[joes455]

Who makes a good 295/50/15 street tire besides drag radials.currently looking at mickey st , cooper cobra and hankook kinergy.Any 1st hand experiance a plus.Mickey sr are too pricey and slippery when wet.

[JLMounce]

Unfortunately, I don’t believe you are going to be able to find a tire that will satisfy both your dry and wet traction needs in those sizes.

Tire producers are simply not creating hardcore street performance tires in high aspect ratio 15” sizes.

There are several tires that can be recommended that would do both if you were willing or able to increase wheel diameter. I just purchased new tires this week and even 17” fitments are showing signs of declining interest in performance, wet capable tires. 18” is a sweet spot for price/performance right now.

Barring a larger diameter wheel your best option may be a set of the Cooper Cobras for your daily activities, and another set of rears with a drag radial for when you need it.

One final option may be a vintage sports car tire like an Avon or Goodyear Eagle. These will be a bias ply tire and can be had in sizes like a 26.5 x 10.5 which would be close to that 295/50/15. They would offer better dry grip while also being somewhat capable in the rain. They are spendy however between the tires and tubes.

[zippy]

My Nitto 555 are not to bad. Not as good as a radial TA in the wet of same width, but dry, I smoke a radial TA. I'm also running 285/45/18

[Steve C.]

The mickey Thompson sportsman s t and the Cooper cobra are the same tire except a slightly different tread pattern



.

[25stevem]

Also note that the ware rating of any given tire comes into play here.
The higher the rating the harder the tire will be and this correlates directly into how well the tire grips on a dry road, of course with all other factors being equal.

[Radman]

I am running Hoosier Street Pro tires on the rear. Great dry traction, decent wet traction. They are a softer compound so the mileage is shorter than the TA tires.

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by Radman

I am running Hoosier Street Pro tires on the rear. Great dry traction, decent wet traction. They are a softer compound so the mileage is shorter than the TA tires.

What is the treadwear on those? I was looking for that on Hoosiers website yesterday and couldnt find it. Same with the M/T S/R.

Several tracks around here to a street tire category which the rules stipulate a 220 treadwear. This is to eliminate the use of DOT drag radials. So I would be interested in a street tire that is at or above that 220 number.

[Radman]

I went down to the garage and looked at the tires. I could not find a treadwear rating on the tires. They are classified as a light truck tire by the DOT. The only information that I could find on the tire was: DOT 17YY

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by Radman

I went down to the garage and looked at the tires. I could not find a treadwear rating on the tires. They are classified as a light truck tire by the DOT. The only information that I could find on the tire was: DOT 17YY

Appreciate the effort. I will have to call them if and when I get ready to buy some. For reference a standard touring tire is usually in the 700 range. A Nitto 555R is a 0 and a M/T S/S is a 00 if I remember correctly.

[Don 79 TA]

i have the MT ST's in 255 60 15
they are 440 treadwear, which means will not stick like a DR (assuming we all know and understand that)
my tires are 11 years old now, so not sure if they changed compounds
if i am not mistaken the SR compound was supposed to be similar to the old BFG drag radials. i don't recall where i've seen that mentioned but it was multiple times

good 15 tires are getting harder to find, and i personally don't like the larger rim look on older cars, just a personal taste

[Brentco]

I have the 295/50R15 Cooper Cobras. They have been a great tire. Pretty sticky for a street tire. Cooper seems to punch above its weight in general. I’m in SoCal so I don’t have a ton of experience with them in wet conditions, but as far as I’ve seen they’ve been fine.

[tooski]

I'm in the same boat. Trying to decide on real street tires or dot drag tires. The dot drags should last a bit at 2k or less miles a year. Fair weather driving only. And also, the strip I planned on frequenting is being shut down. On another car my BFG's are good from a 20 mph roll. Standing start just up in smoke.

[tooski]

I'm in the same boat. Trying to decide on real street tires or dot drag tires. The dot drags should last a bit at 2k or less miles a year. Fair weather driving only. And also, the strip I planned on frequenting is being shut down. On another car my BFG's are good from a 20 mph roll. Standing start just up in smoke.

[joes455]

Thanks everyone,decided to keep the 275/50 nittos 555 on 10" ralley wheels for the street and run the 275/60 mt dr on 8" ralley wheels for track only.I'll have a good dry firm side wall . The 10" rims makes the back very responsive and stable .I just wont drive in the rain

[ta man]

Originally Posted by joes455

Thanks everyone,decided to keep the 275/50 nittos 555 on 10" ralley wheels for the street and run the 275/60 mt dr on 8" ralley wheels for track only.I'll have a good dry firm side wall . The 10" rims makes the back very responsive and stable .I just wont drive in the rain

Good choice..but I would go the opposite 10inch for 60's...I have to do the same thing I need a good tire for the street>>the BFG's are great for cartoon burnouts..but just too dangerous for the street.