Xeremeh

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of getting the hypercoated GT-4's from American Muscle. A set of 18x9s and 18x10s with Nitto 555's (255/45-18 and 275/40-18) to go on them, as well as the eibach pro kit springs to help with the stance, look, and ride. My questions are:

What is the life of these things if I don't race but maybe once every few months, use it as a DD and occassionally on a road-hugging joyride?

I know you can't rotate them, so do I just hafta buy new tires whenever the old ones wear?

Will these grip much better than stocks? My stocks, even with good tread, seem to slip and slide in the water, even if I'm taking it easy.

TEXASGT/CS

sup Jeremy, good choice on the wheels. I dont know much about the nittos tho.

Terrible thing last week, hows the mood down there.

gman73

I just had nitto 555s put on my car about a month ago. No complaints about the grip in wet or dry. These tires should last about 30k unless you do burnouts. You might want to re-think your rear tires size. IMO 275/40/18 would be a little to short for the rears; they are 26.61" The 255/45/18 are 26.97. This is according too Nittos site. I would get 285/40/18 for the rear. You will still be able to lower it without any clearance issues.

DLZ314

I have 275/40/18 NT555s at all four corners. I'm lowered on the Eibach springs and the tires drive very well wet/dry, with no clearances issues whatsoever.

DLZ314

I should add that during the first 50/60miles if you hit some rain you'll need kiddie gloves. A heavily placed foot on the go-pedal almost had me headlight to headlight....

Xeremeh

Hey Joe,

Good to hear from you! And yes, it's been pretty busy down here. You have hypercoated right? Do you like them? I'm still trying to decide between chrome or not.

Gman, you're saying 285-40-18 in the back? Hrm... How much higher will the back sit than the front? I'm not that great at balancing the tires out, but I do want a bit of an aggressive stance with it. I was saying the earlier one because that's what AM recommended.

gman73

That's funny that they recommended 275/40/18 in the rear. They usually recommend the 285/40/18 in the rear with a 18x10 rims. 285/40/18 are 26.97", so they would the same height or about .006" shorter than the front. Nitto list the 255/45/18 and the 285/40/18 at 26.97. Other tire companies list the 255/45/18 at 27.03". I have this set-up on my car and the front and rears look the same height. The 275/40/18 would be about .35 to .40" shorter than the front.

TEXASGT/CS

Yep, I love them, they are not chrome but they do have a "iredecent" (sp) coating on them, them change tints in different lights. During the day they look more silver then during the evening they kinda have the Black chrome look.
nite time pic

daytime pic

Xeremeh

So is it better to go with the 285/40/18 in the rear that will make them look the same, or better to go with a larger tire to set the rear up a little higher? Or best to leave that to other suspension parts?

gman73

I would go with the 285/40/18 in the rear. The next size up would be 295/45/18. The tire height would be 28.5" That would work as well, but because of the tire height your gearing would be affected. Right now I assume you have 3.31s. if you go with 295/45/18 your new gearing would be the same as 3.15.