Wheels & Tires - Nitto vs. Sumitomo vs. BFG

I have decided on getting 17" x 11" and 17" x 9.5" Torque Thrust 2's for my car and now I am trying to decide on what tires to purchase. Keep in mind, I am daily driving this car, for about 60 miles of highway and expressway driving per day at least. I live in Michigan, so it tends to rain a lot. I am trying to decide between 3 different set-ups. I am concerned with wet traction, fitment, and treadwear. I know that the treadwear is pretty much non-existant for any of these tires, but I might as well throw it in there.

1. 2-Sumitomo HTRZ 275/40/17
2-Sumitomo HTRZ 315/35/17

2. 2-Nitto 555 275/40/17
2-Nitto 555R 315/35/17

3. 2-BFG KD 275/40/17
2-BFG Drag Radial 315/35/17

I am planning on going thru TomZWheelz, and I was quoted a few prices. The Sumitomos would be the cheapest, then comes the Nittos for an extra $300 or so MORE than the Sumitomos. Next would be the BFG, which would be around $450 MORE than the Sumitomos.

So here comes the question......Which set up would you recommend for me given the conditions. Any info would be greatly appreciated, and personal experience/pics would be great as well.

Thanks once again LS1Tech members,

James

I have the Sumitomos now. For the price, you really can't beat them. Theyreally don't compare to the Nitto's or the BFGs in dry traction. I run the same combo that you're thinking about. The tread life is pretty good actually and they hold up fine in the rain. If you are looking for a cheap tire that will be able to drive in the rain get the Sumitomos. If you are looking for a tire that will actually hook, get the Nittos or BFGs.

on my stock wheels, i alwas ran nitto 555s. They have a really long life and decent traction. Plus they aren't loud and they handle well. I also just got a 17x9 / 17x11 combo so I will be staying with the 555 on the front but for the back i was gonna go 555r even though i knew the treadlife wasn't great but after seeing these pics, i'm goin with the Sumitomos until I have enough for the BFGs. http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635222
He has 555r's on the back of his car and he said he was drivin down the highway in the rain when a truck passed him goin pretty fast & it caused him to lose the rearend. I do a lot of driving in the rain so these would definitely be a BAD idea for me

BFG ftw. I've had nitto's, they're not all that, Sumitomo's are the best bang for your buck, i got them up front and they're good. And BFG would have to be best all around. Like they say, You get what you pay for. Next tire change, BFG Radials all around, cheaper than regular tires. But i guess it's ALOT more expensive if you're going 305 or 315's out back.

Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming!!

:headbang:

I'm currently running 275/40/17 Nitto 555's all around. They are a great tire for the money and they have excellent tread life, no noise, and overall great traction. I recently got my ZR1's from TomzWheels and I will be running the Nitto Drag radial in the rear simply because they are decent price (for a 315) and my car does not see much mileage at all. I've done alot of reading about the Sumitos on here and its either a hit or miss tire. I love my Nitto's. Hope that helps!

I'm currently running 275/40/17 Nitto 555's all around. They are a great tire for the money and they have excellent tread life, no noise, and overall great traction. I recently got my ZR1's from TomzWheels and I will be running the Nitto Drag radial in the rear simply because they are decent price (for a 315) and my car does not see much mileage at all. I've done alot of reading about the Sumitos on here and its either a hit or miss tire. I love my Nitto's. Hope that helps!


Yes it does, too bad I put a lot of miles on my car. That is one of the reasons I am leaning towards the Sumitomos. That, and the fact that I will get a little more life out of them too.....

Go with the Sumi's for now, buy the time those wear out you should hopefully have enough power to justify the bfg's

i had the sumi's and they sucked no traction and tread life was a joke.

I'd go with #3, I have them but no DR's in the back, but I absolutely love them and they are worth every penny. Sumitomos are a joke.

If you don't care about dry traction, go with the Sumitomos.

i have the sumitomos and they're working great. plus they are just a nice looking tire. i have heard that once they start to break in they get noisier though...but so far they are great...great traction in the twisties...:)

Nittos or BFGs in the back for traction. BFGs will hook harder, but Nittos will last longer. I've got Nittos on my 16s right now, and I've got a pair of 315 BFGs sitting in the basement for whenever I choose to order my ZR1s (next few weeks).

Are you able to get another tire for the front besides the BFG KD's? Like the KDW's? They are quite a bit cheaper. Aren't quite as grippy in the turns, but the wet traction is a LOT better. KD's are meant for dry roads, and the KDW's are designed more or less as an every day summer tire. If I had the cash, I'd go KD, but my car is becoming more and more of a good weather driver.

What about a pair of Kumho Ecsta MX's for the front? They are very nice tires priced very competitively too!

oops, i voted bfg because they have better traction than the other two, but then i read u said this was daily driving tires... so i vote nitto... my bad

Sumitomo's would be good only as a show tire since they look great. They have no traction... none... I hate mine now. It is true that they are good in rain and i supose handling. but seriously the traction is a serious problem with the sumitomo's.

My KD's are just fine in the rain. I haven't gone through any standing water at speed though, but no issues.

I'm in the same boat on buying tires. I would toss the fronts up between Nittos non-drag radials & the Kuhmo Ecsta MX, then if I'm really tight on money I'd go with the Sumitomos. The backs, if you want grip I'd go with Nittos or BFG drag radials. You then have the grip in the back & the life savers up front.

I went with the BFG KDWS's in a 275/40 up front and BFG Drags in 315's out back on my car. So far I've put about 6,000 miles on the set and the front two still look new but the DR's are worn down a little, of course I'm not too nice to them either though. I've drove this car to South Carolina, Nashville, Atlanta GA, Chattanooga about 20 times and all over the mountains of East Tennessee so they hold up well. The handling is amazing and dry traction is great, although my car will still spin the hell out of them from a dead stop. I've been in the rain several times, you just have to be careful and drive the speed limit. So far wet weather hasn't given me any trouble at all. Good luck with your purchase!

Other than a real sticky drag radial for the street there isn't a tire (that'll fit in the wheel wells) that can hold traction against the power these LS1 cars make. Now I can't speak about the Nittos OR the BFGs, I can speak about the Sumitomos. For the dollar, can't beat 'em. They run a bit narrow for a 315 and the tread life isn't bad. The only real complaint I have about the Sumitomo tire (you older dudes know what I'm talking about) is how it acts like a bias-ply tire by taking a shape while parked, which seems like a driveline vibration at speed until the tire warms up. Other than that, I think it's a good tire.

(you older dudes know what I'm talking about) is how it acts like a bias-ply tire by taking a shape while parked, which seems like a driveline vibration at speed until the tire warms up. Other than that, I think it's a good tire.

older dudes........lol guess I finally graduated to older dude status.

Personally, I always liked that flat spotted effect since it always meant I had tires that were gonna hook once the beast warmed up to operating/unloading temp. Unless you meant bias ply as in like Polyglass. In that case, I'm not old enough......

My Bronco has radials that still do that flat spotting crap. Probably just the nature of the beast with bigger off-road type tires.



Good thread, carry on........

I'm in the same boat on buying tires. I would toss the fronts up between Nittos non-drag radials & the Kuhmo Ecsta MX, then if I'm really tight on money I'd go with the Sumitomos. The backs, if you want grip I'd go with Nittos or BFG drag radials. You then have the grip in the back & the life savers up front.
I'm starting to notice the BFG g-sports up front due to the affordability & reviews :) but I hear they're best for an all-season tire, life & water.

Hey up in mt. morris. :) Well since i know what michigan weather is like too ill give you some insight on what i have. they came up the car. Eagle F1 GS-D3. Excellent in rain considering our cars are supposed to suck in rain lol. Drives like a damn tank. Didn't get much in on dry roads though since ive owned the car to screw around but they seem to be a good tire (for summer). But from what you listed BFG.

BFG KDW up front and nittos out back. Love the setup.

i just got my Sumitomos about 3mo ago best bang for buck

Sumitomo's offer a great bang for the buck, but don't expect BFG performance out of a tire that cost half as much. With that said, I would spend the extra $ on the BFG.

I have had both, and it's worth spending the extra $ and getting the good stuff the first time and not having to swap them out later.

If you don't care about dry traction, go with the Sumitomos.


:lol:

Sorry to hijack your thread firebirdman but does anyone know if the nitto's are less wide than the sumitomos. I know my 275 nitto dr's were very thin

Sorry to hijack your thread firebirdman but does anyone know if the nitto's are less wide than the sumitomos. I know my 275 nitto dr's were very thin
DRs are going to be thin. Nittos are wider than the Sumitomos. My 255/40/17 non-DR Nittos are about as wide as the 275/40/17 Sumitomos and the 315 Nittos are nearly a 3/4" wider than the 315 Sumos

I'm running 285/40/17 Nitto's and i love them. THey seem to hook decent, and wear is great i think. My only complaint is they seem to wonder alot on un-even pavement but i guess all wide tires seem to track the lines in the road.

Derek

I just had my wheels and tires installed this past weekend. Nitto Extremes up front 275/40/17 and Nitto Drag radials in the rear 315/35/17. I love the setup I have now, car rides and handles well.

Until a couple of days ago, I had BFG KD up front and BFG drag radials in the back. The KD tires are awesome (I used to have them on all 4 wheels), but they are too expensive! If you are putting drag radials on the back, I really don't see a need to spend that much money on your front tires, since you are going for performance in a straight line rather than in turns. The other thing is that the car was really twitchy on uneven pavement with the KD tires and the drag radials. I don't know if the two tires didn't mesh well together or what. The BFG drag radials are awesome when it comes to traction!
I just put a set of g-force sports all around just because of the price and how long they last. The are not bad. They are definitely not as good as KD tire or Kuhmo Ecsta MX tires, but they are better than I thought they would be.