ERND IT

My humble opinion – Nitto NT-05…

If you aren’t familiar with this company or this particular tire – please check out the Nitto website for details here:
http://www.nittotire.com/#index%2Etire%2Ent05

Performance rating: W
Treadwear: 200
Traction: AA
Temperature: A

My Car: 2002 Z06
My car is essentially set up as a strong autocross (SCCA A Street Prepared class; NCCC Group 2 J)and track car with primarily suspension mods. But - I still have a license plate on it and do drive it on the street periodically. I mounted these tires on a set of CCW “street” classic wheels – 17” front, 18” rear and put 275’s up front with the 295’s rear.

First Thoughts:
When UPS delivered the tires the first thing I noticed was the “weird” tread pattern. There are two huge “channels” down the middle section of the tire with a very prominent offset bias-cut center rib that make it look a little strange at first compared to other tires with a similar pattern. The deep shoulder tread block grooves are thick and meaty – these tires actually looked to me to be very capable even in an un-mounted state.

Dry Driving Conditions – street:
Most people look for a smooth and quiet ride with good handling at speed in any street tire they buy for a Corvette - and these tires, in my opinion, live up to that quite well. I drove several hundred miles on these tires both around town (stop and go traffic) as well as straight (mostly over the speed limit) interstate driving. I was more than happy with the performance, feel and amount of noise generated by these tires. I would have no problem using these tires as a daily driver option.

Wet Driving Conditions – street:
I must admit, I was a little skeptical about what kind of performance I would get driving on these "weird" treaded tires in wet driving conditions. Again, even though I drove through heavy rain and on roads with ruts and deep puddles at interstate speeds, I experienced no hydroplaning or uncontrollability of the car whatsoever. I was really happy with performance here, too.

SCCA Autocross – Dry
Although I normally trailer my car to events and run full-out stickies, I took this opportunity to drive on these NT-05’s about 75 miles each way to attend a local SCCA autocross. Ideally, I think there are quite a few weekend racers who would like a tire set up that allows for the convenience of driving to an event, competing and getting a competitive time at the event and then driving home – so that’s what I did. Since I’m used to using either Hoosier A6’s or Kumho 710’s as my tire choice for autocross events, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from the NT-05. The course was a typical (average 50 second) SCCA course that offered several slaloms, short straights and 2 sweeping decreasing radius turns – enough elements to put the tire to a decent test for grip and overall handling. Once again – I was pleasantly surprised with this tire’s capabilities. Admittedly not as “grippy” as I’m used to, in 5 runs I was able to get through the somewhat gravelly course with no spins, no mishaps and ended up posting the top time of the day for combined Ladies Street Prepared Class.

Overall I drove approximately 900 miles on the Nitto NT-05’s before coming to any conclusion. I am impressed with these tires and their performance as a very capable street tire with an autocross attitude. In fact, if you ARE one of those people looking to “drive and run”, give this tire serious consideration. The cost is reasonable and they are available in a variety of sizes to fit our Corvettes.

63Corvette

Thanks for the great writeup Donna

Vette Ed

great write up, I luv my Nitto 555R2

ERND IT

thanks all -
good choice for the $$

AlwaysInBoost

excellent write up.

MungoZ06

Thanks, Donna ...
Can you speak to tire pressures - road and autox?

RusherRacing

Great write up and my thoughts follow yours to a T!

NemesisC5

Thanks for the great writeup,,,,,,can anyone chime in yet how well these tires perform throughout 20 minute sessions on roadcourse HPDE's?

Sounds like these are at least a great hybrid for driving to & competing in auto-x, I'm wondering how much time they may give up to R888's during the longer roadcourse sessions.....OR, is this comparing apples to oranges (100 treadwear R compound to 200 treadwear "non R")

stano

I've only got about 15 track days under my belt, but with the NT05's I have two track days at WSIR. WSIR ( Willow Springs International Raceway ) is a fast track. I'm still learning. The NT05's held up without any real issues that I could feel. They didn't go away at the end of the day and I had full confidence in the tires. I ran 5 30 min sessions 85* temps. The tires do heat up quickly. I started out at 30 psi cold and after the first session the fronts were at about 37 hot and the rears 39. No oversteer at all. I'm using the 285/335 combo by the way. My second day out I was testing a new alignment and playing with pressures. I've heard that Nitto recommends 40 hot. I increased the pressures to 40 cold on the street just to see what happens in 95* heat doing some corners and they only heated up about 3psi. Pretty typical. I know it's not the track. I think my next time out I'll set the fronts at 35 and the rears at 32 and see what happens. Oh, I didn't feel the sidewalls were rolling over. I have a feeling these tire like higher air pressures....we'll see.

Hope this helps...

Stan

p.s. I concur with the Op in that these tires are great on the street.

ERND IT

great question - I should have included that...
I did a little bit of experimenting:

for street driving I ran 32 square

for autox - I found that for the surface conditions/outdoor temperature at the time - 31F and 29R worked best for me. they didn't really get a chance to heat up too much and i didn't see a big jump in pressure, but I did check them after each run and bled out what was needed to stay at that level. I believe the mfgr recommends a bit higher for std driving ...

No track experience with these tires... yet - but they could see at least 1 session at the Chin Mid-Ohio event on Monday

ERND IT

NemesisC5

Thanks, I have a street car begging for more traction & a quiet ride.....I may try these on track soon as well.

QUIKSILVERZ

great info guys. getting ready to order a set for my 02z

ERND IT

11psiGSR

I must agree with ERND IT on his review. I replaced my F1 SC's for a set of NT05's on my C5 Z06 in March and used them on the street for about 45 days before my first HPDE on them.

Here is my initial review: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-z...pressions.html

I have NT01's on my other track vehicle and have been impressed to date. I was looking for an alternative to an R compound as I spend time getting to know the car (only 2 HPDE's in the Vette so far). My first HPDE with the NT05's was just a few weeks ago at Roebling Road. I was extremely impressed with the cars performance using the NT05's. They heat up fast and are much stickier than I anticipated. They are certainly NOT an R compound, but they are a great street/track alternative if that is your bag.

After 10x 20 minute sessions I would estimate about 15-20% tread loss, which is also better than I expected. They are relatively inexpensive as well. A nice bonus.

Only downside to them may be their wet weather performance. They are certainly as good if not better than the GY F1 SC's, but I would guess the PS2's are superior in this area. Then again, they cost almost exactly double.

PA Z06

I will try my nt05's this Friday at NJMP and report back to this thread

Nando

QUIKSILVERZ

mine will be here this week

Kanmer

You went to MO with Chin?!?!?! I was thinking of going with The Over The Hill Gang but ran out of funding so I chose not to go. How did you like it? You really should come up and run with NASA MA sometime.

Bob

beerkat

Nice write-up Donna. I have always like Nitto tires. I guess I may try a set for my car when I get it back on the road.

DonF

Where is the best deal for these tires, great write up!