So my Sumitomos are down to the wear bar and I am in the market for new tires. I am thinking of buying Nitto R555 Drag Radials but what I need to know is if it is safe to do that in a car that is making 600+lb/ft of torque? The reason I ask is because I heard AMS broke their 996 rear end because of the sticky tires and huge torque. However, they were probably running much more tq then me. Any one else running drag radials break anything at the dragstrip by having sticky tires?

Thanks in advance for your help guys!

-Vince

 

Just out of curiosity: how many miles did you put on your (I assume REAR) Sumi to get them down to the wear bars? What's your driving style?

 

His driving style is borderline Schizophrenic! I have the same tires and have 3 track days and 8000 miles and they are fine.

 

Do NOT put drag tires a car for regular driving unless you want to throw the cornering performance out the window. These tires are designed to "twist" under the torque of acceleration.

Please give me a call if you have questions.

 

Hey Vince!
I found the Toyo R888s a good compromise for better grip in accelleration and decent street and wet handling/manners. I would get 315/30 235/40 for your stock wheels.

 

Don't get the 555r's for everyday use. But I never broke an axle using them at the strip. Why not buy another set of Sumi's?

 

I don't want the sumitomos since they are not the best tires for launching the car way too much slippage and the car goes sideways. I want something with good grip when launching and driving daily.

Vince

 

+1 - no offense Damon...You get what you pay for - I wouldn't even get these again for the street. Just my opinion. Even on the street, I never felt planted.

This happened to the set I had after a few track days...

 

Toyo 888's are very noisy on the street. Try Nitto NT-01's, they are R compounds so good grip but don't make a lot of noise.

 

I cant hear them over my straight pipes!

 

lol can you even hear yourself think over the straight pipes? My car is vey loud too, 3" exhaust with no cats. I have been looking at the NT01 too. I'm just curious to run a drag radial since even with the sumitomos I was able to get 1.6 second 60' times!

 

Hahaha. I have 4500 miles on my rear Sumi's and I will probably get another 3-3.5k before they are gone. Like MBailey said, why don't you try GT2 fitment? The 315s will help you get the power down better. The NT01's are a great choice. Wonder if the Kumho Ecsta XS would be any good??

 

I'll be also looking shortly,what about Toyo Ra1's? $179/tire

 

what track were you on? lenght of time? dead heat of summer? just curious, I'm running Sumi's (came on the car, guessing 5k miles on them based on DOT dates and carfax mileage reports) tracked twice and amazing even thread wear, no chunks missing? possibly yours were defective? for the price I think they are a great novice tire especially as you add components like suspension and hp to the car and have new learning curves, once perfected then agreed move up but for the price, only burning money

 

Your tires are what connects you to the road, puts down the power and decides how fast you can corner. Kind of important and I would not skimp and try to save a few bucks. Get a proven tire that is reliable and durable. The Michelin Pilot, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Continental.