Which Tires?
 

okay my eagles are almost treadless...its time to get new tires! I got a 2001GT with the stock rims and im looking at getting new 245/45 ZR17s. Problem is, which brand?

I looked at Nitto 555, 555R, and the kuhmo 700 something or other. But im still confused. Which tire can i get with the best performance? and im looking at no more than $150 per tire. The kuhmos are cheap, but does that mean they suck? they have a good rating but what can they do at the track? Ive heard good things about the nittos, but whats the difference between the 555 and 555r? any other tires should i consider? i live in southern california and i dont care about rain or snow performance. I need a good tire to handle turns and get good off the line traction. Any help from the pros please?

thanx!
Blue01GT

if a pure drag car the nitto 555R will prolly be the best bet. they are the drag tires that barely meet DOT expectations. they will NEVER last you more than 10k miles if you drive em hard. the 555s are pretty solid tires that will last some odd 25 driving hard and maybe 35 with care. kumhos are ok, but I really find them to be mid range performance. the best damn tires I have found for pure traction are the Toyo Proxies TS-1. they are not very cheap though, depending on size they can get to 120 to 300. check www.victoriatire.com for solid prices. also check into Falken ST-115, and BFGoodrich g-Force TA KDW.

Torinalth

Yeah, do not go 555R, or you won't have a tire for very long. They are great on the track, that's about it... I have the 555Extreme ZR's on mine and I love them... You can see the grooves in the tread from a very good distance. They aren't cheap though. Mine ran about 272.00 a tire for 285/35/18.

For $150 bucks you might as well have them do the 4 for $99 deal, because the tires you'll get are gonna suck. It's nearly impossible to get a max performance WR-ZR rated tire for that cheap. On the other hand, they are factor rims, so you might have some more luck with the smaller tire size. My Pilot Sports were $238 apiece. Overall, I couldn't be happier with them. It's kind of cool to be able to pull up to a vette or porshe and be rockin' the same kind of rubber. One of my buddies has a 2002 v6 that he put Yokahama's on his factory rims for cheap, so you might want to check out that possibility too.

i also have the pilot sports too 275/40/17 and i love them, i floored my car and it doesnt chirp when i shift

I just received my Nitto 555r 275/40/17s and they seem to be ok. I don't exect to get past the summer with them, but for 150 bux a piece, I'm not complaining (my Gatorbacks lasted me all of 3 or 4 months). Tires.com has the 555 in 245/45/17s for $118 each and mine should be here Monday. I haven't heard anything bad about them, so I figure it's worth a shot. Anything has to better than the $300 Gatorbacks they are replacing.