OZZYAMG

Hi all

What do people recommend I put on the rear of my E55.

I have chosen to go with Nitto NT555 tyres but not sure if I should go with either the: 275/35/18's or 285/35/18's?

I don't want any scrubbing at all and will be racing the car over the 1/4 mile and using them for daily driver duties as well.

I will retain the standard sized tyres for the front.

Regards,

OZZYAMG

StevE55//AMG

If you have the 245/40/18's up front I would go with the 285/35/18, that way your rolling diameter is as close as possible, either tire will work though, you have to have more than 3% Rollins diameter difference before SBC/ESP will start coming on saying "WTF?!" Just be prepared that a 285 will probably have a good amount of sidewall roll over since the rim width is still pretty narrow.

E55Greasemonkey

285 is a bit wide for a 9" wheel. I'd stick with the 275. Rolling diameter is not relevant in this case as the factory setup is taller in the front and the car is calibrated for that.

ilko

What about 255 front and 285 rear? I'd like a beefier front tire to help with braking and understeer.

Georgee6086

Nitto 285/35/18 555r run a little narrow for a 285 regardless of what the website tells you. You should be fine

OZZYAMG

Hi

What about the normal Nitto NT555's without the "r" on the end?

Regards,

OZZYAMG

Georgee6086

The regular 555's are true to there size and are useless at the track. Get the r's For the rear and regular 555 for the front. 245/40 front and 285/35 rear you will be happy.

OZZYAMG

Hi

I appreciate all the comments so far so please keep them coming.

To Georgee6086: Would you still recommend I purchase Nitto NT555r's if I do approximately 15,000 miles per year on the street?

And to confirm the 285/35/18 555r's and the 285/35/18 555's are slightly different tread widths to each other as the 555r's are slightly less width?

Regards,

OZZYAMG

Georgee6086

15,000 miles will be cutting it close if your easy on them if you drive like a mad man With traction control off and take it to the track say once a month they will be toast sooner than later. Buy them and try them out, it's really the only way to find out. My buddy got 25,000 miles out of his on his vette that weighs a lot less and he dosent drive his car hard at all just cruises it. Not all 555r's run narrow some sizes do and some don't. The 285/35/18 555r do a little,somewhere between a 275 and 280. The 305/35/18 are tru. The 315's in the 17 are really narrow. I don't have experience with others sizes.

OZZYAMG

Hi

I would really like to use the Nitto NT555r's but ust feel they are a bit overkill from a safety perspective when using them on a daily driver and it rains a lot where I live in Melbourne. But I do understand the "r" version of this tyre is much better at the track.

To George6086 again: how do you find your Toyo R888's in comparison to the NT555r's? What size R888's are you using?

Regards,

OZZYAMG

E55Greasemonkey

George you are suggesting to him the 285's fit.. I agree, they will "fit" but they do not look good on a 9" wheel. Do you realize your SL wheels are 9.5" ? I have some hankook 285's (which run small)mounted on my spare set and they don't look good bulging on the 9" wheel. I am currently running 285/35/18 Conti's...on a 10" widened replica wheel... I am going 295 when these wear out...but, the 285 looks best on a minimum 9.5" wheel.

Generally speaking:

255 on 8.5

275 on 9

285 on 9.5

295 on 10

305 or 315 on 10.5

E55Greasemonkey

This has been covered before...you are limited to your rim width, both those sizes will be squeezed on the stock rims and likely give you worse handling due to the loose sidewall.

Georgee6086

I run 305/35/18 on a 10" rim ( they measure 310 on a 10" rim), they work very well on the street I've been cought in a down pour and they were fine, but they are trash at the track. Couldn't get good 60's best of 1.87 I have a set of mt 275/40/17 dr that I'm going to try out next week and hope to drop the 60's

E55greasemonkey
I originally wanted to run the 285/35/18 nitto 555r on my stock 9.5 wheels but when we mounted 1 of them they looked stretched compared to my 285 michelins so I didn't buy them, it looked goofy with the front tires buldging a little and the rears stretched. That's when I decided to just get new wheels a little wider in the rear for a 305 tire. I really think the nitto 285 will be square on a 9" rim

E55Greasemonkey

You may be correct then, as I don't have any experience with the Nittos. Yes, the Michelins do run wide, or "big sidewalls" to be more accurate. I did not like the Hankooks at all. Traction was horrible, and the sidewall was thin and flat, just didn't look too good. My friend has them in 19" though and they do look better in that size (30 series)

I run BFG 275/35/18 DR's on a spare set of rear rims for the track. Best 60ft was 1.69. Never tried the 555 r's but my opinion is if you are trying to find a dual purpose tire, you are compromising a little in both the street manners and the track performance. My DR's actually have worse traction on the street than my street tires..the DR's don't do much unless they are heated up first (i.e. a burnout). They are also noisy on the highway. Best bet is to have a spare set of dedicated drag radials.

Georgee6086

^^^ +1
You are 100% right you will always be sacraficicing something either way. Thanks for the heads up on the hankooks I was looking into a set of the rs3's for street. I'll probley just put the michelins back on the rear once these expensive toyos are cooked. I'm trying to get a set of 16's to match my fronts to work that I can bolt on and use for the track with a byas ply.