NItto DR's all around or Falken Azenis RT-615, BFG KD's, hmmm

[Tasandmnm]

I am looking for the highest performance street tire I can possibly get, mileage and practicality be damned! I want to get the best mix of traction in the corners and traction off the line, price is also fairly important and tire life will be a secondary consideration. The car is a daily driver but I have another winter car to drive when the weather is bad. So here is what I have been looking at.

Nitto DR's: I have heard these are much more streetable than the other DR's and quite a few people run these on all 4 corners. Since they are DR's I know they will give me good traction off the line and I have heard they are pretty good at corner carving as well. Downside to these is the short life which from most accounts is around 10-15k. I have been trying to decide if it would be a better idea to run these at all 4 corners or to just put some regular 555's up front...I certainly wouldn't want to make my rear stick a TON better than my front in the twisties.

Falken Azenis RT-615: I have heard quite a bit of good things about these but I still don't know much about them. Just from reading a bit about them I can tell they would be a nice cornering tire, but I wonder how they are off the line and also how many miles I could squeeze out of them.

BFG KD's: These have a good rep as a performance street tire and have *decent* treadware from what I have gathered looking at the Discount Tire reviews. They are very expensive though and I wonder how the traction even compares to the Nitto DR's. I also wonder if the added price of these will make it worth the slightly longer life I could get out of them.

Are there any other maximum performance options out there? I have heard good things about Toyo tires in general but I don't know if they produce a street/strip tire that is viable for a lot of street use, I have heard the Toyo RA-1's just require too high of an operating temperature for normal street use.

 

[diablostang]

It'd be smarter and wiser to put the $$$$ you'd spend in tires every month into suspension. If you put a good street tire on the car with a correctly setup suspension, you'll be where you need to be.

DR's all around is a poor setup for twisties as well. If you want a sticky tire for all 4 corners, look into the Nitto NT555RR tire. It's a stiff-sidewall + soft compound roadrace tire for track/street.


> I run a Griggs GR-40 roadrace suspension on my Cobra, and it handles insanely well with street tires. (But that doesn't keep me from running 12.5's at the strip either best of both worlds FTW )

 

[Tasandmnm]

I have to get tires very soon and I hoping for some more opinions from users of any of the tires I mentioned.

 

[Hickfied]

Personally, you will be driving way to hard for the street to NEED a tire that sticky.

I mean, dang, I run a 165 up front on a 3.5" rim, and I barely ever get a sound from the tires, and I drive very hard. Sure, when taking to many turns in a row I will get cocky and take one a little to fast and she will start to budge, but I would NEVER drive hard enough on the street to NEED something that sticky all the way around.

 

[Tasandmnm]

Yeesh I dont need the tires to be that sticky for the street...I plan to take the car to the strip once a month and take it to a road course a couple times a year that is about 30 miles away.

 

[Hickfied]

Ever thought of getting a second set of rims for the ultra sticky tires to run at the track, and just get a set of street tires to run on the street, sure you will have to wait longer to afford the extra rims and sticky tires, but they will last longer for ya.

But yea, the new autocross Nittos would get my vote.

 

[Fett]

Do not put DR on the front of the car.


As far as DRs go on the rear, I loved mine. When I did my 5-lug conversion two of the rims came with 275/40/17 Nitto DRs on the back, and I didn't realize how great they were until I changed them. They didn't have much life left in them when I put them on, and they quickly wore down...and I do not burn the tires on the road. I drive nice and sane...but they wore out quickly. I put on a set of Goodyear Eagles on the rear, 275/40/17, same tires that come on the 04 Cobra. They spin like mad, and it's not like I have a lot of power. If I need to pass someone, they break loose slightly. With the NItto DRs, I never had that problem.

I don't "need" tires right now, but when the time comes....shortly, I will be going back to DRs.

 

[Tasandmnm]

Yeah I have thought about getting a second set of rims for track purposes but my car needs so many other things it just seems like a waste. For now I would much rather sacrifice a little ride comfort and longevity in order to get better performance at the track, especially since I have another vehicle I can drive when it is wet and snowy out.

 

[87foxstang]

i thought i would give you my input, i run the nitto 555r's 245/50/16 all the way around and the rears stick very good, as well as the fronts...i love the setup

 

[Tasandmnm]

Thanks man...you do mean the regular 555 street tires right?

Also I have been looking into the Kumho Ecsta MX tires, they seem to perform similarly to slightly better than the BFG KD's and have an amazing price point...and as an added bonus I have seen plenty of people report getting 20k+ miles out of them! Anyone have any experience with them?