nt555 or nt05

What are you looking for? Longevity or traction? The 555s should last a LOT longer. The NT05s are supposed to be a road track tire, so I suspect they won't last long.

FWIW, my car with 255 width NT555s hooks up better than my buddy's bone stock LS2 automatic GTO does with 245 width NT05s. I know suspension setups play a lot in that, but our cars make similar rear wheel torque numbers, and his car does nothing but spin in 1st gear.

Therefore, I'd recommend the regular 555s. That's what I run and I'm very happy with them. Should be quite a bit cheaper as well. If you want a decent amount of traction on the street, I'd recommend the 555R's; I have those for track use and they hook great on the street, as well as last quite a few miles (75 passes and 1500 miles on mine and they still look brand new). I haven't had any experience with the NT05R's yet, but I've heard they don't last long at all (<3000 miles).

tag4car, do you drive your cobra daily? If so, id just stick with the 555's.

But, if its your weekend warrior, then nto5's. I use nt555 for my 03 (daily) then nt555R for my 98 GT which I barely drive. Not as sticky as the nt05, but it gets the job done for 330 hp.

The 555r is the old drag racing tire. Basically, the first drag radial that could be run on the street, in wet conditions(given the tire had proper tread, and the driver was extremely careful). BFG had a drag radial before it, but you really can't drive it on the street in rain like the nitto.

I've run most of the drag radials over the years,
the N555r's(275/40/17)2-3 pairs
BFG's(1st generation- 275/40/17) 1 pair
MT(305/35/18)-1 pair

The nittos and BFG's were on mustangs. I liked the BFG's over the nittos, and the MT's over the BFG's.

The NTO5 is a new, softer compound, but not an R compound tire like the 555r, BFG DR, or MT ET street radial II. The NT05R, is an R compound tire.

The Nitto 555r's will be sticker than the NT05's, but not the NT05R's. The NT05R's is basically an advance in traction, but you sacrifice treadwear and I wouldn't want to drive in the rain with them.

The only tire that I would drive in the rain, would be the NT05's, 555's, or NT555r's(but use common sense with these).

I'm going to run Toyo R888's(R compound on the street), and go back to MT ET street radial II's for the track.