I love my Toyo R888 tires, but with cold weather approaching I fear they will soon be stored for the winter. What is the softest tire being used out there that can be driven in freezing temps? I don't drive on snow but do drive in subfreezing conditions. Any advice experience appreciated.

 

My Nitto 555r2's had plenty of traction in the cold NY weather. The reason they are a good street tire is that that dont need nor do they respond much to heating them up with a big burn-out. Just normal driving gets them to the max performance level. Tires such as BFG drags and MT et streets will perform to a higher level but must receive a life shortening burn-out before max traction is acheived. This is why Nittos dotn fare so great at a prepped track and are killer on the street.

 

I understand the burnout part, but why would the Nitto's not perform well at a prepped dragstrip oppose to the street?

 

The BFG's and MT have far better traction when heated and none when not heated. At the track you have a purpose built burn-out box bringing them to a level far above Nittos but on the street you cant ask the WRX to wait while you heat up your tires. So normal driving has the nittos at a higher traction level but heated MT's are way better than that level. Heating Nittos at the track doesnt better it. The heat resistence makes it a great autocross tire.

By contrast if you do aggressive street driving with BFG's they will blister while Nittos will not be affected by the heat. Nitto did this by design and made the tire not change its performance greatly with high heat applications. Its billed as always being at peak performance without the need to heat them (cutting their life down). I have tried every tire on the street and this is the best for unexpected run-ups. At the track you will not see MT type performance. Besides, burnouts attract a lot of attention with consequences.

1.7 60's are rare with Nittos with 1.8's being the norm on a H/C car. BFG's see 1.7's and MT's see 1.6's.


.....no burnout and not heated.....BFG's will return nice 1.9's and 2.0's.

The big selling point that Nitto uses is the street viability of the 555 series tires stating they will last 15k miles in normal use. I have been in cars with 8k miles and the nittos were aresome. Try getting that mileage with a BFG that needs a spinning to get them sticky each run.

 

Got it, as always, thank you.

 

I talk too much.

Did they let you keep the plate?

 

I will also take off my R compound tires (Hoosier R6's)soon and use Nitto Invo's when it's cold. They stay soft and stick much better in the cold than the GY Supercars.

I was looking at the R888's to replace my R6's. How long are yours lasting and are they hardening with age?

My R6's have 1,900 street miles and a few quarter mile passes, still seem as sticky as when first installed, should make 2,500 to maybe 3,000 miles to the wear bars.

 

I have 2 to 3 32nds on my R888 after 5000 miles. Just as a warning, they are not very fast when they have tread. Buy them shaved if you intend to race it, you will pick up at least a second. As far as strict street driving is concerned, wtf is the point with R compounds if you cant explore the limits.

 

The point is being able to use full throttle, even in first gear, and not have the compromised handling you get with MT or BFG drag radials.

 

I have 3500 miles and at least 15 1/4 mile passes, still with great traction and half tread left. I'm only at 450-460 rwhp though. I can still stick in 2nd and 3rd, but the 4.10's are going in as we speak, so we'll see.

 

Believe it or not they haven't made a decision. I spoke w/ the hearing officer a week ago & he said he's having a tough time making a recommendation. I'm hoping the holdup is he's just letting some time pass then let it go through. We have spoke at length both on & off the record & I have my opinion on his thoughts, but the verbage in the DMV guidelines are incredibly vague so he's in a tough spot. They're not on the car, but either way there not going back. I think I'll frame 'em, but I really miss seeing them on the car. Now I feel I have just an average 450hp, chrome Z06 rimmed, 30% tinted windows, slammed, triple black convertible vette.

 

What sizes for the 555r2's?

 

You are not going to get that when the weather is 0F

 

Grassroots Motorsports mag did a nice tech + real world test a few years ago that demonstrated this-- R compounds offer far LESS traction that standard tires in the cold. They're engineered to be HOT.

My experience with the Nitto 555Rs that I ran on my GN year round in Wisconsin bore this out. I swapped between them and some hard BFG standard radials of the same width and got better grip with the latter in cold weather.

I'm running R888s and though it's not cold yet here, I'd trade them for a set of Nitto 555R2s come winter if I weren't running 19" rear wheels.

 

where do you guys buy these 555r2s and r888s??

 

You are correct. The Nitto Invo's in 345\30-19 will spin in first gear but much less than the GY's I took off.

 

R2 comes with only 3 different sizes.
275/40/17
285/35/18
305/35/18

 

I just walked in the door from a killer run in the mountains on my R888s!!!

I've got a bunch of hard miles on them, and the tread still looks good, and the grip is right there! I'll leave mine on year round, but mine is not a daily driver, and I live in Socal!


JB

 

I made the mistake of not shaving them. I have 5 track days and 100 autoxes on them (hard miles) and 5000 street miles. They still have 2 to 3 32nds on them!!

They are slower not shaved, SHAVE IT if you plan to use them in dry.