Why nittos? because I have pissed away plenty of money on different brand tires Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Firehawk Wide Ovals, Nittos, Sumitomo HTRZ,  and Dunlop, and I can tell you nothing can stick 500-600HP down like Nittos on the street.  There may be better options for the track like MTs but, honestly they will see very little track time compared to street.

I have tried all three Nitto 555R tire sizes now and can give some insight to those trying to make the decision. It is important to note that Nitto did not produce the 305/40 18 when I bought my 35 and 45 series, hence the size swapping. I guess Nitto realized there was a pretty big gap between models too.

First: Nitto 555R 305/45 18 on my ROUSH/GT   28.78″ TALL (way too tall for me)

Second: Nitto 555R 305/35 18 on my 2008 Shelby GT500 26.42″  Nice but smaller than the 27″ stock goodyears and it shows with the big wheel well gap

Last try: Nitto 555R 305/40 18 on my 2008 Shelby GT500 27.72″  Just about perfect, not too tall but fills out the stock wheel well with room for an FRPP handling kit. WINNERS!!!

Slideshow of all three.

Since our last visit to the Shelby Las Vegas plant the whole place was rearranged with allot more professional look. Good job Shelby!  Here are some SLR photos instead of the lame iPhone pics from before.

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Just a few Mustang photos / illustrations I came across in my internet travels. Various photographers / artists. Couple GT500s, supersnake, and roush black jack

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Well Steve Saleen bailed on his Saleen Corporation to find other ways to remain relevant in the auto industry and it appears he’s off to a good start with the 25th anniversary edition SMS Saleen Mustang. 

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SPECS:

SMS 720 HP Supercharged 5.0L Aluminum Block V8
SMS CNC Ported Saleen Supercharger
SMS CNC Aluminum Heads
SMS Red Butterfly™ Induction System
SMS Light Blade™ LED Tail Light System
SMS Billet Aluminum Watts Link System
SMS Cross Drilled 15″ 6-Piston Front Brakes
SMS Cross Drilled 12″ Rear Brakes
SMS Two Piece Billet Aluminum Hood Vents
SMS Carbon Fiber Side Splitters
SMS Carbon Fiber Diffuser Fences
SMS Red Butterfly™ Quarter Intakes
SMS Chromosome™ Silver Paint
SMS Leather Grip Billet Aluminum Shifter and Shifter Bezel
SMS Leather Dash
SMS Leather Two Tone Door Inserts
SMS Leather Two Tone Seats
6-Speed Transmission

Performance:
720 HP/612 WHP
667 TQ/565 WTQ

This little number is a one of a kind Shelby GT500KR Glass Roof  #1of1 made for auction at Barrett Jackson. Even Shelby wants that one

My wife doing a little drive by in the stang so I can enjoy the Ford Racing Exhaust I just put on.

More fun at rock mountain raceway in the cobra.

2003 Cobra Mustang – CAI, EXHAUST, NO CATS, 410 Gears , BFG Drags Radials
2004 Cobra Mustang – STEEDA CAI, FLOW MASTERS, 3.0″ Pulley

Looks like I got killed but I won in the end, not by much

If you are ever in Vegas and in the mood to see some cool mustang heritage you might consider stopping by the Carroll Shelby factory right next to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Once a week on Friday only they offer a special tour of the facility where you will see the AC Cobra production room, the Shelby assembly area, and Shelby museum. Then top it off with signing Carroll’s wall with your personal signature, All free of charge. For a mustang freak like me it was heaven.

The day we were there, feb 2008,  they were working on the vista blue Shelby GT conversions, and a couple black and red Barrett Jackson editions. They had the speedway grounds full of them, 100s of them as far as you could see. Unfortunately they wouldn’t allow any photography inside the plant but I snagged a few of the first production GT500 KR parked out front and some super snakes in the museum.  Sorry they were taken with an iPhone and there wasn’t much light. Enjoy!

Shelby Plant Photos:

The boys at Car and Driver stopped by our wonderful state to test drive a pair of Mustang GT500KRs.  These were taken out at Miller Motor Sports Park in Tooele. Man they are sexy, here are some of the killer photos ( I did not take them ) – p.s. hope they could stand the supercharger whine, especially with the FRPP CAI on those

Took the cobra down to the track to see what I could do in it, had loads of fun!  High elevation tracks suck but it’s all relative cause the other cars are slower too