Nitto NT05R drag radial review
#21
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Thanks stip! I havent been on this site all that often...
Depends on the rain really. Some days I've driven 65-70 but it just feels abit weird to me, compared to normal tires and even compared to the 555R's I had before. On heavy rains the standing water will cause the car to "sway", its like a hydroplane feeling. Its like you feel the rear starting to move around on you and it just raises the hair on my neck lol. I simply wont try to drive much over 55 in heavy rain. Light rain or damp roads I'll go alittle faster but just dont want to push the issue. Now 45 and below it feels fine as long as you dont give it alot of "quick throttle" hits They spin very easily if your not paying attention.
Anyway, time for alittle more update.
Track prep seemed to be hit or miss. I got the 3.73's in and as seen below, the car didnt pick up as much as I hoped.
I put the LCA's on at the lowest hole and that night the track prep wasnt there. Could hook better on ICE it seemed. Next week I went again, car dead hooked but didnt pick up all that much more. I believe I got down to 1.66 60 foot and 12.23 at 110.4. bested my previous of 12.26 and 1.67 60 ft. So the LCA's really didnt do much. car hooked just as good before. Air quality was about the same, I recorded all the data on each run.
So I weighed the car that night and to my surprise it was 3686 with me in it and low gas. Being close to 11's I wanted to try something so I gutted the interior. This was back in Feb this year. I took everything but the dash/console and driver seat out 200lbs out, car weighed 3460 with me in it and barely any gas in tank.
First night out I guess the track prep went away and I couldnt hook at all but picked up 2 mph so I know the weight reduction was there.
next week in good air, i went again with my spare tire in the back...another 40lbs or so. I guess that helped hook cuz it dead hooked again. Another 1.66 60 foot but a 12.15 at 111.1 mph. Weighed car again and it said something like 3560 I think, which was 100 lbs more than before?? I had the spare tire in there but its no 100lbs. Had all my CD's in the car but that aint weight. Abit more gas but cant see that adding that much weight. Oh well perhaps if it was truely 3460lbs it might have gone 11's.
Since then I've been daily driving this and havent been to the track. Just moved back to PA from TX and STILLLL have the same nitto's on. They are STILL lasting from daily driver abuse.
I cant believe it. It has to have over 10K miles by now. These tires are working so well I likely will buy them again since the choices of 315/35/17 tires is so slim these days. I have bridgestone RE760's on front and wanted a matching rear tire but bridgestone doesnt make a 315 17 tire!! So drag radials it is. cant beat the 200-210 buck price tag.
Oh and the track was almost an hr away from me, going 70mph the entire way. I would NOT hesitate to take these anywhere. i drove 2.5 hrs on my old nitto 555r's at highway speeds just fine. They will go anywhere you want.
Good information on the 05 tires. I wonder why they feel loose? I've driven my Nova with M/T ET Street radials at 65 mph in the rain with no issues (although you do need to be aware of the tire versus a regular street tire). Don't think I'd go highway speeds with them, but it only sees a couple thousand miles a year anyways...
I know this is a old thread but there is a ton of good info in it. Im thinking about getting these tires and was wondering if anyone had any updates? How did this car do with LCA's relo brackets? How many miles are these tires lasting? Any update on rain performace God forbid you hit rain? How are these for extended use at highway speed (say you were going to a car show etc)?
Anyway, time for alittle more update.
Track prep seemed to be hit or miss. I got the 3.73's in and as seen below, the car didnt pick up as much as I hoped.
I put the LCA's on at the lowest hole and that night the track prep wasnt there. Could hook better on ICE it seemed. Next week I went again, car dead hooked but didnt pick up all that much more. I believe I got down to 1.66 60 foot and 12.23 at 110.4. bested my previous of 12.26 and 1.67 60 ft. So the LCA's really didnt do much. car hooked just as good before. Air quality was about the same, I recorded all the data on each run.
So I weighed the car that night and to my surprise it was 3686 with me in it and low gas. Being close to 11's I wanted to try something so I gutted the interior. This was back in Feb this year. I took everything but the dash/console and driver seat out 200lbs out, car weighed 3460 with me in it and barely any gas in tank.
First night out I guess the track prep went away and I couldnt hook at all but picked up 2 mph so I know the weight reduction was there.
next week in good air, i went again with my spare tire in the back...another 40lbs or so. I guess that helped hook cuz it dead hooked again. Another 1.66 60 foot but a 12.15 at 111.1 mph. Weighed car again and it said something like 3560 I think, which was 100 lbs more than before?? I had the spare tire in there but its no 100lbs. Had all my CD's in the car but that aint weight. Abit more gas but cant see that adding that much weight. Oh well perhaps if it was truely 3460lbs it might have gone 11's.
Since then I've been daily driving this and havent been to the track. Just moved back to PA from TX and STILLLL have the same nitto's on. They are STILL lasting from daily driver abuse.
I cant believe it. It has to have over 10K miles by now. These tires are working so well I likely will buy them again since the choices of 315/35/17 tires is so slim these days. I have bridgestone RE760's on front and wanted a matching rear tire but bridgestone doesnt make a 315 17 tire!! So drag radials it is. cant beat the 200-210 buck price tag.
Oh and the track was almost an hr away from me, going 70mph the entire way. I would NOT hesitate to take these anywhere. i drove 2.5 hrs on my old nitto 555r's at highway speeds just fine. They will go anywhere you want.
#22
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Another thing I wanted to add. I believe my buddy had them on his truck with 20" rims, twin turbo over 600whp and they didnt last for crap but he likely drove them alot harder than me. His isnt a daily driver, mine is. Your mileage could vary
My other friend has a friend who has a Mr. Norms stage 3 challenger that SUPPOSIVELY made 960whp but it only ran high 10's at 130mph down in texas. i think its a 305 sized 20" Nitto NT05. 6 spd car, it cut a 1.66 60 foot as well so they do work pretty darn good when you drive them right. He runs VERY low pressure tho, 12-14psi I think while I ran 24-26psi 90% of the time. When track prep wasnt there, it didnt matter WHAT pressure you had. I made 6 runs one night hot lapping trying 28psi to 15psi and didnt hook.
My other friend has a friend who has a Mr. Norms stage 3 challenger that SUPPOSIVELY made 960whp but it only ran high 10's at 130mph down in texas. i think its a 305 sized 20" Nitto NT05. 6 spd car, it cut a 1.66 60 foot as well so they do work pretty darn good when you drive them right. He runs VERY low pressure tho, 12-14psi I think while I ran 24-26psi 90% of the time. When track prep wasnt there, it didnt matter WHAT pressure you had. I made 6 runs one night hot lapping trying 28psi to 15psi and didnt hook.
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I have been using mine on the street for about a year and a half now. My car is a manual so they don't do very well launching from a full stop. They work pretty well from a roll when it is warm or hot outside. They don't do all that great in cooler temperatures as expected. They are the only drag radials I have ever had so I dont have anything to compare them to other than street tires or drag slicks. They hook up WAY better than my street tires did but they are not good for a manual trans car at the strip and they handle much worse than my normal street tires did. It has that wandering feeling but WAY better than drag slicks feel. FYI mine seemed to hook up the best they ever did when they were brand new and traction seemed to deteriorate quite a bit after that.
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Debating on trying these in a 18" size on my turbo car but not sure they would hold the power. I have 19" rear wheels on it and my race trim has a 15" weld wheel but I wanted to make a switch to "more street" car and run a big inch drag radial. Debated on 18" wheel swap for more choices or run 19" M/T's. The 19" nittos wont fit my rims or car...to wide.
I plan on getting another 315/35/17 size for the TA when they wear out in a month or so (if they ever do) and trying them on the turbo car to see how it feels. If I like it, I may go with them but seriously looking at MT's. 540whp Z06 went 1.4's 60 foot on 18" Mickeys drag radial II's so I know they would hold what I plan with an automatic and no t-brake.
I agree the handling feels abit different compared to street tires or even the nitto 555R's I had but after you get past the initial roll in feeling, it stays planted fairly well. I just have SLP bilsteins and strano 1.25" lowering springs on my TA. Need to upgrade sway bars I think
I plan on getting another 315/35/17 size for the TA when they wear out in a month or so (if they ever do) and trying them on the turbo car to see how it feels. If I like it, I may go with them but seriously looking at MT's. 540whp Z06 went 1.4's 60 foot on 18" Mickeys drag radial II's so I know they would hold what I plan with an automatic and no t-brake.
I agree the handling feels abit different compared to street tires or even the nitto 555R's I had but after you get past the initial roll in feeling, it stays planted fairly well. I just have SLP bilsteins and strano 1.25" lowering springs on my TA. Need to upgrade sway bars I think
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These are abit wider than the old 555R's I had. They seem to be closer to a true 315 tire. But then again, I've only had these and the 555R's to compare, but a friend of mine who has seen other tires says these NT05R's look close to a true 315. I'll have to measure the width to be 100% sure. I just know the tire on a 11" rim does have a tad bit of sidewall bulge so it seems right.
Two pics...
NT05R's
555R's. Looks smaller
Try to look at the sidewalls with respect to the rim lip...
Two pics...
NT05R's
555R's. Looks smaller
Try to look at the sidewalls with respect to the rim lip...
Last edited by Orr89rocz; 06-04-2012 at 08:55 AM.
#31
I really liked my NT05R's, but I'm back to the NT05's because the truck is daily driven and the R's wear a hell of a lot quicker. NT05's aren't far from hooking as well as the R's if anyone is worried about wear or rain.