Nitto NT555 G2 1 Year Review

[naikaidriver]

Just over a year ago, I got a set of Nitto NT555 G2s for The Beast and since that time I have driven the car about 6000miles, done 4 track days and 1 autocross session.

I thought that I would share my experiences with them since there doesn't seem to be any real, non-youtube, reputable comparisons or reviews of these tires.

I wanted a street tire that would perform well on the street with occasional track time since I usually do 3 track days per year with the car. One thing that I have noticed is that when you run a staggered, wheel setup, it dramatically reduces your tire size options especially when you want to keep the stock, ~28.5-ish diameter for the sake of speedo accuracy. I went with the Nitto NT555 G2 since on paper, it looked better than the P-Zeros but were less expensive than the usual, tried and true BFGSC2 or Michelins.

Although I have 9" wheels in front and 10s in the back, I stuck with the stock size of 245/45 20 in the front and 275/40 20 in the back since at the time, Nitto didn't offer the 305/35 20 for the back. Whole set installed and out the door at Discount Tire was just under $1000.

On the road, these tires are great in the dry and wet with zero issues. Pretty typical for a tire at this price range and today's technology. Road noise was dramatically less than my Hankook Ventus V12s that were on the car when I bought it.

On the track this is where things get more complicated.

These tires are NOISY! If you were to think about available traction from a scale of 0-100%, 0 being traveling at a straight line at 100% you are now in a slide, these tires begin to howl at 80%. From there the tires have much more available traction than the noise lets on. On the good side, the tires begin to let go in a very linear, predictable fashion but on the down side, they make you think that you are closer to the limit than you really are.

Also, if you really push these tires at 90% or higher lap after lap small chunks will tear off the inside of the tread blocks which I believe are a by-product of the tires squealing in protest to the punishment. What's interesting is that you "feel" that the car is just not holding the corner because that is what you are hearing, but looking at the telemetry data, I can carry just as much corner speed as someone else in another Camaro running much quieter Goodyear Eagle Supercar F1's.

Under hard braking and acceleration, the tires perform well and again, will let you know even a little early that you're pushing their limits with copious amounts of squeal or howl if you're really hammering it.

Overall I'm not sure if I will be getting another set now that these are down to about 30% tread life. There are just better, less annoying tires out there at that price point like the Michelins, Goodyears and BFGs but it's really hard to complain about the Nittos since they really did everything I asked of them.

One last note:

These tires seem to like 37psi (hot) the best which with my size was about 31psi cold. Any more than 38psi hot and they overheat in every corner and start to scream bloody murder at .7 lateral G's.

I'll post some pictures when I get home to show the tread damage more clearly.

Scott

[Silent...]

Thanks for the review. I just purchased a set of 285/30-20 with my new MRR M017 wheels. And they will be seeing the track soon. They were hard to beat for the price. GY Eagle Supercar G2's would have saved me $90 for all 4 but they are only fair in the rain and in Florida I'm wouldn't take that chance. The MPSS on closeout pricing would have been +$300. I really wanted the new Indy 500's but they are not available in the size above until late September. I'll see how my track day goes later next month and come back for some comparisons.

[acammer]

Good review - thank you. I am considering the NT 555 G2 for my next tire, along with the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 - your review is helpful. I've driven a 1LE with NT 555 G2's pretty hard with a 275/315 setup and I was impressed with the overall traction. Sounds like they held up pretty good for you as well.

[Avalnch]

I love my NT 555 G2s for my street set of tires. They perform extremely well in the wet. I would suspect that the chunks tearing off from track day use is from the heat/stress and the fact that the tread depth is quite large to begin with.

[KaBoom1701]

Fair review and I agree with your comments.

I'm running a set right now on track but I will be going back to the GY's once this set runs out.

[Spurshot]

Thanks for the review.

Currently, TireRack has the Mich PSS in 255/40ZR20 and 285/35ZR20 for about $1050 before shipping & mounting. I think it'd end up $1250 ish.

I'm looking hard at the Mich P4s in 255/40ZR20 and 285/35ZR20 for about $1210 before shipping & mounting. Probably $1450 in the end.

[woyster_13ss]

I've currently got the Nitto NT555 G2's on my Camaro as well (~6,000 miles). I too find that they are loud and squeal when cornering. My old tires were the Continental ExtremeContact DW's that have been discontinued. I liked them much better than the Nittos and will probably go with the Continental ExtremeContact Sport when the time comes.

[Silent...]

Anyone have any follow up track/HPDE reviews in these?