shawnc16

lookin for some drag radials, on my Iroc wheels
245 nittos or 255 Bfgs

Im basically wanting to know which ones would last longer and which one hooks better.

shawnc16

for street racing of course

vejatabul

bfg lasted about 3000miles longer. ive had 3 sets of each. the bfg seems to hook alot better when the tire is cold as opposed to the nitto when ever it is cold.

shawnc16

sweet thanks i almost bought a set of nittos

polishdevil

bfgs = hook
nittos = longegevity (sp?)

shawnc16

So basically the BFGs just straight up kill Nittos?

KagA152

iTrader: (5)

bfgs

shawnc16

So how many miles can i expect to get out of them?

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

That would depend on how you drive and how much you heat them up and how much you like eating them up. Hard to tell people how long tires last on these cars because it really depends a LOT on driving style.

BadBowtie88

Agreed. I have a set of Nitto's and have had them for a couple yrs on a couple of different cars, and they have performed overall MUCH better than I ever would have imagined. I drove them as daily driver tires for sometime, and they really weren't even that bad in rain. Just preference I'd say. I personally also like the way the Nitto looks over the BFG's as well. JMO. I've heard good things about both DR's, so either way, I'd say you can't lose.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

from working at discount tire i can tell you that every single person there will tell you (including myself) that BFGs are far superior to NITTO...nitto 555r dr wont last you 10,000 miles esp if youre drag racing and burning out and such...not saying they wont hook up well but BFGs will hook better and last for a lot longer im thinking a good 20 to 30,000 miles if you take it easy on burnouts and only floor it for races and not just to do it

(like a lot of idiots i see on the road)

treat your tires well keep them balanced and the air pressure set properly and dont abuse them with racing around ALL the time and theyll last you like they are supposed to

shawnc16

Hey thanks thats some good info right there.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

What planet are some of you from???

I got 28K out of the last set of nittos (275/40/17’s) on my 97 WS6 and this included a season where I made 187 dragstrip passes and another in the 13x range, each one included a nice, smokey 2nd gear burnout. They were pretty worn down when I took them off, but they still worked well and the reason that they came off was because I ended up with a big cut in the shoulder/sidewall area.

I have never had a set of BFG’s last that long or have even heard of them lasting that long for anyone. (I currently have a set of 275/60/15 bfgs for my formula and have had some 275/50’s). I actually expect to see about 5-12K miles out of these, but I do not use them as daily drivers like I used the nittos.

FWIW, on a properly setup car with a good driver either one of the 2 tires that you listed are capable of times at least down to the low 1.5’s. Most of the cars around here aren’t capable of running that fast so…

BFG’s are easier to run fast on, your tune (tire pressures, launch technique…) has to be better/more consistent on the nittos.

Nittos handle as good or better then most normal street radials, and are actually better in the rain then a lot of normal radials (they’re really pretty good in the wet as long as there is no standing water). BFG’s handle passably (ie, better then a slick but not well for a radial) and are totally and completely worthless to the point of being dangerous in the rain (both sets of BFG’s that I have/had start having real serious problems with hydroplaning even in a really mild rain above around 35mph, I would actually rather get stuck out in the rain on my brother’s hoosier slicks then I would be on the BFG’s, and have been in both)

Nutshell, in my mind it’s a no brainer. Nittos for the street with some occasional track time, BFG’s for the track if you’re going to see some occasional street time, but honestly, for mostly track use I’d probably skip the BFG’s and run some slicks since I’ve been surprised to find out that my brother has never had a problem with driving home from the track with the hoosier slicks on his car, and I’ve had my formula running on tires that most people could have sworn were slicks for the last couple of months with no issues.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

well im from planet discount tire where we deal with tires and customer information everyday and not just one source...but anyhow...i had both my manager and a supervisor advise me to tell my brother (who was looking for new tires for his 98 Z) to avoid going with Nittos bc they wear fast and esp the 555dr bc one of the supervisors friends put them on a mustang or lightning cant remem which and he was back within 4 months needing new tires

as far as grip power there is a new tire by BFG called BF Goodrich
G-Force TA Drag Radial and there was another that had M/T in the name and it was a slick in the middle of the tire and had tread on the sides that will hook far better than ANY nitto that i read results from one of the car magazines out there

like i said maybe im just "crazy" but not only the OWNER (who has years and years of exp) and all the supervisors (each with 2 or 3 years + of exp) told me that nitto 555dr wont last you more than 10,000 miles and that they were shat tires

i dont know the mileage on the BFG Gforce DRs but i can ASSURE you theyll hook 3X better than nittos

Dano 00TA

While I can't comment on bfg's I can attest that my Nitto's have served me well. Last set lasted 2 years, although I don't put many miles on the car. Street traction is average but on a prepped track they hook great. I've cut 1.6's on em

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Oh joy. Coming from a shop that deals with you guys regularly (as a matter of fact, I just got a set of 315/35/17 G-forces and a set of similar sized 18” g-force DR’s from you guys about an hour ago) and knows that you guys can’t find your *** with 2 hands tied behind your back as well as also being someone that has had drag radials of one sort or another on most of my cars for the last 10-15years (I’ve owned 4-6 cars that whole time so that’s a lot of drag radials, and yes, I tried a set of BFG DR’s when they first came out and nittos when they first came out…), well, I’m not impressed.

As far as the MT drag radials, they’ve only _really_ been available since the middle of last year and the jury is still out on everything about them except that they’re super sticky. I doubt that they will last nearly as long on the street at either the Nitto or BFG DRs. The shocking thing about them is that in the same size the BFG’s are noticeably larger then the nittos (and most other tires with the same size designation), and the MT DR’s tend to run smaller then almost everything with the same size designation, including the nittos. For example, on my brother’s car a 245/60/15 and 245/50/16 pep boys futuras (the bobo, ******* cheap *** drag tire, they work great for a cheap tire) sorta rubs a little in the rear fenders, a 275/40/17 or a 275/50/15 BFG DR won’t fit at all, a Nitto DR in the same size fits OK, and comparable MT DR looks almost lost in the rear wheel well…

FWIW, to make drag radials last on the street you have to religiously make sure that they are at normal radial pressures any time you're going to put miles on them. If you run them at dragstrip pressures on the street you'll destroy them in a fraction (like roughly 1/4) of the miles you would have gotten otherwise.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

******* is censored??? Huh that sucks I thought for sure that ‘***’ or a few other things that I said would get censored… Oh well…

Sporkinator

just buy both shawn... yer just gonna burn the damn things off of the wheels in your driveway anyhow...

shawnc16

Now thats some damn good thinkin! I'll get the Nittos tomorrow
j/k

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (3)

I'll second everything Crossfire said. I've had a few sets of Nittos in the past few years (15" and 2 different 17" tires), and they perform very well on the street. They hook better than anything short of the BFG DR or a slick, do well in bad weather, and handle REALLY well. So well in fact many guys autocross with them! The first set of DR's I ever had was a BFG 275/40r17, and hated the balloon like feel and ZERO traction it wet weather so much I sold them heavily discounted and bought the Nittos. I'll never go back!

However, I have found that dropping the usual 30-32psi that I like to run to 26psi for street driving INCREASES tread life, as Nittos tend to wear more in the center at "normal" radial pressures.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I kept the last set that I got 28K miles out of at about 32 on the street... of course, they were on a slightly heavier 4th gen.

shawnc16

Thats quite a few more miles than i expected out of a set of DRs.
I didnt think much more than 10k. Are you sure you guys are even givin these tires some good use? Im gonna flog the hell outta my car with em.

BadBowtie88

Like I said some replies before, I have had my Nitto's for several yrs, and on a couple different cars, and will have them on my car when it is revived. And yes, I flogged mine to no end. I was at the track every Friday night, and out street racing every Saturday night.

shawnc16

Wow thats pretty sweet. I plan on doing it just like that so I am more than pleased even though they arent even mounted yet.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I bought the nittos that I used on my '97 WS6 in '97 or '98, when the car had 5K miles on it. I just took them off a couple of weeks ago because one got damaged (but were just about wasted anyway) with 33K on the odometer on the car (the car sat parked for a couple of years), but they also saw around 300 dragstrip passes, so it's not like I babied them