Hello,

I have a set of 10.5" wheels coming in and will be putting a Nitto drag radial on them. I heard that the Nittos run smaller then the advertised size. I was looking at the 305's. Does anyone know if the next step up would fit on a 10.5" wheel? On Nittos website the 305 says 12.13" wide and the 335 says 13.19". So about a inch difference. Anyone have experience with the Nitto drags?

Thanks

 

I ran my 305/35/18 on a set of black aftermarket 18x9.5's. They worked great on the street for me at 520 RWHP.

 

Did the tires bulge over the wheel by chance? Do you have any pics?

 

I did a thread on using the 555r2 (305/35/18) on an 11" widened wheel. I couldnt see spending all my time, effort, and money on power to then cheap out with chinese reproduction wheels that didnt fit the car. With all the effort people go through with mods it makes no sense that shipping a set of fronts out to get widened resulting in a stronger, lighter wheel that fits is too much work for them. Lazy is all that comes to mind. Offsets of the repro wheels make them stick out and it looks cheap and thrown together. Since the stock wheels are the right color and offsets, they are used 24/7 and not as a track only set-up. Why have power if it can only be used when you go to the track? If you go there.

This mod was the single best thing I ever did. Nothing else could have made my car faster since more power was just more wheel spin. When these were on and finally done being heat cycled (if you dont heat cycle they will perform like a runflat), the car was so much fun. The car hooks and goes.

As for your question, here is how it fits on an 11" wheel:










10.5 should be fine but 9.5 is going to bulge. 11 was perfect. The only 10.5" wheel I'm aware of is a C5 offset and it sticks out of the fender 1/4" and when the tire hits the fender causing damage, you will regret not doing it the 'harder way'. If the wheel you have coming fits fine, then let others know the source.

Here is the thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...-solution.html

 

Use the 305/35/18 555r2. Its the same soft compound as the 555 drag radial but it has better handling than any street tire because of the stiffer side wall. The nittos (all models) are not so great at the track. Use the 305/35/18 mickey thompson for the track.

I chose the nittos for the street because high speed handling was important to me and the Nittos dont have to be warm to perform at peak levels. In fact heating them at a drag track doesnt do much. The MT's on the other hand have to be heated which kills the lifespan.

Contrary to the opinions of those who never had them, I find the 555r2's to be fine in the rain and work well as a daily driver tire as long as they have tread on them. Street use is usually about 8000 miles a set but that gets cut down if you have 700hp and they break loose a lot.

 

Spin, the info I was looking for, thanks. I spoke with Bob (I believe) at House of Wheels. He said he had the correct offset 18x10.5 wheels I need for the rear. I had previously purchased a set of 18 and 19's black z06 repos from him that fit fine. I am also interested in the handling aspect, that is why I am choosing Nitto's as opposed to the Mickeys. The Mickeys flat out hook, but they will not handle well and also will wear like a bitch.

Spin, I ordered a extra set of sensors, but I read your thread and there is a special tool I need to match these sensors? Is that correct? I wonder if Discount Tire could activiate the sensors?

 

It was Bob that sold me my Z07 wheels 3 years ago and he said the same thing to me and yet they stuck out 1/4 inch for the 19x11's I got. I sold them after a whopping 200 miles for quite a loss. I didnt think to check them prior to mounting balancing and sensors, none of which have any resale value once used. All told it was 2000 bucks and I got back 1100 from the sales of everything broken down. In my case I used a 295/35 on the 11 Inch wide wheel which looked stretched and yet still made fender contact on deep excursions of the suspension. My car was also lowered but that shouldnt matter if the offsets were right. I know 11" wide 18's fit because its there in the picture and still on my car. 19's have a greater diameter and thus can sit further back in the wheel well so there was no reason for this other than the reproduction wheel was intended to be the average of what looks right for both the C5 and C6. I guess making a model specific wheel costs too much and more C5's buy wheels than C6 owners right now. Too bad for the C6.

Bob has great deals but be careful of combos that people dont use much. There is no feedback and I think people just live with things that dont work out perfectly becuase its too much trouble to right the wrong. I ate the 900 to not deal with it and then had no reservations about my wheel widening project after all the trouble and wasted effort with the wheels that i was told fit properly.

 

Bob did the same thing to me, swore up & down the 9.5 & 11s wouldn't stick out. Put my car in the air, removed the wheels & took them to have the tires mounted & balanced got home, slapped 'em on & w/ the car in the air I could see all 4 where sticking out. I about lost my mind! As you know when the car goes back on the ground & the suspension reloads they stuck out even more. When I called to let him know & it was unacceptable, he actually tried to get out of the shipping & of course mounting & balancing. I convinced him this would be a very unwise business decision, but it wasn't w/o some serious promises, not threats. My car sat in the air for f......g 2 weeks to get this all straight & I have caught people getting ready or too late w/ Bob & his deisre to sell whatever he's got on a dozen occassions, & advised them all. DO NOT LISTEN TO BOB W/ HOUSE OF WHEELS he has time & time again repeated this, & I'm one of the good outcomes as he made good on all extra cost incurred, many haven't been so lucky. There was even one case where the customer requested Bob send them direct to the shop to be widened & sent the wrong diameter & stated the customer modded the wheels thus he was not responsible for accepting them back. Did I mention DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH BOB AT HOUSE OF WHEELS!

 

As far as the Nitto's go, I love them, on my third set. I dont bother to heat cycle them anymore, it just didnt make a diff. They work better around corners on dry pavement than any other DR, and I have used almost all of them. I get 10K plus miles out of them with lots of passes at the track and I heat the CRAP out of them before every run. I dont have a mega HP car though, I do pull 1.6 sixties on them with a 3k stall A4 car. They even work ok in light rain, we dont get alot here but compared to my BFG's or MT's they are way better in my kind of climate.They are nice and quite on the road too.