Best street/track tires for drag racing?

[AZ MSCL]

Wife plans on going to the track 1-2 x a month (2010 GT). I've read the Mickey Thompson ET's are awfull in wet weather (I don't want to have to change tires for the track). Nitto 555's don't seem to have great reviews. What's the best track/street tire out there? Mostly street. Thx.

 

[CraigNnem]

Sad to say Nitto 555r's, buuuuuut the mickeys do really well in the rain if you know how to drive with them.


My ol' lady drove the stang year round on the mickeys for 2 years with no problem. FWIW

 

[JeremyH]

555R. A true streetable drag radial with its temperature specific compound. They do better than street tires in the rain.

 

[AZ MSCL]

I've read some good things about the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec. Anybody have any experience with these?

Also, is the Nitto a "soft" tire? Do they last long?

 

[dysan]

When they had tread on them my M&H Racemaster drag radials worked great in the rain. They are a very soft compound though so I don't know how many miles you would get from them with street & strip duty. I drove mine alot on the street but didn't keep track of the miles I put on them.

 

[Mike K]

40 passes at the strip and about 8k miles on the street with 555r's and a little bit of life left. They hook at the strip pretty good once you get heat into them.

 

[Joser281]

What about the nitto NT05's? or the Invo's?

 

[jodadejss06gt]

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=725334&postcount=8

 

[Daniel Roberson]

I'm thinking too of changing out my rears. Since this thread has been created is there a new rear tire for street/drag strip that you would recommend. My mods are in my signature.

 

[scramblr]

Honestly, still the 555Rs for daily driving and M/T has the ET Street S/S. The M/T has much better dry traction but the 555Rs are a lot more forgiving in the rain. I've ran them both with 4.10 gears and never had a problem in the rain, but both have to be respected on wet roads.

 

[Slick4.6]

I see nitto has a 555r2 now also, might be worth looking into. I have nt05r myself and have no complaints, great street traction at 650+whp

 

[scramblr]

Good catch...missed the 555R2 upgrade. Much better tread pattern than the original.

 

[07 Boss]

I've run all of the DR's, Nitto 555R, NT05R, Toyo, Mickey Thompsons and Hoosiers. Hoosier DR2's are the best hands down. The only reason why I don't run them is they don't make the size I want. If they did it would be a no brainer. I currently run the MT Radial ET and that is my number one choice and current tires on my car. I do swap to a bias ply Hoosier QTP at the track. The MTs are strictly my street tires. I get about 10K-15K miles out of them with zero track time. The MT street SS would be my second choice as they offer a bit more wet weather drivability over the ETs but it is marginal. Any DR that is going to give you better traction is going to be a trade off when you hit a puddle. The only time I lost this car driving regularly was driving with DRs in a monsoon. Traction in the rain is all dependent on how well you can control the throttle and the speed at which you hit puddles. They all suck in the rain.

 

[07 Boss]

I see nitto has a 555r2 now also, might be worth looking into. I have nt05r myself and have no complaints, great street traction at 650+whp

Have you tried the MT ET streets? Really a night and day difference from the NT05Rs.

 

[Slick4.6]

Have you tried the MT ET streets? Really a night and day difference from the NT05Rs.

I actually just picked up a set mounted on 15” race stars I’m really looking forward to trying out. If they perform that much better I may make them my street setup.

 

[MrBhp]

You'll come out ahead having a dedicated track tire. Yes it will cost a bit up-front, but you'll be way ahead in the long run. I firmly believe that I really paid for the price of dedicated wheels for the track just in tread savings on a $250 street tire. No drag tire that works well at the track will be happy on the street, and vice versa. And when I saw my 60' go from 2.1 to 1.6, I nearly got wood. I drive with drag slicks and skinnies to the strip and back. Forgot to take them off one weekend and when I got to work Monday, I saw that were still on the car. And I was inside the Motiva refinery. Lol

 

[Daniel Roberson]

Laugh this is just a car I drive maybe 3 times a month. I just want to be able to have traction down low when I meet up with other enthusiasts.

 

[Pentalab]

Good catch...missed the 555R2 upgrade. Much better tread pattern than the original.

The Nitto 555R2 came out several years ago, and was promoted for auto cross, and some road course work. It only lasted 12 months, then vanished from their website. Now it back again, for drag strip use.

 

[Daniel Roberson]

The Nitto 555R2 came out several years ago, and was promoted for auto cross, and some road course work. It only lasted 12 months, then vanished from their website. Now it back again, for drag strip use.

So what do you think of the tire?

 

[scramblr]

The Nitto 555R2 came out several years ago, and was promoted for auto cross, and some road course work. It only lasted 12 months, then vanished from their website. Now it back again, for drag strip use.

That explains why I missed it.


@Daniel Roberson - Once this car stopped being my DD, I wanted to go with M&H Drag Radial for the street. On back order almost a year, so went with M/T ET Street R. Big improvement over the ET Street SS I was running. Once the M&H were available I swapped again. Can't begin to express the night and day difference between the M&H tire and any other I've used for the street...there's no going back. Traction is amazing! I do emphasize not for a DD...would never get caught in the rain with these tires or the M/T ET Street R.

I would only use the Nitto's if I knew I would be driving in the rain. Used the 555r for years in Germany (very wet) and was happy with them, but it is a compromise between wet handling and dry traction.