Well I had new Nitto NT555's installed this morning.

So far pretty impressed with the performance. I'll have some time on them tomorrow as I'm going beachside.

I didn't notice any significant quietness over the Michelin A/S ZPs, but the cornering grip and ride quality is much better. It should rain tomorrow too, so I'll have an idea of how they handle in rain too.

Talk about soft rubber, wow to the touch it is noticeable.

Pictures later...too dark out.

 

Have them on one of my cars, recommend using caution in the rain.

 

Well I'll will definitely find out tomorrow

That's interesting too, because I live in rain 50% of the time LOL. Seriously, in FL we live with large bodies of water on three sides. What's more interesting is of the dozens and dozens of reviews I read, corvette and mustang owners remarked how superb the grip was dry and wet. I wonder if this is a second generation tire.

I'll certainly heed your warning until I have a chance to experience how they handle. Thanks.

The tread pattern is very similar to the Goodyear Eagle.

Oh and for Discount Tire!

 

I had a set of Nitto NT555 Extreme Performance tires on a previous C5. Exceptional traction in wet and dry conditions. They were very quiet and great wearing tires. Excellent tires at any price.

 

Guys... Don't confuse the 555Rs with the 555 Extremes.

555R are drag radials.

555 Extremes are everyday touring tires.

Difference:
555Rs are soft. They suck in the rain (I know from personal experience) and they don't last very long. (Maybe 10K miles before you see belts)

555 Extremes are hard. They're not great for Corvettes making over 300rwhp. They are great in wet weather though and they last a very long time (30K easy)

 

I'll be interested in your review.

 

Had 555s on my C5 for 40+ k mi. Excellent tire if you're not driving that hard, especially for the money. But once they have some age on them....

 

These are the Extreme Performance tire, NT555.

Not sure about "hard" but to the touch these are pretty darn soft. Maybe its because I'm comparing against touching the tread and side wall of the A/S ZP, but this tire compound is considerably "spongy" if that's a good descriptor.

I'll have a variety of road conditions today, I'm especially interested to see how the handle the interstate under construction as they are widening I 95 and you have split road surfaces while they have us shifted over a half lane. Plus lots of rain expected today.

Thanks for all the feedback. I ordered a portable air pump to go in the rear compartment. Nice looking in a case.

 

My bad, I have 555Rs 335/35/17 on the back of my Mach and they are friggin pontoons on the rain (one rain trip was enough for me). Had them confused with the 555E you have.

 

Two words "Exceptional Tire"!

I am very impressed with these tires after my trip to the coast and back (220 mile rt). Now I understand why C5 owners who claim this vehicle is totally different when running on standard maximum performance tires vs. the run flat. BTW, this convertible has 69,500 on it right now and this is my fourth set of tires including the original GY F1 EMTs. I ran two sets of M A/S ZP (non plus and then the plus) and now the NT555s. I'm still running the factory alignment as it tracks true and straight with perfect tire wear. (Just lucky on this one.)

Left here in blue sky dry weather late afternoon. We have a weird weather pattern over the state right now (FL) with a stationary front sitting north of us off the coast driving showers on shore. But they've been staying over there not coming inland. So for the majority of the drive over it was dry weather. That was good because I was able to see how they performed under a variety of dry road conditions as the beltway is under construction. First was the high speed entrance onto a several mile bridge across a good size lake, given I have a convertible I did notice they do make some noise but it's mostly coming from the rear end and probably is a little quieter on the coupe or a FRC, or those who have had the extra insulation installed. But it is not bad, you can have a normal conversation and I would not consider the tire noise from the road any more than my Pilot Sport A/S ZPs which just had reached 12k on the rear's. Since we know from so many reviews that the A/S ZP is a pretty quiet tire so that pretty much sets the bar from which to measure.

My general impression is how much grip they exhibit and I guess the best word to describe the ride quality is much more comfortable as they tend to absorb more of road surface. You don't feel the horrendous bumps as the road changes surface uneven going from asphalt surface to cement bridges or even those reflector markers. The stiff wall of the run flat really telegraphs those types of conditions, you feel that road surface.

Back to the construction, I was unsure at first how the vehicle would react to running with one set of wheels on smooth pavement and the other set on an added piece when they shift lanes. The tires behaved exceptionally well they did not cause the vehicle to wander or jerk about. They truly just tracked right along as if there were no difference in road surface and that really impressed me. Granted my previous A/S ZPs on the fronts had about 35K/rear 12K, and you had to be on your game so as not to get tossed around from the uneven surfaces. (This could be from the brand new tire up front, so time will tell on this behavior.)

Merging from the 417 beltway to SR 528 (Beachline) you enter via a S shaped maneuver restricted to 40mph. You enter heading straight south or about 3/4 mile make a hairpin banked 180° turn then roll out and back to the right for another 90° slightly banked turn to merge with fives lanes heading into the toll area. I've seen numerous vehicles over the years going a little too fast for what theirs can handle in the first 180° turn and end up in the grass LOL, especially if the road is slightly damp. The vette has always handled this well, coming off of about 65 downshift to about 50ish and the vette just rolls right into a turn as you all know. Well these tires were no except but they allowed me to go slightly faster, dug in and really gripped that turn. And you could have given them more, I was again truly impressed.

For the next 35 miles very nice cruise across the swamp (as I call it) running in the low 80's. (Good job Discount Tire on the balancing.) Also, before I left the vert was sitting all night in the garage and it set the pressures to 30 on all four. Once they warm up a bit they stabilized at 33.

Then next fun part is the merge from SR 528 onto I 95 another fairly hi-speed entrance with a right hand departure to merge. I like those kind as they bring you off one interstate give you a short distance to stabilize the speed and setup the entrance which is a 60° turn slightly banked to the right and merge. I think its 40 there but this is nothing at 60 ish in the vette and with these tires you felt nothing meaning it wasn't even a challenge for them. You butt just squatted and tracked right throughout the turn. I was lucky this trip, no congestion of traffic.

Next newly paved three lanes of I 95 with the most outer lane canted left for rain runoff. Let's just say the flow traffic was exceptionally well on 95 south yesterday afternoon and was able to make exceptional time. My comment here is it's a good thing for the HUD because the vette handles so much better and feels so much more in control of the road at "speed" that you keeping looking at the speed displayed and saying to yourself this really feels more like 70 than in the 90s. Where as previously, you could tell the difference when started to push the run flats above the 80s. I'm sure most of you reading this know what I mean.

Within the last 10 miles of the trip, the weather changes from nice to a line of storms, drizzle at first and then it freaking down poured and never seemed to stop for hours. I mean Melbourne got 2 inches of rain yesterday!

So let me tell anyone wondering how these tires do on wet roads, what wet roads! Besides just exceptional dry road grip, they handle extremely well on the light misty roads to the rain covered with standing water in the ruts, to completely saturated roads with lots of water. I was impressed. I even had one spot where the in town road splits apart and the section I need does a little quick left and right, 20mph type, and since it was a fairly open area and no traffic I punched it a little coming off the wet turn in second then to a 2-3 shift and they broke just a little but quickly regained themselves. So they handled the higher horsepower quite well on the rear wheels on wet surfaces in a turn. That's impressive.

The remaining drive around town that evening in heavy rain was uneventful except that you're very comfortable and confident in the way the vehicle is handling.

The drive home was in the early morning hours, except I went further north to a 2 lane state road that cuts across to the north of the orlando area (sanford). The rain was a light drizzle now and didn't stop until I was about a third of the way home. Again the widening of I 95 on this section means you travel on those split road surfaces for miles upon miles and the NT555s make this effortless and comfortable. Once I got to SR46 and got settled in, speed is posted for 55, first up was one of those new Camaro's pulled off the side I guess they smacked either a small bear or large dog, anyway all I saw was a large furry animal I had to avoid and the car sitting off to the side, as I passed by I noticed in a bit the Camaro took off too behind me, I couldn't see any damage as I drove by but of course it was 1am. Too bad for the animal I'm sure it was dead. You see so much road kill on this particular stretch of "swamp" road it's unbelievable plus you have to be really careful yourself. I like to run across there at +8 or so but 110% concentration for critters and animals.

Rest of the trip went well, the Nitto NT555 really proved themselves to me on this particular trip. All kinds of varied conditions. And in every case they were superior in performance, handling and ride for the Corvette. Now, as time goes by and I get some miles on them that will be the test of how well they hold up and continue providing that level of abilities throughout the life cycle.

But at this point, I can certainly say for the price and compared to the previous three sets of run flats, these are exceptional tires. I'm impressed!

And for all the years I have read others here say how much better this Corvette was minus the run flats, I have to admit to you folks they are right. I have to be a flip-flopper here, I use to think these run flats are great tires it can't be that much different, yes it is that much different.

Nitto!

 

Thanks for the detailed review. That will aid in my next selection. I agree with you on Discount Tire also!