Sports cars have come a long way since the 1960s. They now make more than twice the amount of horsepower they did back in the day. A typical muscle car will churn as much as 300 horses off the showroom. Higher-end variants like the Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and the Chevrolet Camaro go as high as 650 hp.
To match all this power, tire manufacturers have had to innovate and improve on older designs. All the torque and horsepower in the world doesn’t mean anything if you can’t turn it into traction, hence, forward movement.
So, how does an incredible muscle car turn all its might into movement at the drag strip? Part of the answer lies in a great drag radial tire like Nitto Tire’s new NT555RII. Nitto has been at the forefront of producing high-performance tires designed for competition and street use. They are engineered to offer more than what a standard racing radial tire does.
The NT555RII comes with a more flexible design that ensures it’s soft enough for hard launches. It, however, remains adequately rigid to handle tough driving. It also works well with the NT555 G2, which is another addition to the collection of summer performance Nitto tires.
This means that you can put the NT555 G2 on the non-driven axle and the drag radials on the driven axle. Nitto managed to match the sizing and tread pattern of the two tires to meet the requirements of modern performance vehicles.
Word has it that running the NT555RII could mean drivers don’t have to do the hard work anymore. The NT555RII is Department of Transportation compliant. As a result, you could head over to the drag strip without having to trailer your muscle car or carry additional sets of wheels or tires. Drivers will no longer need to swap tires to participate in races.
Its semi-racing construction and high-grip compound improve traction when launching from 0-60 mph. Nitto Tire added large circumferential grooves to assist drivers when they meet wet conditions.
This makes the NT555RII the best in the game for drag races. It’s not only great for modern high-performance machines but also vintage American muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO, Chevrolet Camaro, and Ford Mustang.
Nitto made sure the design is also sturdy enough for trucks, SUVs, all-wheel and four-wheel-drive applications. The company will first release 10 sizes for wheels ranging between 15 and 22 inches in diameter. More sizes will be added shortly afterward.