# Drag Radials on 2004 GTO (Nitto)



## A4GTOMAJOR (Oct 21, 2009)

I just got back from the track on Wednesday... I wasn't happy at all; I was not getting good numbers. But hey I got a perfect light of .000 which made my night better. Haha.

My issue is tire spin off the line and through first, second, and third gear. I drive an Automatic transmission and those who are familiar with the 2004 GTO's know that they squat when staging up and holding the gas and brake using the stock stall on the car.

I was wanting some drag radials for the car. I preferably would like to have Nitto's. I have narrowed it down to the NT05R and the NT555R. I have a feeling that the NT05R would hook better just by the look of the tread pattern but I am no expert on tires. Will the Nt05R even fit? I have searched all of the internet to find if anyone has had them on a GTO.. I didn't find much at all. It seemed that the NT555R was pretty popular. 

I am wanting to run a 275/40/r17 on the stock rims.

Also I am only running 425rwhp and 400rwtq so I do not need slicks or anything. Just something to get the job done. 

Has anyone had experience with either tire? Any piece of feed back would be greatly appreciated..Thanks

Also has anyone heard of running the GTO's spare tire as a skinny on the front? I was reading about it but didn't seem safe to me. If anyone has heard of that or know anything about it being better please tell me. I am curious to try it but do not want to be the first to experiment and break something.


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

A4GTOMAJOR said:


> I just got back from the track on Wednesday... I wasn't happy at all; I was not getting good numbers. But hey I got a perfect light of .000 which made my night better. Haha.
> 
> My issue is tire spin off the line and through first, second, and third gear. I drive an Automatic transmission and those who are familiar with the 2004 GTO's know that they squat when staging up and holding the gas and brake using the stock stall on the car.
> 
> ...


The 555R is a good street tire but I've had them and they suck at high HP dragging. The NT05R is supposedly a much better tire but I don't have personal experience with it. After spending good money on 555Rs and BFG DRs and being able to spin them at will I am saving for Hoosiers or M/Ts. It's disappointing to spend $400+ and still have issues. I've tried a friends M/Ts and they dead hooked. Spare wheels up front have been done a lot as long as you put on the right tires. I've read that they were track banned in Aussieland for safety but never have seen a story of their failure. 275 Nittos are narrower than other brands and fit pretty well altho fender rolling/cutting may be needed or drag bags pumped up.


----------



## RJ_05GTO (Jul 6, 2008)

Im running 245 55 nt555R's on some ebay bought stock 17's and they work great for me at the power level I am at. But mine is a A4 too so I cant launch but so hard. They dead hook on the track. Just stab the throttle and go. I can stab it to the floor on the street and sometimes they dead hook and sometimes they might spin over a few times before they hook depending on the temperature I guess.


----------



## SirMarco (Nov 5, 2009)

I run a 275/40/17 on a stock 17. I cut my fenders some to just make sure. These are my second set of the 555R's. I went with these over the NT05 because of the amount of street driving/racing I do. The NT05 were just to soft an wear to fast. I'm not a baller that can afford a few sets a year.


----------



## firebird (Feb 6, 2011)

i ran 285 35 18 nitto 555R bald, they are showing cracks now, so worn out, but they still grip a lot better then 285 pireli potenza e040 that have about 65% thread left. it's unbelievable. I am thinking of buying a new set of 555R agian due to traction, but am researching to see if there is anything better outthere that will last.

as far as the width of nitto goes, svede, i would say they are true to fit. the other brands might be bigger by 1mm or 2 mm due to having stronger sidewall than nitto.


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

firebird said:


> i ran 285 35 18 nitto 555R bald, they are showing cracks now, so worn out, but they still grip a lot better then 285 pireli potenza e040 that have about 65% thread left. it's unbelievable. I am thinking of buying a new set of 555R agian due to traction, but am researching to see if there is anything better outthere that will last.
> 
> as far as the width of nitto goes, svede, i would say they are true to fit. the other brands might be bigger by 1mm or 2 mm due to having stronger sidewall than nitto.


Try another brand 275 like BFG and you'll see it's a lot more than 1 or 2mm. The Nitto 555R also have more rounded shoulders so the flat contact area is less. I've had both on my car and the difference is substantial. The NT05R will be a better tire for the OP drag racing if he sticks with Nitto. Being an auto he probably won't have spinning problems like the M6s


----------



## firebird (Feb 6, 2011)

svede1212 said:


> Try another brand 275 like BFG and you'll see it's a lot more than 1 or 2mm. The Nitto 555R also have more rounded shoulders so the flat contact area is less. I've had both on my car and the difference is substantial. The NT05R will be a better tire for the OP drag racing if he sticks with Nitto. Being an auto he probably won't have spinning problems like the M6s


i tell you right now, i went to a used tire shop, and a michellin 275, think it was power something, put it agianst my nitto 285 555R and it was the same width, right. the only difference was that the nitto was mounted on the rim and the michelin was not. ok so i am thinking that svede guy was right, the nitto runs smaller. anyway, i put a 285 pirelli p zero aginst my nitto 285, and what do you know, the pirelli is wider by about half an inch to a 75% of an inch. the only difference was, once again, the nitto was mounted on the rim and the pirelli was not mounted on the rim. so i think to myself, that svede guy was right, the regular 285 does run wider then nitto 285. Now get a load of this;

i mount the 285 pirelli to the rim and compare the tires now, with both being mounted to the rims, and what do you know, the size is the fricking same, no difference. due to nitto not having steel sidewall as other brands they are 1-3mm narrower, but the traction pad is the same.

so i am assuming that when you compared your BFG tires to nitto, both brands were not mounted. am i right? there is a lot of variance between brands, but it helps to norrow down as many factors as possible to get it to the same level in order to be compared.

from what i learned, it seems that the tire streches outward, being round, so it shrinks in width once mounted to the rim.


----------



## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

firebird said:


> from what i learned, it seems that the tire streches outward, being round, so it shrinks in width once mounted to the rim.


It depends on the tire width and the rim width. I use 265's on a 9.5" wheel. My set up has a 1/2" wider contact patch than 275's on 8" wheels. You guys need to stop cramming big tires on small wheels. A 255 is as big as you want to go on an 8" wheel. A 275 will be no improvement and add weight and reduce cornering. Size your tires to your wheels properly and you'll be happy.


----------



## firebird (Feb 6, 2011)

On an 8 inch wheel the biggest one should go is 255, anything bigger and tire will bulk up and be wearing out in the middle and will be squeezed inside losing the width


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

firebird said:


> i tell you right now, i went to a used tire shop, and a michellin 275, think it was power something, put it agianst my nitto 285 555R and it was the same width, right. the only difference was that the nitto was mounted on the rim and the michelin was not. ok so i am thinking that svede guy was right, the nitto runs smaller. anyway, i put a 285 pirelli p zero aginst my nitto 285, and what do you know, the pirelli is wider by about half an inch to a 75% of an inch. the only difference was, once again, the nitto was mounted on the rim and the pirelli was not mounted on the rim. so i think to myself, that svede guy was right, the regular 285 does run wider then nitto 285. Now get a load of this;
> 
> i mount the 285 pirelli to the rim and compare the tires now, with both being mounted to the rims, and what do you know, the size is the fricking same, no difference. due to nitto not having steel sidewall as other brands they are 1-3mm narrower, but the traction pad is the same.
> 
> ...


They were mounted to the wheel and on my car. The nitto fit on the same wheels on the car without fender rolling. The BFG barely fit with rolling. I went out and measured the *275* BFG drag DRs which I still have mounted on stock wheels. I put a flat edge on both sides to get an acurrate reading of overall width. They are *10¾"*. I don't have Nittos anymore but they measured smaller. My Firehawk Wide Ovals are *285*s on "stock" 9" wheels and they measure *10½"*. If you put a straight edge on both sides of mounted Nittos and measured you'll see that tire sizes are merely suggestions and different brands run different sizes. BFGs run wide and Nittos run narrower.


----------



## firebird (Feb 6, 2011)

well, when it comes to michelin and and pirelli, measured and mounted are the same. maybe the bfg runs wider, idk, but the easiest way to compare them would be to put them up one against other, and lay them down on the floor, because it is so easy to make a mistake by placing any object next to it as it is so easy to not line it up right(the angle of one tire may not be the same as the angle of other tire) and the numbers will be off.

now other thing to keep in mind is that your 9 inch wheel is a bit smaller than 9.5 which could cause the tire to squeeze it in and spread it on top due to stronger construction of the sidewall, while nitto flex more as the sidewall is not as strong, and you would not see that issue with them. just speculation. 

but if mechelin and pireli are the same as nitto, i will say that by standards nitto does not run smaller.


----------



## firebird (Feb 6, 2011)

I have 285 nitto in my garage mounted and just measured them, they meassure slightly more than 10.5 inches. So I say they are as same as your bfg 285. My pirelis are few mm wider due to sidewall. So I say 285 are about the same. 

Now I do not know what the deal is with bfg drag radials 275 and how they measure 10 3/4 of an inch.


----------



## redgtslow (Apr 10, 2011)

what about MandH drag radials 275/50/17 on the rear and MandH skinnys front 4.5/26.0/17 has anyone tried this set up before

skinnys are on stock spare tire rims cost 160 each
dr are on stock 17in rims about 235 each


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

firebird said:


> I have 285 nitto in my garage mounted and just measured them, they meassure slightly more than 10.5 inches. So I say they are as same as your bfg 285 _*(No they're 275 vs your Nitto 285)*_. My pirelis are few mm wider due to sidewall. So I say 285 are about the same.
> 
> Now I do not know what the deal is with bfg drag radials 275 and how they measure 10 3/4 of an inch.


That was a Firestone 285 and *BFG DR 275* with the 275 being 1/4" wider (10 ¾") even tho it should be 10mm (.39") narrower for an almost ¾" variation. The BFG is a drag tire tho like the Nitto. I haven't been the only one that has noticed that Nittos were narrow tires and I saw the contact patch was narrower than the BFG. It's been commented on for years. The main point tho is in fitting tires make sure you compare apples with apples. One size brand fitting doesn't mean they will all fit.


----------

