tires for street

[LEVI]

i am doing h/c package soon. hope to get 470 hp at crank. can anyone tell me which tire they prefer or recommend for me for everyday street driving. a friend told me to get the michelin pilot sports. thanks-

[No Doubt]

With that much h.p. you'll be hard pressed to find any street tires that will hold it. Even 335 Michelin Pilot Sports in the rear will lose traction.

I don't consider drag radials or R compound tires (or close to them), ie: Nitto R2, etc. 'street tires'. However, there are members who use them and like them. One thing to look at is the tread wear rating, especially on soft compound tires.

BTW, I'm soon to be in the same situation with ~500 RWHP/500 RWTQ but i'm running the 335/30-18 Pilot Sports.

[DWS]

I just put Pilot Sports on my Z.....much better all around street tire IMO.....lots of folks go with Kumhos and Toyos too

[No Doubt]

Depending on the sizes you're looking at, BFG GeForce K/D's are another option. Unfortunately they don't make them in my sizes.

[JoeS]

My car is a "daily driver" so I was looking for a good rated tire yet I wanted a reasonable price. I've got the Kumho Escta Super 712's on the front for a rain type tire and the Kumho Ecsta MX on the rears. Wear is very good especially when compared to the original Goodyear F1's.

I know of some who use the MX on both the front and rear for autocross and really like them. You'll find that the price is much lower than the Goodyear F1's or what you'll probably find for the Michelin Pilot Sports.

[blkZ06]

I am at 460 hp at the engine, running Kumho Excsta's both street and on the track. Can't believe how well they are holding up

[Redshift]

Toyo Proxes T1S. Best combo of wet, dry, tread depth, noise, handling, and price available.

[No Doubt]

The Toyo T1s are good tires, but unfortunately they don't make them in a 335, 295 being the widest they make AFAIK. I have my doubts as to their traction with high h.p. and tq. in the stock sizes.

[Redshift]

That is true. I "only" have 420 RWHP and nothing will keep them planted. 500 is a nightmare

[LEVI]

so AT THE 420RWHP IS THE CAR REAL SQUIRLY OR MORE FUN WITH A LITTLE KNOW HOW FOR DRIVING? I WANTED MORE HP BUT IS THIS TO MUCH FOR REGULAR STREET TIRES? MAYBE I SHOULD STAY STOCK ALTHOUGH I WANT MORE HP. I WILL BE DOING H/C IN 2 MONTHS

[kevette]

I think for everyday driving wet/dry the michelin pilot sports can't be beat ,big $$$ though. The other tires I like are the nitto's r2 but not sure how good they'd be in the rain , That's my .02 cents hope it helps

[No Doubt]

500 is a nightmare

Just imagine a 427 TT with 650+ RWHP and 700+ RWTQ. Ask Mufflerbearing how much traction he has (or the distinct lack thereof) with the Michelin Pilot Sport 335/30-18s.

They do make a 345/30-18 but that's the Pilot Sport Cup tire. Again, it's a competition tire with a tread wear rating of only 80.

As to 500 h.p. being a 'nightmare'...only if you're the guy in the 'other car' I call it a whole lot of fun.

[eviLS6]

From what Ive heard from a few members with over 500 rwhp, the nitto 555 R's and R2's will hold the power to a certain extent. To bad they are short lived, maybe 5k miles at best. I had 500 rwhp with 315's out back on my 98 F-body, they were Dunlop SP8000 which arent as good as the Pilot sports in my opinion. 1st gear was totally useless, so was a good 70% of 2nd, and half of 3rd, and I could even "chirp" the tires in 4th upon upshifting out of 3rd at 6500 rpm/100mph this was with 3.73' which are kinda similar to the M12 with 3.42's. I wouldnt run anything less than a track dedicated tire like the Nitto R2's regardless if they only last a few thousand miles with anything over 450 rwhp in this car.

[BLEUBYU]

One thing to consider - both Michelin and BFG have very recently introduced a follow-on, supposedly considerably improved versions of their high performance tires. I believe the Michelin version is called Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. They are still rolling out this new tire in a variety of sizes, I am sure they will have stock Z06 sizes available at some point. Pretty interesting write-up on them in the Tire Rack publication I recently received in the mail...