ope_sry
Well-Known Member
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Recently wore out my Nitto 555r2’s and decided to try the Mickey Thomson Street SS this time around for comparison. I’ve had them on for a month now and I’ll share my personal experience in this needlessly long and probably previously discussed thread. This pertains to rear tires only.
My specs:
-Lowered on eibach springs (us)
-Oem wheels
-20mm spacers rear
-Irrelevant, but fronts are 555g2 on 18mm -spacer (perfect fitment)
-Driven on the street only
Nitto 555r2, 285-35-19:
With eibachs and 20mm spacer fitment was *perfect* (see first 3 pics). Some initial rubbing until the tire burned through a small portion of the fender well liner. It’s up inside the fender where you’ll never see it and I couldn’t care less. Took about 500 miles to quit rubbing on big bumps but once the material burned off I never had another rubbing issue. Much grippier than stock, but I was never blown away by the grip, even after a burnout, but again, my experience with them is street use only. I had them at 30psi for commuting and ~18psi on weekends for cruising/roll racing. They lasted ~8,000 miles with a decent amount of rolling burnouts and donuts on them. They felt great on the highway and were no louder than stock tires. They cornered well and I was always confident on them, I never felt like I was on a drag radial. Once tread was about half I hydroplaned on any amount of standing water and they were not safe to drive in the rain (expected).
Mickey Thompson ET Street SS, 285-35-19:
First thing I noticed after having mounted is that the sidewall bulges out beyond the lip of the wheel, whereas the Nitto sidewall ran flush with the wheel face. I removed the 20mm spacer and installed an 18mm which is all I had on hand. The wheel face sits just inside the fender but the sidewall of the tire still protrudes ~10mm (See last 2 pics).They obviously rub but mama didn’t raise no bitch and I’ve got about 1,000 miles on them. I’ve got some 5mm and 10mm spacers coming to fix and tuck, just not thrilled that the wheels will be inset so far-minor gripe though.
2nd thing I noticed was each wheel has the biggest stack of balance weights I’ve ever seen. There must be close to 1 lb. of weight on each wheel, way beyond what the Nittos required to come into balance. Another minor gripe because they are drag radials, but wow are they unbalanced.
Now I’ll address the big gripe. In the back of my mind was a thread on here I read ages ago about the MT et street being unstable at highway speeds, but I never put any stock in it, just thought there was more to the story and something seemed fucky. But I am having similar issues. Above 40mph the car “darts”. It’s not aggressive, but the steering wheel has a sloppy feel to it and minor steering inputs on the highway produce a roll feel side to side. In a straight line I took them to 130mph and had to stop there because it felt so unstable. I know the sidewalls are softer on these vs. the nittos, but I’m surprised at how bad they are, especially in a straight line. It’s just unsettling with the loose side to side feeling. I’ve tried everything between 20 and 40psi with no effect. I corner slowly and am generally on edge now during aggressive driving.
On a positive note they hook up much better than the nittos did for me, at 18psi they are truly awesome launching on the street with my modest 450-500whp.
Wet traction is comparable to the nittos so far, I know they’ll start hydroplaning eventually though. Road noise is slightly louder with these. As far as longevity I can’t say yet, except it appears that these are wearing noticeably faster. With 1k miles I’m already at the point of flipping the tires to correct uneven wear (I’m about -2.0 camber)
My verdict- the Nittos win by a mile. I know many on here will roll their eyes having known this already but it was a good firsthand lesson for me. For 1/4 mile guys this could be a different story but for me the important factors are fitment and drive-ability so by my metrics the Mickey’s are a flat out dud.
Anyways I’ll ride wear them out as quick as I can and go back to Nittos…unless I make up my mind on a drag pack.
I have 1 question for committed readers who made it this far:
Is this darty/sloppy/floatiness as simple as the sidewall protruding wider then the wheel? I didn’t go 305 specifically to avoid the ballon-tire look which I find appalling but I guess 285 wasn’t narrow enough. Would this tire in 275 fix the issue and expose an overwhelming ignorance on my part?
My specs:
-Lowered on eibach springs (us)
-Oem wheels
-20mm spacers rear
-Irrelevant, but fronts are 555g2 on 18mm -spacer (perfect fitment)
-Driven on the street only
Nitto 555r2, 285-35-19:
With eibachs and 20mm spacer fitment was *perfect* (see first 3 pics). Some initial rubbing until the tire burned through a small portion of the fender well liner. It’s up inside the fender where you’ll never see it and I couldn’t care less. Took about 500 miles to quit rubbing on big bumps but once the material burned off I never had another rubbing issue. Much grippier than stock, but I was never blown away by the grip, even after a burnout, but again, my experience with them is street use only. I had them at 30psi for commuting and ~18psi on weekends for cruising/roll racing. They lasted ~8,000 miles with a decent amount of rolling burnouts and donuts on them. They felt great on the highway and were no louder than stock tires. They cornered well and I was always confident on them, I never felt like I was on a drag radial. Once tread was about half I hydroplaned on any amount of standing water and they were not safe to drive in the rain (expected).
Mickey Thompson ET Street SS, 285-35-19:
First thing I noticed after having mounted is that the sidewall bulges out beyond the lip of the wheel, whereas the Nitto sidewall ran flush with the wheel face. I removed the 20mm spacer and installed an 18mm which is all I had on hand. The wheel face sits just inside the fender but the sidewall of the tire still protrudes ~10mm (See last 2 pics).They obviously rub but mama didn’t raise no bitch and I’ve got about 1,000 miles on them. I’ve got some 5mm and 10mm spacers coming to fix and tuck, just not thrilled that the wheels will be inset so far-minor gripe though.
2nd thing I noticed was each wheel has the biggest stack of balance weights I’ve ever seen. There must be close to 1 lb. of weight on each wheel, way beyond what the Nittos required to come into balance. Another minor gripe because they are drag radials, but wow are they unbalanced.
Now I’ll address the big gripe. In the back of my mind was a thread on here I read ages ago about the MT et street being unstable at highway speeds, but I never put any stock in it, just thought there was more to the story and something seemed fucky. But I am having similar issues. Above 40mph the car “darts”. It’s not aggressive, but the steering wheel has a sloppy feel to it and minor steering inputs on the highway produce a roll feel side to side. In a straight line I took them to 130mph and had to stop there because it felt so unstable. I know the sidewalls are softer on these vs. the nittos, but I’m surprised at how bad they are, especially in a straight line. It’s just unsettling with the loose side to side feeling. I’ve tried everything between 20 and 40psi with no effect. I corner slowly and am generally on edge now during aggressive driving.
On a positive note they hook up much better than the nittos did for me, at 18psi they are truly awesome launching on the street with my modest 450-500whp.
Wet traction is comparable to the nittos so far, I know they’ll start hydroplaning eventually though. Road noise is slightly louder with these. As far as longevity I can’t say yet, except it appears that these are wearing noticeably faster. With 1k miles I’m already at the point of flipping the tires to correct uneven wear (I’m about -2.0 camber)
My verdict- the Nittos win by a mile. I know many on here will roll their eyes having known this already but it was a good firsthand lesson for me. For 1/4 mile guys this could be a different story but for me the important factors are fitment and drive-ability so by my metrics the Mickey’s are a flat out dud.
Anyways I’ll ride wear them out as quick as I can and go back to Nittos…unless I make up my mind on a drag pack.
I have 1 question for committed readers who made it this far:
Is this darty/sloppy/floatiness as simple as the sidewall protruding wider then the wheel? I didn’t go 305 specifically to avoid the ballon-tire look which I find appalling but I guess 285 wasn’t narrow enough. Would this tire in 275 fix the issue and expose an overwhelming ignorance on my part?
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