[Z06] Help with Tire Selection
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Help with Tire Selection
Looking at changing out my 345 Nitto Invos if I am confident I can get a better tire for my needs. I have a HCI z06 with high 500whp. I do not take it to the drag strip and do not have any immediate plans for track days. Obviously I do not want a run flat tire. I have searched a bunch and answers are all over the place but I’m hoping by describing what I’m looking for I can get better results. Anyway, what tire would you recommend for a 19” wheel for street driving? I want it to hook as good as possible, handle some cornering but be manageable in the rain if I get caught in it. So, what are your recommendations and why?
#2
Pro
I ran 345/30r19 Nitto NT05R and never had issues. It would dead hook a 40 roll in first(536rwhp). Got caught in the rain and just drove cautiously. The sidewall is decent and isn’t as bad as some say in the corners. If you care a bit more about handling I would go with th R888. If not the NT05R does great in straight line. I would just be cautious with driving at freeway speeds in the rain.
#3
Pro
Thread Starter
I ran 345/30r19 Nitto NT05R and never had issues. It would dead hook a 40 roll in first(536rwhp). Got caught in the rain and just drove cautiously. The sidewall is decent and isn’t as bad as some say in the corners. If you care a bit more about handling I would go with th R888. If not the NT05R does great in straight line. I would just be cautious with driving at freeway speeds in the rain.
#4
Race Director
Go with the M PSS in either 325 or 345/30-19, (or the new PS4S in the 325) far better grip than the Invos and you will get good tread wear and they are reasonably quiet and have a good ride. The R888Rs will have much more grip, will have more noise and will wear out in 1/3rd the time of the Invos or PSS. The R88Rs are street legal track tires. I have run R888s 100+ miles OW to road circuits and run them, then home. They will hook much better than the PSS, but I don't think that is the highest on your overall priorities. My HCI car is ~ 600 rwhp. PSS on the street and high speed events, R888s (have rear R888Rs waiting for mounting) for road courses and MT ET STT for 1/2 mile or less drags. I'd get NT05Rs for the drags rather than the MTs next time as the MTs get squirelly at about 140.
#5
Pro
Thread Starter
Go with the M PSS in either 325 or 345/30-19, (or the new PS4S in the 325) far better grip than the Invos and you will get good tread wear and they are reasonably quiet and have a good ride. The R888Rs will have much more grip, will have more noise and will wear out in 1/3rd the time of the Invos or PSS. The R88Rs are street legal track tires. I have run R888s 100+ miles OW to road circuits and run them, then home. They will hook much better than the PSS, but I don't think that is the highest on your overall priorities. My HCI car is ~ 600 rwhp. PSS on the street and high speed events, R888s (have rear R888Rs waiting for mounting) for road courses and MT ET STT for 1/2 mile or less drags. I'd get NT05Rs for the drags rather than the MTs next time as the MTs get squirelly at about 140.
#6
Race Director
The NT05 is the Nitto street performance tire regardless of what Nitto advertises, the Invo as. My NT-05s generated .93 and .97 on a couple of my local roundabouts.
My PSS were 1.12Gs on both. They have good grip especially when its 70*+ outside. Like any summer only tire they lose a lot of grip when it gets down into the 40s.
With ~550 rwhp, only drag radials will dead hook in a straight line although DOT street legal track tires like the R888R and the Mich. Pilot Sport Cup2 tires will hook better. than street tires once warmed up. The tradeoff there is you will be lucky to get 10K miles of treadwear on the DOT track tires.
If you are not doing track events, I'd recommend a street alignment of -0.7* camber front and -0.5* rear, with just a little toe-in front and back. With those settings you will still have very good street cornering and will get very good tread life.
Last edited by AzDave47; 02-22-2018 at 09:49 AM.
#7
Racer
#8
Team Owner
The Invos are a good treadwear, quiet, soft riding, inexpensive tire, they are not a performance tire.
The NT05 is the Nitto street performance tire regardless of what Nitto advertises, the Invo as. My NT-05s generated .93 and .97 on a couple of my local roundabouts.
My PSS were 1.12Gs on both. They have good grip especially when its 70*+ outside. Like any summer only tire they lose a lot of grip when it gets down into the 40s.
With ~550 rwhp, only drag radials will dead hook in a straight line although DOT street legal track tires like the R888R and the Mich. Pilot Sport Cup2 tires will hook better. than street tires once warmed up. The tradeoff there is you will be lucky to get 10K miles of treadwear on the DOT track tires.
If you are not doing track events, I'd recommend a street alignment of -0.7* camber front and -0.5* rear, with just a little toe-in front and back. With those settings you will still have very good street cornering and will get very good tread life.
The NT05 is the Nitto street performance tire regardless of what Nitto advertises, the Invo as. My NT-05s generated .93 and .97 on a couple of my local roundabouts.
My PSS were 1.12Gs on both. They have good grip especially when its 70*+ outside. Like any summer only tire they lose a lot of grip when it gets down into the 40s.
With ~550 rwhp, only drag radials will dead hook in a straight line although DOT street legal track tires like the R888R and the Mich. Pilot Sport Cup2 tires will hook better. than street tires once warmed up. The tradeoff there is you will be lucky to get 10K miles of treadwear on the DOT track tires.
If you are not doing track events, I'd recommend a street alignment of -0.7* camber front and -0.5* rear, with just a little toe-in front and back. With those settings you will still have very good street cornering and will get very good tread life.
With those alignment specs I have ~40,000 miles on my Bridgestone RE0505A run flats, with ~3/32" tread left. They are a great tire(much better than the OE Goodyears), but not a drag radial. They hook pretty good when the temp is above 80*, but I don't recommend them for stoplight drag racing.
#9
Intermediate
I have the MPSS on my stock Z and they have been TERRIBLE for me. They are not even two years old and I can blow them off from 40-60mph roll in 2nd. It is worse when under 70 degrees but I haven't had any luck getting good traction above that temp either. The rear steps out with any throttle while hanging curves. They have been flat out dangerous in my application. To be fair though, I haven't had my alignment checked yet. Now they may do better when heated during a long session of track racing but I haven't been in that environment and it doesn't sound like you will be either. My goals are similar to yours and from the research I have done the R888r is what I am leaning toward. Good luck in your search.
Last edited by HotRodWebb; 02-22-2018 at 10:30 AM. Reason: grammar
#10
Race Director
I have the MPSS on my stock Z and they have been TERRIBLE for me. They are not even two years old and I can blow them off from 40-60mph roll in 2nd. It is worse when under 70 degrees but I haven't had any luck getting good traction above that temp either. The rear steps out with any throttle while hanging curves. They have been flat out dangerous in my application. To be fair though, I haven't had my alignment check yet. Now they may do better when heated during a long session of track racing but I haven't been in that environment and it doesn't sound like you will be either. My goals are similar to yours and from the research I have done the R888r is what I am leaning toward. Good luck in your search.
With normal alignment in a long corner on track the PSS will understeer with stock suspension, of course hit is hard and you can drift with even stock power levels. If you get throttle oversteer then you are either too hard on the throttle tip in or your alignment may be off.
#11
Racer
r888r lover here.... coming from Michelin pilot sports on my H/C car it was a night and day difference....888rs just stick waay better and 1st gear is actually usuable now as where before with the Michelins I couldn't use 1st or 2nd gear in any sort of aggressive manner....I don't notice any excess noise from the tires cuz my cars on the loud side....the cars not a daily so if I could get a good 8k miles out of them I think it's well worth it.... there's nothing like the feeling of having a good tire on the car that u know can handle what u can throw at it.
#12
Pro
Thread Starter
The Invos are a good treadwear, quiet, soft riding, inexpensive tire, they are not a performance tire.
The NT05 is the Nitto street performance tire regardless of what Nitto advertises, the Invo as. My NT-05s generated .93 and .97 on a couple of my local roundabouts.
My PSS were 1.12Gs on both. They have good grip especially when its 70*+ outside. Like any summer only tire they lose a lot of grip when it gets down into the 40s.
With ~550 rwhp, only drag radials will dead hook in a straight line although DOT street legal track tires like the R888R and the Mich. Pilot Sport Cup2 tires will hook better. than street tires once warmed up. The tradeoff there is you will be lucky to get 10K miles of treadwear on the DOT track tires.
If you are not doing track events, I'd recommend a street alignment of -0.7* camber front and -0.5* rear, with just a little toe-in front and back. With those settings you will still have very good street cornering and will get very good tread life.
The NT05 is the Nitto street performance tire regardless of what Nitto advertises, the Invo as. My NT-05s generated .93 and .97 on a couple of my local roundabouts.
My PSS were 1.12Gs on both. They have good grip especially when its 70*+ outside. Like any summer only tire they lose a lot of grip when it gets down into the 40s.
With ~550 rwhp, only drag radials will dead hook in a straight line although DOT street legal track tires like the R888R and the Mich. Pilot Sport Cup2 tires will hook better. than street tires once warmed up. The tradeoff there is you will be lucky to get 10K miles of treadwear on the DOT track tires.
If you are not doing track events, I'd recommend a street alignment of -0.7* camber front and -0.5* rear, with just a little toe-in front and back. With those settings you will still have very good street cornering and will get very good tread life.
#13
Intermediate
MPSS are not a track tire although if just doing a couple of HPDEs per year and as the only wheels/tires they would be OK. The R888Rs are track tires, they will have a lot more grip than the PSS and you will be happy if you get 10K street miles out of them, whereas with a good alignment the MPSS should get 25-30K street miles even with a couple of track days. If someone only drives 2-3K miles per year then the 10K wearout isn't so bad. I do ~7K per year and wouldn't want to be replacing my street tires every 16 months.
With normal alignment in a long corner on track the PSS will understeer with stock suspension, of course hit is hard and you can drift with even stock power levels. If you get throttle oversteer then you are either too hard on the throttle tip in or your alignment may be off.
With normal alignment in a long corner on track the PSS will understeer with stock suspension, of course hit is hard and you can drift with even stock power levels. If you get throttle oversteer then you are either too hard on the throttle tip in or your alignment may be off.
r888r lover here.... coming from Michelin pilot sports on my H/C car it was a night and day difference....888rs just stick waay better and 1st gear is actually usuable now as where before with the Michelins I couldn't use 1st or 2nd gear in any sort of aggressive manner....I don't notice any excess noise from the tires cuz my cars on the loud side....the cars not a daily so if I could get a good 8k miles out of them I think it's well worth it.... there's nothing like the feeling of having a good tire on the car that u know can handle what u can throw at it.
#14
Race Director
I stay with the OEM 18/19 sizes because I do high speed events (have over 800 miles at 150+ MPH) and don't want any rubbing. The 325s would actually be slightly better in a straight line, 345s in the corners if you upsized the fronts also. I think you want good performance and value, go with the 325s.
#15
Pro
Thread Starter
Had anyone ran the toyo t1r? I can get a really good deal on a new set with 345s in the back. I am going to be running 19x10 and 20x13 360 forged wheels.
#17
Race Director
#19
Race Director
#20
Pro
Thread Starter