 275/17-40 in front and 295/35-18 in the rear, I felt it was close enough. I think your number is also close enough and a good substitute for unobtanium tire sizes!
what are the stock tire size for your z06? I am a 1st time corvette owner for a few months and need new tires for my 03z06. It currently has 275/40/17 on front and 295/35/18 on rear. Seems like slim pickings on this size combination.
what are the stock tire size for your z06? I am a 1st time corvette owner for a few months and need new tires for my 03z06. It currently has 275/40/17 on front and 295/35/18 on rear. Seems like slim pickings on this size combination.
The stock tires were 265/40/17 & 295/35/18. Most gave up trying to find the original front size long ago, that was an unusual tire size. 255/40/17 & 275/40/17 both work well up front.
Had some fun yesterday on a road coarse and a 145+mph blast. Tires stuck great and had zero problems. And it was cold too. It was in the high 30s F.
The guy who was with me tests cars for a living and has spent time on all the tracks. He said "impressive" the first time I cornered hard.
LOL.. approaching one turn he said "you can slow down". I said "no I got it"
Had some fun yesterday on a road coarse and a 145+mph blast. Tires stuck great and had zero problems. And it was cold too. It was in the high 30s F.
The guy who was with me tests cars for a living and has spent time on all the tracks. He said "impressive" the first time I cornered hard.
LOL.. approaching one turn he said "you can slow down". I said "no I got it"
You had a happy engine with those temps! I assume you were at Mid Ohio? Never made it there but my instructor friend loves it.
You had a happy engine with those temps! I assume you were at Mid Ohio? Never made it there but my instructor friend loves it.
I can't kiss and tell where.. I wasn't breaking any laws but we may have blurred the "rules" a smidge.
I will say the vararam intake was finally taken full advantage of. That was the first time I've had that much free play w/the vette and honestly I'm surprised at two things.
1. How strongly it was pulling up in 5th gear at 130+
2. How much fuel it used. Holy cow.. at sustained speeds over 120 and 37F temps it was consuming fuel like a thirsty shark.
Wish I saw this earlier. could have saved hours looking at tire sites trying to come up with the right combo of size, performance and price. Ordered the Nitto 555s yesterday from Tire rack, $1000
@wydopnthrtl thank you for the real world review! So much better than book knowledge. Thank you for taking the time to post, and the pics are fantastic!
@Mr.Mike Thank you for your business. We appreciate your support.
07-23-2021, 08:43 PM
275/40-17 - 295/40-18 Tire experience
