Hello,
I am looking to buy new tires for my GN. I have 15x8 weld racing rims right now. The guy at the local performance shop told me to get BF Goodrich drag radials 275/50/15's. I need something relatively inexpensive (150/tire) that will drive street and strip. By my measurments, they will be mighty close to my wheel wells and I dont want to drop 250 on tires that rub. My current tires are 245/60/15's and they are about 1.5" away from the well. Any advice would be much appreciated.
All cars are different. It could depend on the condition of your shocks and springs. Also, some cars have more space on one side of the car then on the other.
Right now, I have 265/50/15 on stock GN rims with no problems, if maybe a little close. I have lowering springs that lowered the car 1". I know people that have 275/50/15 on the stockers as well. But that is a 15*7. Maybe the 15*8 will pull it out a little bit more, making it a tighter squeeze...
You could "roll" the inner wheel well lip.
I would do it, but I don't listen to anyone and I like to take chances... ;-)
Nitto Drag Radials..275/50/15 fit nice on my stockers..they would fit even better on your 15x8's. No rubbing or anything. Plus - they're only $155 from www.discounttiredirect.com, last twice as long as the BFG's and are surprisingly GREAT in the rain unlike my bud's TTA with BFG's..he's all over the place on the highway. I cant recommend these enough. After last season of drag racing every week and doing big smokey burnouts all the time at the track - they have tons of tread left as well. The nittos are rated for 15K miles, the BFG's for 7K miles. Makes your money go a lot farther with (in my opinion) just as good if not better traction as long as they're heated up first. Here's a few pics of mine on sagging rear shocks..i have new shocks now. Even when the car sagged it still didn't rub:
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~morpheus99/mysite/page_01.htm
I love those tires
Are those tires really streetable? A friend of mine says a guy he knows can't drive them over 55 for more than 30 miles without the backend swervin on him. It might have been a different type of Nitto though. Thanks for the input.
Perfectly streetable in my opinion. I drive 80 miles to the track at 32psi, lower to 16psi for racing all night, then back up to 32psi for the 80mile drive home every single week and there's never been a hint of instability or swaying - even in the rain on the highway. Put it this way -i'd bet it's the most streetable drag tire you can buy..the fact being they are radials unlike most other D.O.T. drag tires.
All right, you were correct. Those tires are awesome. I haven't launched from stop yet, but I can at least launch from 10! thats a big improvement from 35. The Nitto 275/50/15's work perfectly on my 15x8's. They look great too. Thanks for the advice. Got them put on and bought/shipped for $298.