Whats a good tire for street and track?

scarylarry09

New Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
I'm looking at buying tires for the car and was wondering what would be a good tire for the street and the track? I've been looking at a couple of brand and styles but didn't know what would be the best to go with.
 
I'll probably get made fun of for this, but I used to have some Firehawk Indy 500s that I thought rocked. Soft enough to let me drive it in the snow, hard enough to last longer than 20k miles, and just right for pretty good traction on the street. My car made about that much power at the time, and those got great traction. I'm sure there are better ones out there, though. Also, unless things changed, they only made them for for 14" and 15" wheels.
 
I'd step up to 235/60s. M/T drag radials are probably the best if you don't plan on ever driving in the rain. A friend had Toyos I believe and just ok at the track. If you can get anything under a 2.0 60 on a street tire you'll be doing good. I gave up on regular tires when I got into the 12s. Best solution if you are using street tires is to get a second pair of rims and drag radials. Stay with 26" tires for now, 28's are better once you get to 11s.
 
have you guys heard anything about the Nitto 555? I heard they are good on the street and decent at the track. do you know of anyone running those on stock rims?
 
i ran 275/60/15 Mickey Thomspon Et tires. same pair for 3 years, 7months of driving with 6k a year on them, Last year was a bit rough with some cord showing but i never went in the rain and never drove more than 30 min. Great tire for both street and track. great traction no rubbing for me just going into diriveawys at an angle. This summer i bought the Nittos have yet to put them on though. i also suggest getting a second pair of rims to put stock tires on.
 
On stock T wheels I've run the following: 235/60 Goodyear Eagle GTII's, 275/50 Nitto NT555R's, and most recently 255/60 Mickey Thompson ET Drag Radials. Regular 235's were barely good enough for a completely stock car, but rode nice and lasted long. The 275 Nittos were really too wide for a stock 7" wheel and really didn't hook that great at the track once I was down into the low 12's. The 255 MT's are by far the best fit and traction I've ever had and being 27" tall instead of 26" allowed me to stay in 3rd gear going through the traps at 124mph. They're not meant for use in the rain, but I did drive 50 mph for over an hour on the way home from the track. It was raining hard and anything over 50 was scary, but it is possible to make it home. If you're keeping the stock wheel appearance I second the recommendation of having 4 regular tires and an extra 2 with drag radials for warm weather fun. It's worked well for me over the years.
 
For what it's worth here's 235's up front and 255's out back on stock wheels.
 

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275/50s on the stock t rims rubbed the frame on my car. They balloned out too much. 255's were a good fit on the 7" rim. 275/60's on 8" rims are ok.
 
I've had the MT 255/60 DR's for over 5yrs, they fit nice. I've been caught a few times in heavy down pours coming back from the track and no issues, as long as your civil with your driving.
 
I really like my M&H Racemaster's. Been caught in the rain a few times without issue. Very sticky on dry pavement as well; very little problem getting traction with 550 rwhp.
 
I got caught in a downpour once with my MTs. It took a week for my ass to unpucker. Light rain at low speed is doable in an rare occasion. I wouldn't do it regularly for sure.
 
I run the Nittos. Not sure if they make them in a good size for the 7" wheel. Great tire in the rain and hooks pretty well. I went 11.3 with them on a 1.72 60-foot.
 
May get flamed for this but American Racers here. Rears only though. I know a few other guys run them too. They have a DOT approved stock car tire that is sticky soft and has tread for getting caught in rain. Cheap too, think my rears were $119 each or something like that. You'd have to check to see available sizes though, I run an aluminum 10" GN rim with a 295/50. No rub, lips rolled but it'd be close without them rolled. It's about as much meat that be stuffed under there.
American Racer is out of Independance Iowa so is practically in my back yard. Used to be McCreary.
 
Nitto 555 here, just drove 100 mi in the rain last weekend, with NO problems,
never a scary moment, haven't been to the track with these, but on the street, they hook much better
than any street tire I've used. plus they seem to wear very well.
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