Nitto NT05 Product Review

[kaanage]

Curmudgeon enters....

Having read the thread quickly I'm pretty staggered (then again, maybe not) at how quickly people are downplaying using this and/or a tyre like this for daily use given the compromised wet performance. The reality is, the roads will get wet and whilst you might not intend on taking it to the limit under those conditions, circumstances can also get the better of you; a child running out from the kerb, a tree falling into the road, these things all happen outside of your control. I find it somewhat irresponsible to compromise the wet performance as much as is suggested (and I would suggest it's incomparable to say a standard CSC3) just because it performs better in the dry so you can go faster.

I really don't get why you'd want to go faster on the road other than bragging rights? Surely 'handling' (or whatever word you chose to describe 'feel') is the holy grail, some balance between grip and power? Yes in a closed-road or track competition the only goal is to beat the clock, as that is what you'd want to be measured against. But on the road? These (and similar) may be grippier (in the dry) but I'm asking why bother when they're so heavily compromised in frankly more dangerous conditions (exactly when I'd want the best tyre to perform)?

I dunno, maybe I'm the exception - does anyone else think this? or is it all about going quicker than the next bloke?

I'm probably alone here (+ I own 2 TDi's rather than GTi's so zero cred amongst the streeter crowd) but I fully agree with you. I had a really good close up look at these last week and there is no way that they can physically perform well in HEAVY rain - the lack of sipes and the fact that there are only side channels in the shoulders guarantees that these tyres will aquaplane with any amount of standing water on the roads.

When brand new, the sharp edges of the tread blocks and channels will burst through the water surface tension to get some grip but once worn enough to round off these edges, the tyre will have very poor wet weather performance, especially once they are worn to the point where the cross bars that link the center to the side blocks approach the road surface. Plus it sounds like they harden as they age so that decreases wet weather performance even more.

I would only have these tyres if I had a 2nd set of rims so that these could be run from October to April and run "normal" performance tyres over the late autumn to early spring period. Then again, I'd get proper semi-slicks rather than these (except that they're noisy as hell). Or they'd be good if fitted to a "boy's toys" car rather than a daily drive.

But I guess if you're willing to slow down to a crawl to get out of steep driveways and over speed humps, then driving extra slow in heavy rain might be OK.

[Adzy]

I will stick with my dry performance tires, each to their own.

[kaanage]

Sorry but I just hate the idea of someone getting hurt (or worse) when their tyres let go - especially if they're a good bloke like you

[Adzy]

I understand, however, there are much more cars on the road that are far more unsafe than mine in an emergency braking scenario in the wet due to the age of the car, lack of maintenance and simply just very poor handling. Even though some of these suggested tyres are not prime wet weather tyres, they also are not full on semi's like a R888 for example.... so... she'll be right

[bluefrog]

I've recently passed the 5000km mark and Leigh and Michael have asked me for my 2c so here's what I've found so far.

Noise - the NT05's are very noisy which I think is due to their stiff sidewalls, especially on highways, BUT the Octavia in wagon form isn't exactly renowned for it's noise insulation properties. And with wifey flatly refusing to allow me to put Nittos on the Golf R, I can't say for sure whether it would be a different experience or not (for me personally) in a Golf. I'd say for the most part I've gotten used to the noise .. I think comparing tyre noise is like trying to compare 20 different TV's at JB - if you picked a TV at random and bought it online you probably couldn't fault it at home in isolation, but when you're in the shop seeing all of them at once it's a completely different story.

Dry Grip - awesome, but I can still lose traction, especially post-tune. I like to give her a bit though. If I had a third pedal to play with, to allow me to modulate the acceleration a little more effectively than I can with the DSG, then I suspect I wouldn't be losing traction so often. DSG certainly has its benefits however - so where I lose fine acceleration control, I gain in speed of gear changes.

Looks - see for yourself.

Wet Grip - Further studies required. Since I've had KW's installed, the insane level of road feedback has tended, I suspect, to make me over-cautious. Fatherhood has a similar effect. I've just picked myself up a tyre gauge though, and knowing that I'm driving with appropriate tyre pressures will give me a bit more confidence to, gain a little extra data, shall we say.

Wear - bugger all that I can see, but then I haven't done measurements.

Price - I paid $295 per corner for 18's fitted - possibly a little more than I could've got them for elsewhere, but by no means super pricey either.

stay tuned.

and AP, Michelin super sports FTW!

[mshl1979]

Just seeing this thread again. I'll thought I'll update as well.

I got these tires in April 2011. I've put 13,000KM on them and there is probaly 15% tread left. I am a bit heavy footed but that would give you guys an idea of the life of these tires. I expect them to last a little longer than my factory Pirelli's but won't get me 20,000KM+ as I originally expected.

The first 10-15% tread of the trye seemed to wear really slowly.

Dry performance is still great give the tread that is left.

I expected wet performance to get worse as the tyre aged... but my wet performance has improved over a few months ago... which is odd. So wet performance went from "great - bad - resonable".

[bluefrog]

I just had mine rotated at 7000km .. plenty of tread left atm.

been 'experimenting' a little in the wet the last few days - definitely agree with you Kerem, there's fun to be had in them there rubber that's for sure hehe (however the traction control / electronic diff tends to cut in pretty quickly)

.. oh btw, super sports are for pussies

[AP]

Michelin Super sport FTW!

[bluefrog]

[DeanCorp]

After having them on the longest out of any of you... My final verdict: incredible dry grip, alright in the wet. Noise factor over 80km/h very loud! I think my next tyre will be ContiSport Contact 5P's