We were able to run 2 sessions this weekend's NASA AZ event on Nitto's new NT-05 tire.
Positioned as a "Max Performance" street tire, it is meant to bridge the gap between Nitto's 555 tire and the popular NT-01 DOT R compound.

We have been running Nitto NT-01's on our shop EVO 8 project car, and after hearing about the NT-05 we were able to get a set for testing.
Inital impressions of this tire.......VERY GOOD!
The first session on the tires was in a DE3 session to get a feel for them and double check the car... Tires came up to usuable temprature in 1/2-3/4 of a lap. Initial grip was great, with what seemed like "R Compound" levels.... Mid corner stability was good, and it was very easy to recover if a corner was overcooked and botched.
Next up was NASA TT session to get some lap times
Out of 5 times laps @ PIR's 1.51 mile course we ran 1:09.3, 1:09.5, and1:09.7...we had one 1:11 (lap traffic) and one lap was a wash due to tire pressure check

By comparison we ran a 1:08 falt at out last local NASA AZ Time Attack in November ( also @ PIR) after Superlap battle on NT-01s......
only 1.3 seconds off of R compounds !!!!!!!

We will be running a day if not the full weekend of TT sessions in 2 weeks again @ PIR where we can better evaluate the tires performance over the course of the day.



pics of tires before mounting.... I was too busy to get shots of them on the car (we do tech for NASA AZ)

 

Nice review. Be sure to update your first post when you get some more seat time on these tires.

Any idea on pricing?

-Jalal

 

Very nice review Tony! I hope to see you at the next event!


Evan Smith

 

be there on Jan 31st !

 

Any review follow ups?

 

Would like to know myself, thinking of pulling the trigger on 255/40s