Looking to run Nittos 555R on my CAV

[Mike Rohach]

Is anyone running a 325 50 VR15 Nitto on thier CAV? The wheel opening is big enough, but it is tight.
Rohach

 

[Bill Musarra]

Mike,
I don't have a CAV, but I do have the 325s. I have the DRB and it came with the regular fenders. When I got the car it had 295 x 15" tires and it barely fit under the wheel well. When I put the 325s they sat outside the wheel arch by at least an inch or two. When I took it off the stand the tires hit the arch, so I had to graft on some fender extensions to get a god fit. My car is a little older than most so it helps to understand the fenders not being as wide as some of the other makes.

Here it is in primer. I would suggest you make sure the suspension will be able to go through its travel without any issues.
Bill

 

[Cliff Beer]

Mike, I have 295/50/15s on my CAV, with the standard fenders, and it barely fits. I doubt a 325 will fit unless you have some add'l fender extensions. In other words on full (or near full) compression you'll probably have tires rubbing on the wheel well. You might also find that the rear clam shell is not perfectly centered over the rear wheels, making the clearance problem more acute on one side v. the other side.

 

[Tim Kay]

FWIW, unless information has changed in the past couple years, my research for 15" tires revealed "drag tires" are not recommended for performance road cars and will not provided optimum handling characteristics. Has something to do with sidewall construction. The Nittos appealed to me for tread pattern and appearance but I opted for Hoosier instead for performance.

 

[Randy V]

I can tell you from experience that the largest front tire that will fit without flaring additionally is a 225-50-15 .... I tried 235-60-15 and while it looked at home in the arches, I could not turn the wheels more than a few degrees without interference.
I just did not like the look of the 205-50-15s that were on the front as it made my GT40 look the part of a drag car.
My rear tires are 295-50-15 and I have RCR's +2 suspension kit which pushes these tires out to the point where Gulf type arches will need to be installed.

 

[Bill Musarra]

I could not find the review by an authoritative source that I had seen before I bought mine. It said the stiff sidewall was actually good for road racing. They were not talking about sedans. There is one review out there that I found that liked the 555R for road racing. The soft compound and stiff side wall worked good together. Nitto now has the 555R II that IS designed for road racing. Some of the Corvette forums seem to like them. They are able to enter turns faster and exit faster with the soft compounds. Several reports say the mileage is actually pretty decent with about 25K miles with occasional trips to the strip and redlight bandit starts. They are O K in the rain as long as you stay away from deep puddles. Most of the reviews stated that they liked them better than the BFGs for traction.

Bill

 

[Pat Buckley]

I have some friends who have used the drag radials on their cars at open track events and quite liked them.

I have used them on my car on the street and they don't seem to have any real vices.