black98_ls juan

Hey all, I'm in the market for some new tires. My current rims are 17×8 with all weather/snow tires, not the best choice of tire for a 350 hp car..... I'm hoping to get some opinions on which tires to get for my new 18×8.5 rims, My camaro is daily drivin (will not be drivin in the snow) and it goes to the dragstrip/autox track roughly twice a year. I'm not looking for a drag/street radial, I'm looking for a tire that will last quite a while and won't loose traction every time I floor it. Thanks for the help

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

You might have some other good options in the 18" diameter, but if not the Nitto 555 street tire is a good bet at performance per dollar.

black98_ls juan

Do these tires last long, do you know how many miles they'll go?

DANOZ28

iTrader: (1)

tire rack .com has plenty of choices. i wanted the closest to drag radial without actually being a drag radial so i chose G force 2's about $150 each. dont forget you want a high speed rating , cheers! look for rebates. edit nitto 555 street tire didnt come in my size 16" if i remember correctly

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

I am on my first set so I personally do not know a mileage number, but my roommate runs them on this trans am and they generally last him several years daily driving.

I got around 12k miles out of my old 555R drag radials which have a treadwear of 100. The regular 555 are 300. Expect to get at least 30k miles out of them I would say.

You can get a stickier tire at sacrifice of tread life.

black98_ls juan

Those tires seem pretty good, they're a bit cheaper than the 555s and they have better tread wear, did these tires hold grip well for you? I'm considering these tires over the 555s now, I'm on a tight budget, I've got plenty of other stuff i need to buy for my car.

Firebrian

The Nittos don't offer rebates as readily as the BFG's so you'll have to be patient to find them. The Nitto 17" 555's tend to be cheaper though ($125-$135/each from some sources). BFG currently offering $70 rebates on Comp2's. My BFG Comp 2's installed ran $555. Your individual driving habits and upkeep on the car probably play the largest role in how much tire life you get vs. which brand of comparable tire you end up buying.

If you're going to do a lot of cold weather driving (Nov-March in the upper half of the country) I might consider an all season tire with a better cold rating ( A/S ultra performance tire vs. the ultra performance summer). The Continental DW or DWS are good choices but will be more money than the BFG's and Nitto's. And I'm not sure how to differentiate "cold" from "snow" in those ratings. Kansas is probably borderline - you might be able to get by with a summer performance tire in the winter. I'd consider the BFG comp 2's, Nitto 555, Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval, some Sumitomo and Kuhmo's to be budget performance tires. Any one of those could work out fine for you. Your tires are larger than stock so will cost around 25% more in most brands. 18's aren't cheap vs. the 17" tires. In 18" only the Asian brands seem to offer an inexpensive price....everything else is approx >$700/set.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...jsp?type=UHPAS

1994_383_Z28

iTrader: (1)

I love the BFG Sport comp 2's. Best street tire I've had so far.

Chevyman1968

I have a lil over 30K miles on my 555. My new ones are coming in Monday!!!!

JD_AMG

First and foremost get wider wheels. 8.5" wide wheels are more narrow than the stock SS/WS6 wheels... If you want better handling (and im assuming you do since you said you auto-x occasionally) get atleast 9.5" wide wheels all around.

DANOZ28

iTrader: (1)

^^^^ these are the tires i have and im happy with them. tire rack also has local installers, i used NTB. cheers!

black98_ls juan

I'd be driving my car until the first snow/ice (when they put salt on the roads)which is usually in mid/late december . So I would be driving in 20-50 degree wether. I'm kinda leaning towards the g-force 2 because of the price, but the 555s seem to be a great choice too. Would 255 40 18 or 255 35 18 be the size I wanted?
Thanks for all your opinions and help guys.

black98_ls juan

Right now I'm rollin around on 17×8 rims with all season/weather 245 tires. I think this ought to be a good enough upgrade for now. Btw I bought the car a year ago and didn't have the money for new tires, so my dad bought me tires and said they had to be all weather/winter tires. That's why have them on my "race" car.

black98_ls juan

Forgot to mention this in my last post, but I could keep my old rims and tires for winter/ cold wether if the 555s or g-force 2's are terrible in the cold

JD_AMG

What im telling you is spend your money wisely and hopefully make the right purchase the first time around. 8.5" wheels (255 tires) are simply too narrow for handling purposes with these cars (275/40/17s were the stock size for the WS6/SS cars, and even those are on the narrow side for best handling grip). Once you hit the track you will be quickly regretting the purchase, and wishing you went with wider wheels/tires that will provide way more grip. The serious guys are running 315/35/17 on all four corners (not saying you need to do this, but I would at least get a 9.5" wide wheel to run 275s or 285s.)
Anything will be a step up from the all seasons but why not make a better purchase the first time around and be done with it?

black98_ls juan

Well sheet, I might try to sell my new rims and the rims/tires from under my car so I could get some 18×10/11 oewheels and wrap em with the g-force 2's. Sounds like it's gonna be snowing before I get my new tires/rims.

Edit: I'm going to be getting 17×11 zr1 rims all around for my car and the g-force tires don't come in 315s so I guess I'll be getting the Nitto 555's in 315 35 17

rudytirerack

These are good budget tires. Lots of grip and handling. Wet traction is very good also.