Nitto Tire ?

[FordNut]

I'm exploring the possibility of changing over to Nitto 555 tires. If I have a set of rear rims widened by 1" instead of 1.5", I shouldn't have clearance worries. I could then use Nitto (or Goodyear F1s) 295-45-18s on the rear and matching 255-45-18s on the front.

Anybody have experience with Nitto 555 tires? How do they wear compared to the OEM BFGs? Do they stick lots better? Smoother, less vibration?

They were highly recommended to me, second in quality behind Michelin as far as easy to balance and good traction. Just wanted to see if anybody has 1st hand experience since they're about 2x the price of BFGs.

[213Cobra]

I had Nitto 555 tires on a Lincoln Mark VIII LSC and discarded them well before wear would have made it necessary. I found the tire to have terrible rain traction. Less important but nevertheless true, the tire is noisy at speed. I reverted to the Firestone SZ50EP that I use on my Cobra, Corvette and my wife's SVT Contour. Much better. The Nitto compound gets very hard very quickly as well. Dry traction was excellent between 2,000 miles and 10,000 miles, but deteriorated quickly thereafter even though plenty of tread remained.

Phil

[FordNut]

Thanks. Maybe I'll try the the Goodyear F1s instead.