Nitto NT05 - Tire Review

But rain isn’t what the NT05 is about, and the rain only lasted the afternoon. In the dry, the NT05 shines. It feels like an NT01 for the streets. It’s nearly as sticky at street temperatures but doesn’t wear as fast. One thing that does stand out about the NT05 is the overall stiffness of the sidewall and tread block. The tire is still sensitive to minor bumps and cracks and will transmit the input through the suspension a little more. But this is the communication that you will need when taking this tire on track. The sidewall stiffness is also key to supporting the huge lateral loads generated when you go on track.

The lack of tire squeal will take some getting use to. For the average driver, when a tire starts talking, it’s a sign that it’s near its peak traction limit. The squeal comes from tread blocks squirming under the huge load. But with race tires or tires with large tread blocks like the NT05, tread squirm is minimal. This increases cornering confidence and stability, but also means the tire won’t make much noise as it approaches its traction limits. Racers intuitively know this limit and don’t need to listen for it, but inexperienced drivers will have to take some time to work up to it. Once past the traction limits, the tire breaks away smoothly much like the NT01 does on track.

We like this tire enough that we’ve decided to put the same NT05 tire on our new Nissan twin-turbo 350Z Street class time attack car. The NT05’s combination of street longevity, track durability, feedback and grip—and its 200 UTQG wear rating—make it an ideal fit for Super Lap Battle Street class competition. The initial release of sizes are intended for larger cars, but do come in the wider sizes needed for the track. A second release of additional sizing is slated for later this year and will include GT-R sizes as well as smaller autocross-friendly fitments.