BFG KDW NT vs Nitto 555 Extreme

[mc84_zz4]

OK, so I am shopping for some new tires, and have gone the BFG route many times, and have had great results, but I have seen the Nitto 555s have a big following too.
The car is mostly a street daily-driver type, pushed hard at times, probably no time trials or slaloms in the near future. Streets over here are extremely good or bad, and everything in between.

What are your experiences? pro's or con's? Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.
I am going with the usual route of 245/45/17 & 275/40/17. I also was considering the BFG KDWs, but I like the design of the KDW-NTs better.

[buickfunnycar.com]

Got the 555's on almost every set of wheels and the 555R's on the Chevelle and I have no complaints with Nitto tires on a street car.
Good compliant,square tire usually smaller than most others in similar sizing if that's a factor.Good looking tread patterns and smooth sidewall.

I even have them (NeoGens) on my Focus DD,lol...

[mr66]

The nitto555 and 555r seems to be a great tires. I havent had them on the car all that long, my only complaint is, when driving through a neighborhood they throw alot of pebbles around in the rear wheelwells. Great looking tires though.

[4086D9]

Im in the same boat and trying to decide between them as well. I think I am going with the 555's. I was told the BFG's NT's tread was kinda loud with its tread design. I also like the really square sidewalls of the Nittos.

[buickfunnycar.com]

The nitto555 and 555r seems to be a great tires. I havent had them on the car all that long, my only complaint is, when driving through a neighborhood they throw alot of pebbles around in the rear wheelwells. Great looking tires though.

I hear ya...try driving through a seldom used parking lot.:confused:

[Johnny Blaze]

Looking at the same tires myself.

Had the g force sports and loved them.

Reading a lot of reviews on the kdw nt being very very noisy. Which is turning me to the nittos as well.

[mc84_zz4]

Yeah, I have read quite a few of the reviews on several tire sites, and trying to weed out the extremes of the spectrum.

So I thought I would ask for feedback here, since more members here would be more along the lines of my style of driving, and objective about road noise, since you would probably cruise with the windows down every now & then, and also have good grasp of how tires are supposed to feel at the limit. Which to me is the #1 reason for buying a performance tire.
The quiet ride and looks, well, if all things being equal, then those may come into the decision too.

From my experience the NT would probably be best in water due to the aggressive channels, while the 555 would have a quieter ride due to the amount of rubber in constant contact, and the center design. JMHO
Thanks for all the feedback so far!, keep em rolling.

NT vs 555

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Found some other threads of similar comparos:
http://www.mustangforums.com/forum/general-tech/27161-bfg-kdw-or-nitto-nt-555-extreme-performance.html
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130507

This is more for the drag radial versions:
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/wheels-tires/298692-bf-goodrich-drag-radials-vs-nitto-555r.html

[mc84_zz4]

Anybody have some BF Goodrich KDW NTs? love them or hate them?

I found a more elaborate comparison from Car & Driver:
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q2/tire_test_nine_affordable_summer_tires_take_on_the _michelin_ps2-comparison_tests

Unfortunately they do not have the Nittos in this test, and have tires from 180 to 340 treadwear in the same comparo, not really apples to apples - IMO. Still a good read.

BTW, Ran accross another article Nitto 555 R vs Kumho V700:
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/tech/0203gmhtp_tire_comparison/index.html

[Draginutz]

Bump! I want answers too!

[Yelcamino]

I have the NT 555 on my Elky and the BFG (new tread pattern) on my Chevelle and honestly, to me there's no difference in normal around town/highway driving. If either tire is noisy, there's no way I'd notice it over the exhaust noise on either car.

One thing I did notice however, on the autocross the Chevlle w/BFG seems to push more in the corners compared to the Elky w/Nitto. I'm sure the difference in handling characteristics is due more to the differences in the cars than the tires, but it's just the one thing I noticed.

[ProdigyCustoms]

We just pulled Nitto's off Michaels Mustang and put on KDWs and he likes the KDWs better, especially in the rain. He says it hooks better also, but he may be comparing that to the worn out Nittos.

Here is what I know. Air Ride, DSE, Prodigy Customs, all run BFGs. And we do not run the tires because we are BFG partners, we are BFG partners because we run the tires!

[Draginutz]

Thanks Frank and Herb!

[732ndgen]

i couldent decide either, but a locall tie shop got me one of each and mounted them.I diddent like the nitts, ithought the looked to square and smooth on the side wall.

[ssx]

I'm ordering my tires today and it came down to this for me....BFG has the best looking pattern (IMO) and Tire Rack had the best shipped prices to Hawaii! I'm getting 215/40/18 and 275/35/19 for the Nova.

[Matt@BOS]

I've got Nitto 555s on my Mustang that gets driven daily and KDWs on the Camaro. I can't comment too much about the KDWs yet, other that in a muscle car, with the windows down the tire noise was a non issue. I'm pretty happy with the 555s although they aren't great in rain and are horrible during the few days where its cold and rainy around Los Angeles. Still, they weren't designed for those conditions, so I can't complain too much.

Matt

[mc84_zz4]

Thanks for all the feedback! I was pretty set for the KDW-NTs from the get-go, I have a similar tread on my pickup from Goodyear (Fortera triple tread) and we had some real downpours last week, those tires drive in hard rain like there was no rain.
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Sort of similar v-shaped water channels, although the BFG has more contact area it seems...
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An older tread I had from BFG is about as aggressive, and I had no complaints about noise either.
I think either tire would be a good choice, but I prefer the BFGs, this will be more of a daily driver, and rain and cold will be part of life.


....we do not run the tires because we are BFG partners, we are BFG partners because we run the tires!
Thanks Frank, that's my style too...

Thanks all!
Dave.

[4086D9]

I ended up going with the 555's. Should be here monday.

[Tuske427]

I think you made a good choice. Nitto is owned by Toyo, and they make, imo, the best tires money can buy.

I might be biased (wife works at Toyo), but having personally used the RA1, the T1R, the Proxes ST and STII on my vehicles, I have all positive things to say about all them. I've also had BFG tires and, well, they are ok. Nothing special..

Not to mention Toyo uses stock off the shelf consumer products for racing (no specially made "race edition" tire that isn't available to the consumer) and they are the brand that was used to stop BFG's reign in Baja.