ive searched a little bit and cant seem to find adecent answer: i cant seem to hook well o the street or at the track with simple street tires, but i wat to keep my car a well rounded sports car. do any of you guys kno if nitto 555r dr's will handle decently on the street or at an occasional auto-x?

 

No, not really. There is a reason they are drag radials and not Ultra-high Performance type tires. Like drag slicks aren't road race slicks.

 

I agree, your better off getting something in the middle like PS3's there nice but pretty expensive, or go with some toyo t1r's or if your on a budget try the khumo ecsta

 

Drag radial have a very weak sidewall, which allows for more off the line traction. Thereby they will roll and fold over under heavy side loads. I think on tirerack.com, there is even a warning when buying DRs, thats says they are not to be used for heavy cornering. For all around performance, check out tirerack.com and look for what's in your needs and price range.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Nitto Drag Radials actually use the regular 555 carcass. They have a stickier rubber and less tread so they should handle the same as a 555 except that they stick better. Are they as good as a Kumho 710??? No way but they are cheap and I've heard they do not heat cycle as badly as some race rubber. They might be a viable solution depeanding on your situation. They are certainly a better solution for high performance street driving than say,,,,,,, those 710s I menteined.

BFG DRs on the other hand do have a dedicated carcass and it is more flexible than the rest of their tires.

 

hmm anyone else hear that? That sounds cool idea for my new street kicks if so.

 

You could also consider the Nitto NT-01s or 555 R2 s. I do believe there IS a sidewall stiffness difference between the DRs and the R2s. This is where the compromise comes in. Are you willing to give up a little launch effect for better handling on the same exact stickier than street tire rubber compound? If so these are your tires.

 

You are correct, there IS a difference between the side wall of the 555R and the 555 DR. The 555Rs have steel inserts in the sidewall to stiffen them up a bit compared to the regular 555s or the 555DRs. Honestly, I hear the 555DRs are a good all around high performance tire that will work on the street. It will not be any where near a real DOT race radial in terms of lap times but on the other hand it will not heat cycle near as bad as say a Kumho 710 and it even has a bit of tread to give a measure hydroplane resistance {as if any 275-315 works all that well in the wet}.

 

i have been running the 315DR's on the rear of my street car since '01. no issues. i run the 275 R2's on the front.
but wait, there's more! myself and many of my local F-body buds have ran the 315 Nitto DR's on all 4 corners for road course duty. they worked very well. we used those cause Nitto didnt make the R2 (the road course tire) in a 315. i would prefere a Kuhmo V-700 for the track, but i would drive to the tracl on them like iwould the Nitto's. thats why we used the Nitto's.
listen to who you want. i've done it along w/ 3 others and we all liked them for what they were. a grippy tire w/ good tread depth that you can drive to the track on.
they also work very well in the rain. i used them in 40 degree weather in a mild down poor. worked great.

 

from Nitto site about 555RII 'Extreme':
'The Nitto NT555RII “Extreme R” D.O.T. approved road race and auto cross competition radial tire was developed through a unique fusion between a race circuit oriented stiff sidewall construction and the popular Nitto Drag Radial tread pattern. These features combined with the high traction, specially formulated soft racing tread compound resulted in a competition radial that exhibits impressive control and handling, to provide maximum traction under severe racing conditions. The sidewall construction is optimized for handling extreme lateral acceleration; vehicles may experience rougher riding when used for daily driving. The Nitto NT555RII is designed primarily for competition road racing'.
I've been using these on the street(for handling) and at the dragstrip(for traction) for 2 years now. No complaints.

 

I ran 555 R2 for a season of autocross. They have excellent traction. I had a buddy drive my car who has Kumho 710s and he felt they had a little less turn in crispness than the 710s. The next tires race tire I get will most likely be 710s, however is is hard to beat the 555 R2 for the price.

 

I run the rIIs on all 4 corners. I was running the r2s up front and DRs in the back for awhile and didn't have any complaints, but then again I was doing street driving. I did push it pretty good on the street, but nothign like you will be doing on the track. All my road racing track time has been with the r2s mounted and I love em, but on the street they are hard to launch without getting wheel hop. Comparitivly, I could drop the clutch at 3500 on the drs and not have any wheel hop or spin whatsoever on the street.

If you really want the best of both worlds go with the regular 555rs (non dr and non r2s) or get another 2 wheels to run the DRs on.