Error404

I had a thread on this just a few days ago, but I can't find it, it must have been deleted or something? I got no PM about it, so I assume it was nothing wrong that I did?

I've decided on 295/45/18 for the rear, at least I've decided on the 45 aspect ratio and 18" wheels, for the width I'd like to get whatever the widest tire I can get within reason.

Dry traction (acceleration mostly, but I do drive in the mountains so I can't take Drag Radials) and treadlife are my main conserns, but obviously I don't want to pay $400 per tire if I can avoid it. I know it's going to be a compromise, but I don't want something that I need to get new tires every other oil change. if I could get 15k miles out of the tires (with no burnouts) that would satisfy me! Not sure how likely that will be.


Anyway, alot of folks have suggested Nitto NT555 295/45/18 and that's what I'll probably go with upon the strong reccomendations by several folks. However, I would like to hear some other opinions on other tire brands, keeping in mind I'd like to keep the nice and wide, and I'd like a 45 aspect ratio so that my 4.10's don't get even steeper, I'd welcome a little drop in the ratio that the 45 aspect ratio would give me. Will have 10" wide wheels on the rear, so I assume I could even go 305 on some tires?

Thanks for any input! if my previous thread had problems, could a moderator PM me about it so I can avoid the situation in the future? I'm not quite sure what happened to it.

2kanchoo

That 295/45/18 nitto does sound like a good choice. And yes with a 10" rim you could put a 305 on there for sure. Are you stock or do you make a lot more power? If you want mountains and treadlife I'd keep looking in the high performance summer sections.

Error404

Sorry, forgot to mention. I have a 10psi whipple, 4.10 gears, and BMR suspension packages, sit's probably 1-1.5 inches lower than stock. I don't have any traction WOT in 1st, 2nd or mid way through 3rd gear. Need more grip, and a bit larger tire aspect ratio to lower the gear ratio of the 4.10's, as they are probably overkill now with the blower. I don't race, but I do romp around pretty good.

Also, if I've looked at charts and things correctly, a 40 aspect tire would put me at almost the same gear ratio as the stock wheels and tires, so a 295/40/18 tire wouldn't be out of the question either. But I don't want to go any shallower than a 40 aspect, as that would start to make my gear ratio steeper.

2kanchoo

That makes it kinda tough. With the power you make there is no summer tire that is going to give you any actual good straight line grip. You're gonna have to pick which is more important to you overall and lean towards that. Straightline grip or curve carving.

Error404

Yep, that's why I'd like some suggestions, with the NT555's as a baseline of sorts (since lots of people seem to have experience with them, and apparently they have decen tread life) I'm not expected perfect traction by any means, but I think I could get alot better than what I have now. I don't race, so perfection isn't needed

Enfynet

45 ratio on a 295 tire is more than 5" of sidewall, which is more sidewall than the stock 235/55-17 tires. A 295/40 will still be taller than stock, but you will be closer to the stock size and have a little more than 4.5" of sidewall. The type of tire you use will help your traction issues. I've seen cars with sub 200rwhp spinning the tires.

2kanchoo

I haven't had these but I've heard good things about pilot sports, and kdw II's....

Oh the formula to figure out overall wheel height is as follows. For example on a 305/45/18

You take the width #(305) and divide that by 25.4 = 12.00. Take that # and times it by 100th of the sidewall height. So 12.00 x .45 = 5.4(that is your sidewall height in inches. So 5.4 x 2 = 10.8(top and bottom of sidewall in inches) then you add the wheel size # so 10.8+18 = an overall wheel height of 28.8

So a stock 17" is 235/55/17 235 divide 25.4=9.25 x.55=5.09x2=10.18+17=27.18" overall height.

Enfynet

Yeah thats what ratio means. The sidewall is X % of the width. 25.4 is the number of millimeters on an inch.

Also remember that these numbers are not exact. A 255/50 tire is not EXACTLY 255mm wide with 127.5mm sidewall. Of course its close, 255/50 is about 10" wide and 5" sidewall. On an 18" wheel, you would want something close to 4.5" of sidewall. [114-115mm]

This is about as close as you get to stock sizes on 18" rims:
205/55-18 = 4.4"
225/50-18 = 4.4"
235/50-18 = 4.6"
255/45-18 = 4.5"
285/40-18 = 4.5"
295/40-18 = 4.6"
315/35-18 = 4.3"
325/35-18 = 4.5"

Error404

so all that aside, folks have suggestions for a tire brand/type that would fit my needs?

Enfynet

Like you, I've heard a lot of people running Nittos... There's also the Eagle F1 tire as well.

Error404

any idea of the treadlife on the Eagle F1? haven't seen that one mentioned yet.

Enfynet

TireRack rates them at "300AA" treadlife. Since Tirerack doesn't carry Nitto, I couldn't do a comparison.

Error404

I believe I read somewhere that the Nitto was 300 as well. Looks like steeda has the Eagle F1 in 295/45/18. That's two tires in that size so far! :-)

2kanchoo

2 more types to look into.

Error404

KDW doesn't have 40 or 45 aspect ratio around the width that I'd like, neither do the Pilot Sports. As best I can tell from their websites anyway.

RhinoGT

While my experiences with 295/45 18 F1's and nittos was on lightnings and not on mustangs, I can tell you that the F1's suck in the traction department, and the 295/45 nitto n555's aren't any better. My lowly advice would be get the nitto 305/45 18 DR's. They last over 10K miles which isn't bad for a drag radial and they hook much better on the street than the other tires mentioned.

Error404

as much as I would like the acceleration traction of some DRs, I drive mostly in the mountains, I need something that will hold laterally. Granted I'm not slamming the turns as hard as I can, I do drive with some spirit. I'm guessing that any drag radial is going to be no good for that?

2kanchoo

The 555r might be your best bet. NO summer tire is going to give even close to the grip that the 555r's have and they have the longest life out of the dot street slicks.

Error404

but would it be safe to run them in the mountains? I don't drag race.

2kanchoo

Yea it would be safe. But you keep saying you don't drag race. (this doesn't compute with me) Ok. My opinion is to side with handling for mountains then instead of grip. Afterall that is really what you are after more than off the line grip. So you're back to ultra high performance summer. I love going through the mountains as well and the 555r's can do it but they don't handle the same as a lower profile summer. I won't change my mind anymore lol.