what tires to buy?

[Saltyesq]

Hi,
I have an MK3 FF roadster.
I purchased the car from the builder.
I have had severe traction issues since i purchased that car in December.
I finally figured out the reason for the traction problems, my tires while appear to be in great shape
are actually 15 years old.
So I'm looking for tires and I don't track the car. The car is mostly freeway driven and around town.
I do drive the car hard.....
my current tires are: fronts cu are 245/45/ ZR 17 and rear is 275/40 ZR 17
any advice is appreciated.

Thank you

[Papa]

A great choice for a street-driven car is the Michelin Pilot Sport / Michelin Pilot Sport 2. The have great traction, good wet performance, and are the only tire I've found for these cars that has a real tread warranty (40,000 mile). You'll be lucky to see 15K miles with most performance tires.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=115112&d=1569708513

[bmackrell]

Saltyesq,

I'm in the same boat. I just bought a FFR MK 1 with BF Goodrich Gforce TA tires (same size) which were about 20 years old. The car is terrible on the street. The seller recommended I get new tires right away.

I've narrowed my search down to Nitto NT 555 G2s and NT01s. I have two sets of wheels that came with the car and since I will be taking this car to the track I'm going to use the NT555 G2s for the street and the NT01s for the track. I was able to get the best prices from Jeggs.com online at $131 for the fronts of $150 for the rears. Discount Tire was a close second. my local tire store (NTB) price matched them and gave me an additional $100 off which covers the mounting and balancing.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

BillMac

[CraigS]

The 555G2s have become a well known and liked overall good tire for FFRs. Depending on your wheel width I'd up the rears to 315s if you have 10.5-11.0.

[Avalanche325]

Nitto 555 G2s are good for a cruiser.
Nitto NT05 is what I really recommend. You can get 10k miles out of them on the street. That doesn't sound like much, but it is 2 years for the average FFR. They are good for autocross and track days too.

NT01s are really a DOT track tire. I just saw that you have two sets of wheels. Perfect.

For me, if I had a second set of 17s, I would do NT05s and NT01s.

[bmackrell]

Nitto 555 G2s are good for a cruiser.
Nitto NT05 is what I really recommend. You can get 10k miles out of them on the street. That doesn't sound like much, but it is 2 years for the average FFR. They are good for autocross and track days too.

NT01s are really a DOT track tire. I just saw that you have two sets of wheels. Perfect.

For me, if I had a second set of 17s, I would do NT05s and NT01s.

I liked the NT05s too but I don't think they make them in a size that fits my wheels. I have 17 x 9" wheels and am running 245/45 R17 on the front and 275/40 R17 on the rears. The next step down was the NT555 G2s so I went with those. Seems like a lot of folks here run them and are generally happy.

BTW, the best price I found online for the NT555s was at Jeggs.com which really surprised me. I was about to order them yesterday so for grins I called my local NTB tire shop near my house (who carries NITTOs) and they were happy to price match the online prices. They even gave me another $100 off with a Nitto coupon. I was very surprised.

I think local tires store are being killed by online sites like TireRack.com and DiscountTire.com so they are trying really hard to win your business.

Regards,

BillMac

[Avalanche325]

A lot of people are very happy with NT555 G2s. My friend runs them as his streets, and had NT05s for track and autocross. I think you will be happy with the combination.

I am due for a new set of NT05s . Thanks for the heads up on Jegs. I'll have a look. I usually use Discount Tire, which is my local shop.

[Jeff Kleiner]

If you purchase the Nitto NT-01 or Toyo R888R I recommend that you have them heat cycled at about 20 bucks per tire. They'll grip right out of the gate and will continue to grip longer. I don't think this is an option when buying through Jegs. I get Nittos from Discount Tire Direct (not the local Discount Tire) and Toyos from Phil's Tire Service and both offer it.

Jeff

[NAZ]

Hi,
I have an MK3 FF roadster.
I purchased the car from the builder.
I have had severe traction issues since i purchased that car in December.
I finally figured out the reason for the traction problems, my tires while appear to be in great shape
are actually 15 years old.
So I'm looking for tires and I don't track the car. The car is mostly freeway driven and around town.
I do drive the car hard.....
my current tires are: fronts cu are 245/45/ ZR 17 and rear is 275/40 ZR 17
any advice is appreciated.

Thank you

Those tires are a safety hazard -- replace them immediately!

The most common issues I see that result in poor traction are hard compound, tire pressure and suspension set-up. The one variable that seems to make the biggest difference for the average gearhead is tire selection. And I’m not referring to tire size; some mistakenly believe that selecting the biggest, widest tire that will fit will ensure the most traction possible regardless of other factors. That’s just not true. And not to dismiss suspension set-up, it’s just that most don’t really understand that aspect of automotive science but can easily understand how stickier tires can make a big difference in traction or “gripsion” as my kids used to say.

Generally, tread wear rating will give you a big clue on the traction performance of a tire. It also gives you insight into the life of the tire as softer stickier tires wear significantly faster than their high-mileage cousins. Just as important, and not as well known, is that tire traction degrades with age not just wear and sometimes even a year of age and a season of heat cycles can make a difference in your ET on wrinkle-wall drag slicks. So, choose wisely and expect those high traction soft rubber tires to wear much quicker and to lose performance with age and you will probably be replacing them sooner than later. Conversely, high-mileage tire will really suck at traction if you’re used to cars that corner on rails and hook hard from traffic signals.
Some interesting reading for inquiring minds:

http://hpwizard.com/tire-friction-coefficient.html
https://www.stevemunden.com/friction.html