275/40r17

[gjestico]

I have an 88 Trans am with these size tires. Need some new sticky ones. There doesn't seem to be a lot of choice in perf tires for this size ? BFG Rival lists specs, but no one has any for real. Whats the best choice ?. Thanks.

[SSLance]

I've been in the same dilemma for a couple of years, 255/40/17 in a BFG Rival S or RE71 or step up to a 18" wheel and get back to 275s is number 1 choice. Falken 615Ks in a 275/40/17 is #2 choice.

I've run the Falkens for several years now and they are a pretty good tire, they last a long time and give lots of grip. They are just not as race tire sticky as the BFG and RE71s and will be a second or so slower for even a well sorted car and good driver on an autocross course than the others.

I bolted on a set of wore out 255 BFGs for a test and even with the tread just about gone and being a half inch narrower, they were faster than the Falkens on my car.

So it all depends on what you want, you want a pretty good tire that serves most purposes...get the Falkens. If you want to win autocrosses...get some smaller BFGs. Personally I'm working on upgrading to 18s so I can get the wider stickier tires on my car.

[chpr1972]

go to http://tiresize.com/chart/. Scroll down to tire height chart and wheel size and it will give you width and height of each tire size. 275/40/17 is 25.7 tall and 10.8 wide. A 275/35/17 is 25.1 by 11.6. your car came with a 26.0 x8.5 wide. The problem is is what manufacture makes that size. I did not worry about tire sticky so by using the chart I went with Nitto tires at a 500 wear rating. They will last a long time and suprisingly grab pretty good for that wear factor. Altho a friend of mine says the tear tires have a foot problem! lol. Just remember that a sticky tire wear out real quick on the street and break parts.

[gjestico]

I am actually considering Nitto 555R drag radials. They make the 275/40r17 size, comparatively cheap, and in stock everywhere. Now being a "Drag Radial" they should have a wimpy sidewall, But I have run them on another car (in a smaller size) and didn't find them to be loose.

[68Cuda440]

275/35/18...

[chpr1972]

drag radials are not rated for the rain are they

[Project92rs]

You could try the BFG Sport Comp 2. It comes in a 275/40/17. Not as sticky as some of the others listed but a solid street car tire that can do decent at an autocross.

[badazz81z28]

[QUOTE=Project92rs;1193686]You could try the BFG Sport Comp 2. It comes in a 275/40/17. Not as sticky as some of the others listed but a solid street car tire that can do decent at an autocross.[/QUOTE

You can easily over power those tires. Even in second gear, if I step on the pedal and not even full throttle they break loose. The reason rivals are a lot better is the tread wear is 200 vs 340 and of course nothing bad to say about drag radials.

If you have some decent horsepower I would just buy the rivals if autocross is the goal

[rentedmule]

I did a lot of searching on this topic a while ago and the consensus for a 200TW 275/40-17 seemed to be the Nitto NT05's. The 615K's have a reputation for overheating quickly, especially on heavier cars. The NT05's are supposed to comparable to the 615K's for grip but a bit more predictable. The Nittos look narrower on my car than some of the other 275/40's I've run and they're definitely not in the same league as the newer 200TW tires so it wouldn't surprise me at all if the 255 Rivals were stickier. I haven't had a chance to run them on course yet so I'm just passing along what I've read - take it for what it's worth!

[badazz81z28]

I did a lot of searching on this topic a while ago and the consensus for a 200TW 275/40-17 seemed to be the Nitto NT05's. The 615K's have a reputation for overheating quickly, especially on heavier cars. The NT05's are supposed to comparable to the 615K's for grip but a bit more predictable. The Nittos look narrower on my car than some of the other 275/40's I've run and they're definitely not in the same league as the newer 200TW tires so it wouldn't surprise me at all if the 255 Rivals were stickier. I haven't had a chance to run them on course yet so I'm just passing along what I've read - take it for what it's worth!


I seem to come across this on "how wide can I go" debates. Tire sizes are not all equal....nitto are small for their sizing. The same size tire in say a BFG drag radial is much wider. I would try to up the size of the nitto if you go that way