Nitto 555 vs Michelon Pilot Sport tires

[Detroit Bill]

Originally Posted by Stephen Crosten

Bill:
My ride is a Superformance with a Roush 427 stroker under the hood. I dyno at 546hp +/-. The straight line traction in the first three gears (TKO600) is very good, eliminating skip and tire spin. I am not usually a "straight line" guy, prefering road race tracks. There the cornering from the tire grip and shortened side wall of the 17" wheel is extraordinary. Best of luck in your search.

Stephen

That s what I am looking for, my first instinct was correct.
Thanks.

[RICK LAKE]

Pman1961 I have run both for many years. started with 15" BFG junk and went to 17" Mich Sports and then Nitto 05 tires. My findings,
First off, I have an older era car. The 335/35 17" wheels didn't fit until the body got some help for clearance. The next problem was spring rates. The street setup from ERA is perfect for 15" Bfg but not anywhere near what you need to control for a 17" Mich or Nitto 05 tires. You will need to look at a 30% increase in spring rate to start. Depending on shocks a multi control for dampening and rebound to get the most out of either tire. Sway bars you can start with stock but sure you will either up the rating or modify.
Going to guess you have aligned the car and did weight checks for all 4 corners with your weight in the drivers seat. Have found that a 48/52 ratio is about the best for my car. Thrust angle needs to be "0" with your weight in the drivers seat. Tire pressures must match.
Here's the thing, each time you go out and drive the car the tire get heated. Over time these heat cycles harden the rubber. Depending on how crazy you want to get, Buy a gallon of VHT tire softener to keep them softer longer. Over time that become rocks. I got 7 years out of the Mich Pilots and going on the year 3 with the nitto's. When not driving the car, it is off the ground to prevent flat spots. This makes it easier to coat the tires with VHT.
No insult but very few guys can drive a cobra to the limits. I 'm not one of them but have seen silly people try to impress their friends and bad things have happened.
You have not givin a power, gear ratio of the rearend or running what trans. IF you did I missed it. Either of these ties will give about a "1" g grip on good clean surface. The Mich would be safer on the street. The Nitto's better on the track. Both are DOT and both have a 200 wear marker. Nobody expects to get caught in the rain but it does happen. Even when the rain is gone the roads are still wet in some parts of the country for hours. This should also be factured into which tire you get.
You will be very close in clearance on both front and rear tires. The rim backspacing is critical to clear and not rub the rear inner fender lips.
Once you deciede which tire and have them mounted, goto a flat parking lot and do some turns. Video tape this and look at the way the car handles. You may have to adjust ride height for clearance. You want the car to track flat without heavy lean. I have about 1.5" of compression travel on hard turns
Last 2 notes, Need to do more maintainance on car with these tires. Wheel bearings need to be greased more and maintain the correct preload on them. More heat will come from the brakes when stopping. Might want to add cooler hoses to the front brake assemblies. greasing ball joints.
I learned my limit and ability of driving my cobra. I have spin out 3 times. Been VERY lucky and not hit anything. the point here is this car will do a 360 in a split millisecond and you DON'T have time to react. Hold on and PRAY. These tires will improve the handling of the car, be careful either way. Good luck. Rick L.

[gunkk]

Pilot Super Sports are an excellent gripping tire for the street, if you can get them in the right size for your car.

[poisonsnake]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bill

What tires do you have now?

I am doing a tire search right now. I have read all the expert internet opinions. If you do that eventually you come full circle. If you are not to concerned with the life of the tires I would give Nitto NT05's a look. I don't think they will last as long as PS but I believe they will give you better performance. If you really want to go nuts you can get Nitto NT01's.

I think I am going to go Nitto NT05's. I have Pirelli Pzeros on my Porsche which I believe are comparable to PS and they are great handling tires but spin under power.
The Porsche is 400hp at the crank and heavier than a Cobra.

Good luck!

Bill - Curious to see which tires that you choose. Did you choose 15/17 or 18" rims? I have 17"PSE that I love but restricted when it comes to 335-35-17 tires. I've been warned many times over by experienced spf owners (Detroit area) in regards to street slicks destroying paint....last thing that we both would not want

[Detroit Bill]

Originally Posted by poisonsnake

Bill - Curious to see which tires that you choose. Did you choose 15/17 or 18" rims? I have 17"PSE that I love but restricted when it comes to 335-35-17 tires. I've been warned many times over by experienced spf owners (Detroit area) in regards to street slicks destroying paint....last thing that we both would not want

I have 17" rims coming. I am somewhere between Michelin Pilot Sports, Nitto Nt05's and Nitto NT01's.

Where is the paint destroyed with slicks? Behind the rear wheels, behind the front wheels front of the rear tires?

[Pman1961]

Wow Rick very informative! I have a KC 445 sbf 600+hp and torque, TKO600 w/ .82 5th and factory rear 3:46 gears. My plan this winter are 17" wheels and swap the front ball joints to the Cobra Valley units. Possibly their sway bars as well. When the pieces are installed I intend to have the car corner balance and aligned but not the aggressive stage so I guess that would be the intermediate performance alignment. Did not take the shocks into consideration. I don't plan on road tracking the car as I do not have a vehicle or trailer at this time. I want a good handling car, safe at high speeds and mostly if I want to do a spirited run through the lower gears it would like to hook up!

[poisonsnake]

Hey neighbor Bill - Behind the rear tires will get blasted as well as underside of wheel well. We are restricted to 315's for any other performance tire besides ps2's...you may want to look at 18". I worked at the Toledo auto show selling tickets for the London SPF raffle car...18" rims with serious meat!!!! If I did not love my PSE rims I would upgrade to 18" in a second.

[poisonsnake]

Pman - My set-up is almost identical to yours. I will be exceeding 800hp on the bottle. I will be very interested in following your tire selection.

[Dana E.]

Pman,

I'm using the same size wheel and tire combination from Vintage Wheel on my SPF as the E-Bay auction. They fit good, look good and the tires don't rub. I bought the full polish set from Vintage Wheel.

I am running the Nitto NT05 tires which are a HUGE improvement over the 15" Goodyear tires that were originally installed. The 555's have a 300 treadwear rating, the NT05's have a 200 rating and the NT01's have a 100 rating. The NT05 tires hook very well, most of the time, depending on the road surface and temperature. I'm a little over 500 horsepower, TKO 600 and 3.46 gears.

Definitely a summer tire-they flat spot after sitting, do a pretty good job of throwing rocks onto the rear fenders and are not real happy when the temperature is in the 30's and 40's! You might want to check into the "R" compound Nitto tires for the rear of your SPF.

[Pman1961]

Dana I assume you're talking about the 555R's...

[Dana E.]

You can get the "R" compound in the 555, NT05 and NT01 tires.

[RICK LAKE]

Pman1961 I know you are looking for a street ride but adding this much grip and traction will cause these issues. I thought the same as you after swapping out from BFG to Pilots. Rip was hell of an improvement. Down side was driving and making turns. This was not just on the track but where I tested the car on my county roads. They are concrete. The steering feedback was poor. The tires where heat cycled before adding them on the car. This is important with new tires to drive easy until you have 5-10 cycles on them. The info I had learned before Run&gun and after, a 1 hour meeting with Morris did a basic suspension course for our cars. We learned that 98% of us had set them up wrong, me too. After learning what the car did we know where to change and fix the problem. A video is the best learning tool you will have. Once the car is re setup and balanced, you will not believe how good the car really handles without killing the ride. Would also recommend a road race seat for the driver. It's more comfortable and keeps your butt in place. it's alot better than the correct seat. 4 bolts and you have it swapped if you want to go to a show or gip up a canyon road. You already have the 5 point harness in the car? If not buy one. Hey good luck. looking forward to how the car drives after the new tires are on it. watch out for rubbing. Rick L.