I have the NT-01's now for a few weeks and am very happy with their performance and ride, even though they are a bit on the noisy side. I do have one question on mounting though... I read somewhere that they are non-directional asymmetrical tires. But looking at the tread patterns in the pictures, you will see the tread pattern rotate differently when mounted left and right and that has got to affect steering feel and get the car to pull either left or right. Doesn't it? I'm asking because I had the tires off the car to put on lowering springs and when the wheels went back on the car, the car was still going straight, but now sterring wheel spokes are no longer level at about 25 degrees low on the left side.

Right Rear:


Left Rear:

 

Umm your driving NT-O1's on the street? A bit over kill dont you think? First of all those are performance only tires. They didnt exactly take into account for things like road noise and such.. As for the tread pattern I wouldnt worry about it since its only for water evac and quite honestly your most likely gonna crash if you drive in the wet with those things regardless of the direction they are going.

 

I'll switch back to the stock MR wheels for street driving if I weren't going to any track events for more often than a few weeks at a time and in the winter time (with four season tires) but unlike true DOT slicks, at least these tires can be driven on the street and I do know many Porsche owners who drive on the street all the time. I for one have driven 60 wear rating Yoko AO48's and P Zero Corsa's on the street on my GT3 for over 10,000 miles with no problems. I also know of many Ford GT owners who use Hoosiers R6's on their cars on the street 100% of the time. Of course, these guys don't drive their cars in the rain.

BTW, my '06 Lotus Elise came from the factory w/ Yoko A048's with 60 wear rating also, so why can't we drive NT-01's w/ 100 treadwear rating? I know the ratings numbers are relative but still a 100 from Nitto isn't as soft as the A048's 60, nor P Zero Corsa' 60, and the Pilot Sport Cups' 80 with my unscientific finger nail test.

 

If you changed springs you need an alignment.

 

I'm going to guess that the springs weren't installed into the perches correctly if all you've done is rotate and install lowering springs.

if one side is higher than the other (since it's not in the perch), then you're going to get very weird handling and I'm sure that its just tearing up the tires.

Take it back to the shop and tell them to check the springs for correct installation.

 

we have been running for the last season. over 5 sets. The direction make no difference. Keep the camber under -3.1. I deal camber front wold be 2.8-3 and rear.09-1.1. Hot psi don't go over 38-39psi. Zero toe all around. Just because your car steer straight that doesn't man the alignment is correct. stock car handle better than drop springs, unless you get Robispec srings. Most springs will blow your shock at the track due to Bottoming out, too much load

 

Hes in Socal if those tires saw even a week of rain I would be surprised, I drove slick RA-1's in SF when it rained for like 30days straight without a problem.

 

For the costs of the tires you will burn thru you can get another nice set of wheels and true performance street tires. Ultimately it is an economic decision.

 

you can run nittos on the street no problem. A lot of domestics run the on the rears so they can hook on the street

 

how much are the Nitto's each? I thought the stock tires on the EVO X were like 330 bucks each on tirerack

I think you can look up the tire on tirerack.com and it will tell you if they are non-directional asymmetrical tires.

 

If you're steering wheel is not straight, the spring install affected your alignment. Get it checked right away. One way to check is to turn the steering wheel until one wheel is straight and then check the other wheel. The other wheel should be straight as well. If you can visibly see a difference, you have a serious toe problem.

 

The mounting of the tires is correct. I had the same questions when I put mine on the first time. They just have an inside and outside - that's all you have to worry about. Once they're worn down to 3/32" then they have just the 2 symmetrical lines remaining.

 

have you ever driven R-compounds in the rain on track or on the street? with that attitude you better hide under your car next time it sprinkles. i've been driving to the track for years on R-compunds and have been caught in the rain many times. if you are prudent, especially with standing water, you will have no problems. no, don't try this on ungrooved hoosier A6s or any r-tire that is down to the cords, but any of the more streetable r-compounds you are good to go.

 

+1, I have gone thru 3 sets of P Zero Corsa and half way through one set of A048, all treadwear 60 R compounds with no problems on the street. These tires were on my '04 GT3 and I only used these tires on the street but for the track, I switched to Kumho V710 slicks and drove to the event on them and never had any problems. The NT-01's w/ 100 treadwear would wear much better than the other tires I used.
BTW, Lotus uses the AO48's (60 treaswear) as OEM tires in cars w/ their sport suspension package, so there are a lot of us who drive 60 to 100 treadwear R compound tires all the time.

 

$250 for 275/35-18. So even though they may wear out a little faster than the OEM tires, but they are wider, stickier and cheaper and probably worth at least a second or two a lap on an average length track.