Snaggle

All I can say is WOW what a difference ! Just replaced the factory 17 year old rubber Goodyear GS F1 tires with the NItto NT555 extreme tires in the factory size 275/40r17 and as far as having them on the car for only a couple of miles i could not be happier. It was a toss up between the BFgoodrich g-force comp 2 and these Nitto NT 555 and I love these Nitto's , they are quiet, sticky, and they are a very good looking tire as well. I have nothing to say about wet traction cause the car never sees rain but if I get caught in the rain I will definitely post my experience . Oh and as far as me saying sticky , I mean sticky for a street tire cause I know that they are not a drag radial but they hook up awesome . Anyway I hope this helps people who are in the market for some new shoes for there ride thx for reading

Knightrider5000

Couldn't agree more - I highly recommend the 555's for their price point, appearance and performance. I'm seeing increased traction and ride comfort.

I noticed the NT555's run a little narrower than my old Kumho Supra's, so I may upgrade to 285/40/17 rears when these are toast.

RSAXON1979

iTrader: (1)

man..... you would be super excited if you got some actual decent tires for it like some Michelin "pilot sport 2" etc... LOL

Firebrian

Usually it takes a few hundred miles to wear off the lubricant on the tire before you can really know how they will perform at their best. But, if you're seeing that right off that bat that's great. I'm at 350 miles on my new BFG G-Force Comp 2's and so far don't notice much difference between my 15 year old Goodyear GS F1's. I'll give them more time, but I'm starting to think I might have done better performance-wise with the Continental DW's or Nitto 555's. Still, the BFG's were cheaper with the summer rebates going on. My "seat of the pants feel" for tires has never been particularly good. I'd bet I'd notice little difference even with the Michelins.

Snaggle

Oh ya I forgot to mention the price , I'm sure there are better tires on the market but for 132 bucks with free shipping I couldn't resist lol . I was originally gunna go with the BF Goodrich KDW2 but the price was crazy at 240 each and to me that's too much for a car that just comes out on the weekends . Anyway just my opinion thx guys

Snaggle

Wow I just looked on tire rack for those Michelin pilot ps2 and 302 dollars a tire is crazy and I understand you get what you pay for but how much better can they really be ? I guess if I road raced the car they would be good but for what I use it for I'll just buy a couple of sets of Nitto's then lol

Firebrian

$130 each is what I paid for my BFG comp 2's (275-40-17). The mounting, 4 wheel thrust alignment, and everything else added another $100. I couldn't see springing the extra money on the KDW2's let alone the Goodyear F1's or Michelin's that are over $1,000/set.

za355tx

iTrader: (108)

I've been using the 555's for 5 or so years and have always been pleased. Have some 315's on my 1990 formula now and love them. Price I feel is great for what you get and I really like the tread pattern too.

Snaggle

Good morning everyone I had a question for you guys , the reason I bought new tires is because the guy at the inspection station said my tires even though they look like new and are not cracked and dried out said they where expired . My question is this , does anyone know where I can find the date on my old Goodyear eagle GS F1 tires maybe a picture of what numbers I'm looking for cause I see a couple of numbers that could be dates but I'm not 100% sure ? On the new Nitto's it's right on the inside of 1 tire and on the outside of the other tire . So any help here would be grateful thx

Firebrian

You may have to look on the inside of one of the tires though when my F1's were on the car I thought the DOT code was visible from the outside on a couple of them. Here's what are on my '99 SS Goodyear F1's:

DOT MCXC TADR +378+

The last 3 digits are the week and year of manufacture (37th week of 1998). On tires made beginning in the year 2000 they went to 2 digits for the year. So something made in 2014 would be XX14. If you forget, just google "tire date codes." Something will pop up to help you.

Tirerack.com has some info and photos:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11

01 CamaroSS SLP

i did the same replaced my f1's with the 555's and my acceleration grip went way up on the street. Still not a great for the strip though.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

All the above mentioned tires will perform the same on the street in dry weather.....

But the Nittos will outperform the Mich PS or the GY's in wet conditions all day long. My girlfriend has Mich PS on her 2011 Grand Sport Vette.......they are nowhere near as good as my Nittos up front on my Trans Am when its wet out. Her front tires just wore out and instead of going woth the rip-off Mich PS again, we went with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position RFT (she needs the run flat).....also a BETTER tire than the Mich PS in wet conditions......not even close in wet traction performance. Dry handling is the same.

Mich PS are nothing but an overpriced name that people pay for........or maybe better for a road course. On the street, they are money wasted.

.

Firebrian

I suppose some tires can work some and not for others. I can't explain it and it happens a lot. Comparing a non-run flat tire on a F-body vs. a run flat on a Vette may be an apples to oranges comparison. The Vette is a lot lighter and has more HP in stock condition. Front to rear weight ratios could be a lot different. Then one has to consider driving habits, tire inflation pressure, alignment, wear on the tires, slickness of the particular road with respect to oils and other residues on them, and a host of other variables. I never drive my latest F Body in the rain so I can't compare. When I drove my old stock '98 Z28 in the rain (or snow) it would break traction with even the slightest bit of acceleration from a stop. I don't know what tires I had on that 10 years ago but they were no doubt an all-season, mid-quality brand from BFG or Goodyear. Those tires stunk in anything but dry conditions. I never gave it a second thought as I knew not to push that car in less than ideal conditions and gave myself plenty of room before turning or braking. I put 93,000 miles on 2 sets of tires. And that last set still had decent tread left. I must have been doing something right. The first owner burned off the original tires in 22,000 miles!

Per the Tire Rack survey of max summer tires the RE050A are at the bottom of the list. And their wet performance is far behind the top half dozen tires. The Pole Position S-04 rank high on the survey but those tires aren't cheap either. This survey is done by professional drivers and car testers. I don't know if it's largely an unbiased study. But, the thousands of consumer reviews generally agree with the professional survey results. The RE050A's rank well behind some of lower tier ultra performance tires. Per the survey they typically have noise and poor tread wear issues. Their rating on "would you buy again" is in the bottom 10% of ALL tires listed in the 2 top summer tire categories listed below (37th out of 41).

I don't believe everything I read, but I certainly wouldn't go out and buy a set of those. For example, the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 come out ranking very weak for a very expensive tire. And there are plenty of people on this forum who feel those are about the best summer tire out there in both wet and dry conditions. So maybe the survey has some failings. I'd have bought a set of the Goodyears just to keep "OEM" tires on my ride....but only if they were <$750/set....which they aren't. I wish Tire Rack had Nitto's on their survey but they don't offer them. I suspect they would rank comparably with the Continental DW/DWS and BFG KDW or G Force Sports. I'm not a tire expert so I based my recent summer performance tire purchase on 4 things: Tire Rack - Car and Driver - Motor Trend surveys, consumer sentiment surveys, opinions at this board....and price. If any one of those 4 was weak, I passed on those tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=MP.....max list

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...y.jsp?type=UHP....ultra list

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

I can stomp my brakes in wet weather with my Nitto 555 Extremes on my Trans Am and I can now stomp pretty hard on her Bridgestones on her Vette.......my Nittos stick WAY better than her Mich PSs did. But her Vette now stops without sliding to a stop, like when she had the Mich PSs. She has GY on the back and they seem pretty good, but we'll try something else next time, maybe the HankookVentus V12 evo2........I heard good things from people who use them.
She doesn't drive it aggressively like I do, wasting money on Mich PS tires is just that, wasting money. They don't do anything more than the rest of the tires can do in dry weather, which is pretty much all she drives in when possible. But in South Florida thunderstorm alley, everyone gets caught in downpours sometimes so these Bridgestones are better in the rain.

She'd be getting Nitto 555s up front if they made them in run flats......

Too many bribes and pay-offs to lie about road testing in the tire industry.....trying different tires yourself is the way to do it.

.

Firebrian

Maybe or maybe not. There have been mostly positive things said about the Michelin PS posted here on this forum (except the cost). Is everyone on LS1Tech also part of the pay-offs? I'd bet if you took a survey here and offered any of the top tires on the links above for $750/set there'd be a lot of buyers for the Michelin PS, Goodyear F1, and Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position S-04's. But price plays a big role for most of us. The link below is from here with CTS-V owners. The Michelins seem to rank high, even in wet conditions.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/cadillac-...ng-your-v.html

I only buy a set of performance tires about once every 10 years. I don't have the lifespan to try too many more tires. And after 10 years, the industry makes big strides in tire technology, essentially making obsolete what I learned in those 10 years. I'd like to try the Nitto's. Maybe I'll get a chance in a few years.

Swaps box

Jesus 17 yr old tires?

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

I agree. Was trying to be nice. I would suspect that new high performance tires would outperform 17 year old work hardened dried out tires. Stands to reason.