[94cobra69ss396]

Phil and I are going to be running the Cobra at Willow Springs on Oct 3-4 so I'm going to be buying some new track tires. The rims I'll be using are my Steeda Ultra Lights that are 17x9.5 front and 17x10.5 rear so I'm going to run a larger tire in the rear. I've decided to go with either a Nitto NT01 like I had before or the NT05. Due to cost, if I go with the NT01 I'll run a 255/40/17 front and 275/40/17 rear. If I go with the NT05 I'll run a 275/40/17 front and a 315/35/17 rear.

My question is will the wider NT05 be as quick as the narrower NT01? If not I'll go with the NT01. If the NT05 will be just as quick then I'll go with it since they are still cheaper than the NT01 even though they are wider and they'll last longer.

[Shaolin Crane]

I loved my NT05s, however they are more of a high-performance street tire than a track tire. They handle water very well and will last a while. However even the NA car could easily break them loose. The NT01s will be much much better. If you get lucky Hoosier usuallu blows out their A6/R6 stock towards the years end which will blow anything Nitto offers out of the water

[Redondo Jon]

Track tire: NT-01
Street: NT-05
Even if the 05 for your car is wider, I think you’ll get better performance from the 01.

[94cobra69ss396]

I ran NT01 before and loved them. They were only 245/45/17 because that's what would fit my stock Cobra Rims but I'm now using those rim for my street tires and the wider Steeda rim for the track tires. I've decided to go with the NT01 in a 275/40/17 front and rear even though the rear rims are 1 inch wider.

[Vettezuki]

I definitely need more tire. Even with quite a bit less torque than Ron, I can break loose my 255 NT450s pretty easy from a roll. Forget anything approaching a hard launch. . . for which my aluminum dana 44 may be grateful.

I was pretty much thinking NT05 275s all around when the time comes. My weight distribution is 50/50 so I may not need as much tire up front, but that will let me rotate them.

[94cobra69ss396]

I ordered the NT01 in 275/40/17 on Saturday from Americas Tire near my house. They didn't have them locally though. The closest store that had them was in TX but they were going to check Nitto here in L.A. to see if they have them in stock. I'm just waiting to hear back from them.

I also ordered Rabestos race pads in the ST47 compound. They are supposed to have great bite but also be street friendly. I plan to run them all the time since I can't afford separate rotors for track only at right now.

I also bought a different set of shocks for the rear because the Tokico Blues I had were too soft for the torque arm. I should buy new TA springs from Maximum Motorsports but after buying tires and brakes I can't afford them. That's why I did the shocks and those came from Pick-A-Part. I just started looking through the full size trucks to see if I could find a shock that had an eye on the bottom with a stem on the top that would be the right length. I figured the weight of the front end of a full size would require a firmer shock than the back of the Cobra. I ended up finding a Navigator that had upgraded the air shocks to a set of coilovers. They had the same extended length as the Tokicos so I pulled them and installed them on the Cobra without the coils. They are firmer and it car seems to have a lot less understeer with them. One day I'll do it right and buy the TA springs and a pair of Koni single adjustables like I have n the front. But these seem to work better than the Tokicos for now.

Ben the tires I'm running right now are cheapy Nankan in a 255/40/17 with a 320 wear rating. On a cool day they will break loose in third gear at about 60 mph. On warmer days they will hold third but second gear will break loose anytime. Even with my M/T ET Street slicks (26x11.5x17 but are actually only 9.5 wide) I can't give it full throttle though first because they break loose. I can give it full throttle in second though and they'll hook unless I power shift from first to second and go full throttle. Then second just spins and I have to throttle it.

[94cobra69ss396]

I installed the Raybestos pads yesterday and also bled the system with new Fluid. After installing them I went up to my brake bedding street and did 10 35-5 mph pulls at medium pressure and then went to 5 50-5 mph firm pressure but man do these pads bite. I couldn't go too firm on pressure or the front would skid active get the abs. Most people would probably complain about that but with the NT01 they shouldn't start to skid plus with Phil and I in the car we will be at close to 3900lbs. I'll need all the pad I can get.