| ULTRA HIGH-PERFORMANCE |
| WHAT: | NITTO NT555 |
| WHERE: | ENGLISHTOWN, NJ |
| HOW IT WAS TESTED: | DRY SKIDPAD |
| TEST VEHICLE: | 2004 GTO LS1 AUTOMATIC |
Tire Details:
245/40/18, Z rated, 300 treadwear rating, traction A, temperature A, $512. The NT555's optimized tread pattern teams up with a dry-traction compound and high-block rigidity to provide lots of traction and the maximum contact patch under acceleration, braking, and cornering.
Testing:
This 2004 GTO was Chris Werner's Werner's supercharged project, since sold to NJ State Patrolman Will Carpenter. As tested, it had a stock suspension, stock rims, and stock 245/45/17 tires. The Real- World Skidpad down at Raceway Park (Englishtown, NJ) would be the test location. With the factory 17-inch rubber mounted, we hooked up the g-force tester and began the baseline runs. The stock setup felt smooth and predictable over our somewhat-rough skidpad, and several laps were made. A quick cool-down followed, after which the counter-clockwise laps were completed. Will's '04 Goat turned in a .85g clockwise run and .91g counter-clockwise, for a solid .88g average.
Time to swap the stock 17-inch wheel/tire combo for the uplevel 18-inch GTO rims and 245/40/18 Nittos. The new rims/tires are bolted on and given a couple warm-up laps, and then we put the wood to them. An impressive .94g greets us after the clockwise laps, but after the cooldown, the counter-clockwise hits impress us even more, showing .95g! The average works out to be .945g, a .065g improvement.
The stock GTO suspension really soaked up the uneven skidpad surface well, allowing the Nittos to do their dry-traction magic. We also noticed that the understeer that ran rampant with the 17-inch rim/ tire combo was gone with the 18s.