New Rubber for the Vette, Nitto NT05's

not2melo

not2melo

High RPM Poster
2 You're 10
Feb 8, 2009
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Greg in Toronto/Gtown
VetteCoins
610
Car
1999 C5 Z51
Well finally got a chance to pull the trigger on some new tires for the car as the exchange rate was very close to par.
Purchased a set of Nitto NT05 tires for some extreme traction with the new found power of the cam and other mods.

These tires are amazing, the traction and handling a quite impressive, I went with a lower profile so that helped a bit
with tire flex, gone are the old Firestone SZ50EP run flats.
The rear tires when toasted down to the wear indicators but the fronts still have around 7 the dealer said with a tire
gauge, the fronts will be up for sale soon is someone is interested (245-45-17's).

Anyways, had the new rubber put on the other day by Beverly Tire in Cambridge, Andrew and the guys are great there
and do a fantastic job . The guys where all checking out the tires as they thought they where a set of race tires.
When I left it was raining and the car handled quite well, maybe a little less traction maybe then the Firestones but not
bad with the 3:73 rear gears just have to go a bit easy on the gas pedal.
The ride is much better with the Nittos, no real sound issues with the tires as the Corsa exhaust is so noisy anyways
but I am very happy with this product so far in the looks, performance and handling aspects.

Ah Manny I know your drooling right now......


Four Nitto NT05 tires, 255-40-17's and 295-35-18's



Close up front tire.



Close up rear tire.


A few view of the tires mounted up, nice tread pattern.


 
They wont peel out as they are too grippy for that type of thing.....
Never got a chance with the old ones as it was raining the day I
changed them because they where bald.
With the Ontario laws that would be Drag Racing and I would be
listed as a "Criminal" anyways so dont want to go down that road.
 
True enough! I was only joking around as I wouldn't do a burnout with my car either, even if I was changing the tires over...that's what my old car is for...even though I haven't done that with that car either. I do not know the law here but I think you would get a stunting ticket and it's x amount of $ per foot of rubber left on the road. I am not sure about private land though, I think you could do whatever you wanted...maybe?
 
No problem. I dont expect the rears to last long as a regular tire as they
are a 200 tread wear but wanted the extreme grip instead.
The old tires smoked due to lack of traction and a little puff a smoke that
would come out of the rears when they let go in second gear.
Not a good thing if it decides to hook up again and grab hard then (bang) goes the rear end.
 
Riley P said:
True enough! I was only joking around as I wouldn't do a burnout with my car either, even if I was changing the tires over...that's what my old car is for...even though I haven't done that with that car either. I do not know the law here but I think you would get a stunting ticket and it's x amount of $ per foot of rubber left on the road. I am not sure about private land though, I think you could do whatever you wanted...maybe?
Click to expand...

The tires are not doing bad, there is still lots of tread on them I might get 3 years out of the tires?
I am not one to do burnouts, power shifting or have never driven the car at the strip so they should
last a bit longer the if I was really hard with them.

That being said though with 500hp under the hood and a good pedal mash in 2nd and they can break free
at over 3000rpm if its not warm out you can feel them let go and then grip again, and sometimes that
little puff a smoke out the back :eek: not good for tire life.
But overall I love the tires, they are great at handling and are sticky when warm outside, no problems in
the rain either with that big rubber tread down the middle.

The rears cost around $550 both shipped though Discount Tires so I am not too worried about replacing them.
When I upgraded my rims just wish I had gone with 18's/19's instead of stock size and I could go wider then
295's on the rears :( and get the larger brakes/calipers that I wanted.
 
They cost me $968 US with shipping, brokerage, tax etc. included from Discount Tire Direct.
With the exhange at the time of about 15% that would make them around $1113.20 for the
set but they are a smaller size then you have for your car, you have a great price!
 
not2melo said:
They wont peel out as they are too grippy for that type of thing.....
Never got a chance with the old ones as it was raining the day I
changed them because they where bald.
With the Ontario laws that would be Drag Racing and I would be
listed as a "Criminal" anyways so dont want to go down that road.
Click to expand...

These are at the top of my list.

I guarantee i can make them peel out =)
 
Bean, you will need a set of 335's at least!
I am sure you will be able to smoke them up.
Mine are not as wide but they sometimes can let go if the road is
uneven or bumpy at around 4k+ rpm.
You feel the car get a bit loose and then it grabs again and there
is a little puff of smoke out the back :eek:, not good for tire life.
 
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