Cold Nitto tires

[BillyGman]

I just want this to serve as some information to the Supercharged Marauder crowd who doesn't yet have Nitto drag radials on their cars yet, and who are thinking about getting them soon.....

I've never used any other Drag radials than the ones that I have on my Marauder now which are the Nitto tires. So perhaps they all react in the cold whetehr the same way. That I can only assume since I don't know for sure. But what I DO know and want to share here w/the group is that now that temperatures are routinely in the 40's in the day time, and in the 30's at night, the Nitto drag radial tires provide even less traction than the factory stock tires do.

I didn't expect these tires, nor any real soft rubber compound tires to grab the asphalt in the cold temperatures as good as they will in warm temperatures. However, I am quite surprised that they grab no beter than the factory stock tires do, and perhaps even a bit less. I mean it's downright dangerous if I'm not carefull. The tires will break loose even during half throttle acceleration beginning from a 30 MPH roll. When the temperatures are in the 70's and 80's, the tires gripped pretty good on the street (much better than the factory stock tires do) and even better at the dragstrip. But now that it's cold out, I have to perform a good burnout just to get them to grab at all off the line. Even from a half throttle start. So this is just a heads-up for others. I'm satisfied overall w/the Nitto tires, and I plan on getting another set next year. But as soon as temperatures got into the 60's, I began to notice a loss of traction, and once it got into the 40's around here, forget about it. So the point is that these tires kinda give you two extremes since they're more temperature sensitive than standard radial tires are.

[FiveO]

Good to know Billy....good to know.

I've got some questions about what tires to get....slicks or these and I'm going to post it in another thread.

Thanks for the info though...appreciated.

[SergntMac]

Thanks, Billy, I suppose braking adhesion is likewise affected?

[BillyGman]

Thanks, Billy, I suppose braking adhesion is likewise affected?
If you mean ability to make quick stops, I dunno. Not that I've noticed. but then again, perhaps it's difficult to tell with ABS. Interesting question.

[John F. Russo]

Thank you for the data.

I was thinking of getting Nitto tires for the rear only. But I guess I'll stick with the Pirelli's for the winter then install the Nittos for the Spring through Fall season.

Can anyone else who has used both Pirelli and Nitto tires confirm that this is the best way to optimize traction year around?

BTW, is it okay to use two of the same kind of tires for the front and two of a different tire (yet same kind) for the rear tires?


2003 Dark Blue Pearl 300B (Canadian) w/Light Flint (reversed
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-Born 12/10/02; converted new then used 2/28/03
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-Ground clearance: 5 in.
______________________________ ___________________________
1961 Ford Galaxie, 2 dr. Club Victoria, 390CID, 375hp, 4 barrel (gone)

[BillyGman]

I would think that since the Nitto tires react in an extreme way to temperature changes (good in warm temps/Bad in cold temps) then other sticky tires that are made of soft compound rubber like the Nittos are would also react the same. No? Have you driven your car hard during this past week? Haven't you noticed a big decline in traction w/the perelli's in this cold whether? And if not, then perhaps this only applies to Drag radials specifically. :confused:

[John F. Russo]

I would think that since the Nitto tires react in an extreme way to temperature changes (good in warm temps/Bad in cold temps) then other sticky tires that are made of soft compound rubber like the Nittos are would also react the same. No? Have you driven your car hard during this past week? Haven't you noticed a big decline in traction w/the perelli's in this cold whether? And if not, then perhaps this only applies to Drag radials specifically. :confused:

I have used Pirelli tires exclusively for the past 1.5 years. I have not noticed any substantial difference in performance. If it was significant, I would have to perform an actual test.

I should try the rapid stopping test that I did in the summer. I did four runs
at 80 F.

My stopping distances (in ft.) were

Summer
Old Baer brakes:
78

New front Baer brakes:
(I just happened to have had my pulsating brakes changed just before I did a successive set of stopping runs to get an idea of repeatability.)
82, 96 and 96 with an average of 91 ft.

Test conditions (for all runs)
I start measuring the distance at the instant that I pass a road sign in a breakdown lane of a highway. It takes a second or so to push the pedal down hard. I'm not sure of the distance it takes for me to depress the brake fully. But I can say that at 60 mph a car will travel 88 ft in one second. So it makes a big difference in calculating the stopping distance depending upon the method used to determine the starting point of the braking. In my case every run was done under the same condition. The speed at the time that I start to brake is 60 mph. It is surprising that I had reasonable repeatability from the four runs considering the test method I used. (I tried to get "Car and Driver" magazine to tell me a couple of months ago the conditions that they use to determine the stopping distance and they never responded.)

Now all I have to do is to test the car when the temperature is about 40 F.

P.S. I know that the method I used is not very good, but I did the best without using mechanical or electrical devices to fix the starting point of the braking starting point.

I'll let everyone know what I determine as soon as I get my car back after the transmission is rebuilt.

[BillyGman]

Braking is important, but the difference in the cold temperatures that I've noticed w/these tires has been in acceleration mode only.

[MARAUDER S/C #5]

But what I DO know and want to share here w/the group is that now that temperatures are routinely in the 40's in the day time, and in the 30's at night, the Nitto drag radial tires provide even less traction than the factory stock tires do.
I also noticed a loss of traction with the arrival of cooler temps. I believe are cars run better in cooler temps and this also contributes to the loss of traction.

[John F. Russo]

I also noticed a loss of traction with the arrival of cooler temps. I believe are cars run better in cooler temps and this also contributes to the loss of traction.
What kind of tires are you using?

[BillyGman]

I also noticed a loss of traction with the arrival of cooler temps. I believe are cars run better in cooler temps and this also contributes to the loss of traction.That's true, but I think the loss of traction is a bit more extreme w/the drag radials. I guess it doesn't matter much since this has only been happening for a few weeks for me now, and in another week or so I'll be chnging to the snowtires anyway. I just made mention of this because it can be downright dangerous at times if you have a S/Ced car if you're not catreful w/the gas pedal. it's great for doing hefty burnouts from a dead punch though. But while you're doing a burnout you're ready for things to get wild. So that's all different.

[MI2QWK4U]

You beat me to this post Billy!

Last couple of days here were very cold in the am, 40 degrees or so. Nittos react as if you are on snow or ice when they are cold. Pulled of the side street onto the 2 lane blacktop main road and as soon as i got on it...not much pedal...the rear end broke and i almost did a 180! After the last drag strip visit this weekend I intend to pull the nittos and wide rims and put on the stock back tires and rims for the winter. Just in case i need to drive the car, i can on the stock rubber. I need to get a new set of Nittos anyway, mine are basically true slicks by now, channels are barely noticable.

[MARAUDER S/C #5]

What kind of tires are you using?I also have the 305/45/18 Nitto Extreme Drag Radials on the widened rims.

[BUCKWHEAT]

I moved my 305 Nitto's to separate rims and only take them to the track for use there. Put 295 Goodyear F-1's on the rear for street use, keeping the stock BFG's on the front. Goodyears bit good enough for me to keep up with a C-4 ZR-1, with the wife along to referee.

[BillyGman]

Thanks for everyone's input. Yeah Dave, I know exactly what you mean. The same thing happened to me. I've been so used to these Nitto tires gripping better on the road than the stock tires did, but one day when it got pretty cold out, whammo! It was like my car was in the snow!! And the pavement was dry!!


Anyway, check this out....yesterday on the way home from work I got caught w/the drag radials on with snow also being on the road!! Not a good feeling to be driving in that w/Drag radials!! Fortunately it was merely a dusting. Just barely enough to make the ashalt white in some places. I'm glad there wasn't any traffic out on the roads, because I had to crawl going down hills. I'm getting those tires off of there soon.