Grip/Tread life compromise

Adamn

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I am in need of new rear tires and I’m having trouble deciding what to go with. I currently have MT et street 2 and loved everything about them except the tread life. I had them for 2-3 years but only put about 2-3k miles on them.

I don’t drive in the rain so wet traction isn’t a factor and I might go to the track once a year. I’m putting them on a terminator that makes 464/472 and 575/672 on the bottle. I am considering getting some track only bias ply tires for the 16” pony wheels I picked up a couple years ago so track performance isn’t as big of an issue if I do that.

I’ve tried searching but most of the content I found is from 2014 or older and there’s obviously newer and better stuff on the market now. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 

IronSnake

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You didn't really disclose what you're looking for the tire to do/be. You can go a bunch of different ways.

Do you want tread life the most, or grip? And if it's grip, is this lateral grip (turning, more apt for street driving), or forward grip (drag radial). Also, at 2-3 years of time with 2-3k miles, it's obvious you drive the car seldom. So more for fun/performance rather than going to work and back.

If you threw a tire that manages 20k miles on it, after about 4-5 years of mostly sitting and 5k miles of driving, it'll be hard/flat spot and separate anyway. My suggestion is stick with a sticky performance oriented tire that gets 5-10k miles and be prepared to replace them every 3 years. Since you barely drive the car. No tire, ever, is going to last 5+ years of light driving. Not without separating and getting hard as a rock anyway.
 

MG0h3

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That’s all I get out of my Et streets as well.


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Adamn

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You didn't really disclose what you're looking for the tire to do/be. You can go a bunch of different ways.

Do you want tread life the most, or grip? And if it's grip, is this lateral grip (turning, more apt for street driving), or forward grip (drag radial). Also, at 2-3 years of time with 2-3k miles, it's obvious you drive the car seldom. So more for fun/performance rather than going to work and back.

If you threw a tire that manages 20k miles on it, after about 4-5 years of mostly sitting and 5k miles of driving, it'll be hard/flat spot and separate anyway. My suggestion is stick with a sticky performance oriented tire that gets 5-10k miles and be prepared to replace them every 3 years. Since you barely drive the car. No tire, ever, is going to last 5+ years of light driving. Not without separating and getting hard as a rock anyway.

I mostly want grip, and I would say mostly forward grip. Within the last year I changed careers and now occasionally drive my car to work so that’s why I’m wanting a little more life out of the tires. I don’t have a problem replacing the tires every 3 years but if I’m driving it more then the 2-3k miles will come a lot faster and I don’t want to replace them every year or every other year if possible.

I was leaning toward the MT et street ss just didn’t know if there were other similar options that might last a little longer.
 

Pribilof

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IMHO, tires that soft should be replaced every few years at most, anyway. The popular tires in the GT500 forum seem to be:

MT ET street
MH Racemasters
NT05R
R888r
Michelin MPSC2
 

CV355

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I put 10,000 miles on some NT555Rs, which I was told was very good. They gripped decently and were ok in rain. Granted, I never did any burnouts and most of the driving was highway and never winter.

I agree with IronSnake though, MT ETs and prepare to replace every 2-3 years. There's not much to be gained with another tire at that rate of use
 

SVTdreamin04

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I put 10,000 miles on some NT555Rs, which I was told was very good. They gripped decently and were ok in rain. Granted, I never did any burnouts and most of the driving was highway and never winter.

I agree with IronSnake though, MT ETs and prepare to replace every 2-3 years. There's not much to be gained with another tire at that rate of use

I have a couple thousand on my NT 555R’s. They hook well on the street but suck at the track. They seem to be wearing well. I haven’t had my car on the dyno but it’s pushing 700 hp on E85 if that gives any idea what kind of power I’m putting down with them. A friend of mine got about 10,000 miles out of a set. Granted, they were shot at 10,000. They were on his built Trans Am that ran high 9’s in the 1/4, but not on the Nitto’s.


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CV355

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I have a couple thousand on my NT 555R’s. They hook well on the street but suck at the track.

That was exactly my experience as well. I could never get them to hook enough to run better than a 12.0, but then again it was also a cold New England Fall those days and nobody could hook. Summer heat would have helped.
 

KilledbyKenne

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I've used Toyo TQ's on a 620rwhp car with good traction success. I was replacing them every 3k miles but it was a very hard 3k miles. There wasn't a time that I drove the car that I didnt go WOT in 1st at least once. Driving like a responsible adult I bet I could have gotten 5-6k miles out of them.
 

Brutal Metal

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IMHO, tires that soft should be replaced every few years at most, anyway. The popular tires in the GT500 forum seem to be:

MT ET street
MH Racemasters
NT05R
R888r
Michelin MPSC2
NTO5R's are a waste of time with 600 HP. M&H are sticky good but lacking sizes. Some say the ET Street SS hook others say they suck so it's hard to get a good grasp on those. R888's will last longer than MT's.
 

MG0h3

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Mine ET's are looking pretty bald in the rear as well, I'm gonna be in the market for a set of 275/17's this fall. What should I get?

Not sure what to recommend. I don't think these SS hook as well as the old IIs. Not sure why but they just don't seem to at all.
 

Brutal Metal

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Not sure what to recommend. I don't think these SS hook as well as the old IIs. Not sure why but they just don't seem to at all.
MT claims the SS's use the same compound that ET Street II's had. Your not the only one that has said they don't hook as well...
 

MG0h3

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MT claims the SS's use the same compound that ET Street II's had. Your not the only one that has said they don't hook as well...

Yep they told me the same and the site says the same. To me they feel a touch stiffer when I just push in on the wear surface near one of the grooves/treads, but it's possible I'm biased because I was doing it after I started to feel like they don't hook as well.

Probably going to try something else next time.
 

Adamn

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I’m leaning towards the R888. Since they have a stiffer sidewall I’m wondering how they are at the drag strip. I’ll be running 305/35/18s
 

earico

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I’m leaning towards the R888. Since they have a stiffer sidewall I’m wondering how they are at the drag strip. I’ll be running 305/35/18s
I'd get the NT01 instead. Same tire but a little stickier. Toyo and Nitto are sister companies.

Ask @racebronco2 about them. He has a lot of time on NT01s.
 

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