Review: Nitto NT05s

About two months ago, a representative from Nitto contacted me with an offer I couldn't refuse: a free set of tires in exchange for an honest review of them (I bolded the honest because when they contacted me I made absolutely certain that they were fine with me saying bad things, should I feel them). They were fine with that.

So, I did what any rational person would do-- got the biggest set I could possible fit on the car-- 285 square .

A bit of my tire background: To this point I have run Michelin PS2s (daily summers) in 265 front 275 rear, Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta in 265 front 275 rear, Conti sport contact 1s in 225 front 255 rear (came with the car), and Pilot cups in 265 square and then 285 square, Goodyear ultra high performance all seasons in 255 square for long (1000+ mile) drives, and wintersport M3s for snows. On the track car (e36 m3) I've run yokohama slicks and hoosier rain slicks. So, I've run a pretty good variety of tires on M3s at this point .

Anyway, on to the review:

Dry Performance: In short, I'm very impressed! These tires are as grippy as the pilot cups were, but much more steerable. According to the iPhone G meter I was able to continuously pull 1.04 G at 50mph. As a point of comparison, the PS2s would give me .95 in the same spot. The best I was able to get out of the Pilot cups was .94, but I wasn't able to get them up to operating temp before hand as this is all in a traffic circle I like to use for this purpose :roll:. I'm sure the Cups would have performed better if they had been able to get up to temp, but I don't think they'd ever be up to what I was getting with the NT05s. Further, the NT05s are that grippy when you're actually street driving!

Breakaway is very progressive, so despite the increased grip I'm still easily able to get the back end out easily. Drifting is very controllable, albeit it takes a bit more effort to get it started (clutch pops are the order of the day after first gear ).

Wet performance: Still very grippy, and I haven't hydroplaned yet. That said***8230;. I did drive slowly for heavy rain. While I haven't hydroplaned, the tread pattern just doesn't look like it's conducive to moving water out of the way. This tire has BIG blocks of rubber, and they just***8230; scare me :clueless:. They are still very grippy on wet pavement, though-- probably the grippiest tire in the wet of all that I've have on the 46.

Ride quality: Overall, good. The PS2s do ride better, but these ride on par or better than any of the tires on my list. The PS2s are notorious for having soft sidewalls (which causes them to trip all over themselves on the track), so it makes sense that they would ride better.

Tread life: too soon to tell. I really just put it on here so you wouldn't think I was ignoring it. :shifty:

Looks: first off, who cares :roll:. That said, I think they look cool .

Road noise: The PS2s are quieter, everything else is about on par (except for the snow tires, which are louder). Makes sense, again with the soft sidewalls of the PS2s

Track: I haven't been able to get them out on the track yet***8230;. basically because I'm tracking the 36 these days, and 285s won't fit on it at the moment. We're wide bodying the 36 over the winter, so I plan to strap these on for a couple sessions next year, but as of yet I haven't been able to try them on track. I have high hopes-- they grip well, let go progressively, and from what I've read, don't chunk up under track heat. Here's a pic on someone else's car of the tire after a whole day of tracking:



Overall: I love this tire. If your M3 is street/track, and you run the same tire for both, I think this would be a great choice. If your M3 is your toy/weekend car, likewise. If you're just getting into tracking, I think this would be a great first track tire-- much easier to drive (more progressive breakaway) than R comps or slicks. If your car is a daily driver and you drive 20,000 miles per year***8230; might not be the best choice. I don't know yet, but with how much grip these have, I suspect they won't have the longest tread life of any tire I've ever had :shifty:. I like them so much that I'm saving them for special occasions-- tail of the dragon, rallies, etc (I drive ~20,000 per year, and don't want to use them up on highway driving). Oh, and they have the rim protector lip, which is always a good thing imo. I've never curbed a wheel, but I sure don't want to start now!



Pics on my car (I washed the car today, but the sun went down before I could get any pics. Better pics tomorrow when my car is clean):

In the first pics I'm trying to convey the size of the tread blocks on these things but using my hand as a reference. My hands aren't small, I'm 6'4.

Thanks for the good review. I was thinking of picking up a set this summer. With 485 RWTQ I go through a set each summer. LOL

they look like slicks!

What did you think about the Vredestein ultrac sessantas? I've read a lot of good reviews about them on other cars, but you seem to have some experience, compared to other people I've seen who are singing these tire's praises. Those Nittos definitely don't look good in the rain. What's their UTQG?

Originally Posted by sick.boy1986

What did you think about the Vredestein ultrac sessantas? I've read a lot of good reviews about them on other cars, but you seem to have some experience, compared to other people I've seen who are singing these tire's praises. Those Nittos definitely don't look good in the rain. What's their UTQG?

The NT05s have a UTQG rating of 200... but remember that you can't use that to compare between companies as there's no regulation-- the companies are allowed to say any rating they want for each model of tire. Generally that's just a good measure for how one tires compares to the next within a company's lineup.

Regarding the Vreds... honestly, I was let down. They do very well in the wet and are very hydroplaning resistant. They also last a long time. They just don't have enough dry grip for my taste.

Nice review! Makes me want a set even more. Except mine will be a little smaller for my little TT

Originally Posted by Obioban

Regarding the Vreds... honestly, I was let down. They do very well in the wet and are very hydroplaning resistant. They also last a long time. They just don't have enough dry grip for my taste.

Oh, okay. Well it rains a lot here, and I was planning on having seperate wheels/tires for the track anyways. So basically you would say they're good for your daily driver? The price on these is pretty decent right now too, cause they haven't made much of a name yet. Thanks man

Good review and OMG your car is sexy.

Hey Obioban, where's a good place to pick up some Vreds? I may just buy them through a dealer here in Germany, but they're a very well-known brand here with a good reputation. Meaning that they might be cheaper via a US dealer. The Vredestein Sessanta beat out the PS2 in a german car mag tire test/survey, and it beat out a lot of our other big performance tire names also, but I can't recall offhand the brands.

Originally Posted by sick.boy1986

Oh, okay. Well it rains a lot here, and I was planning on having seperate wheels/tires for the track anyways. So basically you would say they're good for your daily driver? The price on these is pretty decent right now too, cause they haven't made much of a name yet. Thanks man

No, I wouldn't say that. I've been using them as daily tires. I won't be doing so again after they wear out.

Originally Posted by sick.boy1986

Hey Obioban, where's a good place to pick up some Vreds? I may just buy them through a dealer here in Germany, but they're a very well-known brand here with a good reputation. Meaning that they might be cheaper via a US dealer. The Vredestein Sessanta beat out the PS2 in a german car mag tire test/survey, and it beat out a lot of our other big performance tire names also, but I can't recall offhand the brands.

I read that review, that's why I bought them. I have regretted it since then. They are no PS2 beater.

I think that review was either on the payroll, they factored in price too much (as the PS2s are $$$), or they got a ringer set of vreds. The PS2s are much better than the vreds in all ways, especially dry grip.

I'm bitter about the vreds! They've made me like my car less!

I don't remember where I bought them, I just googled for them.

They're that bad? Hmm I was looking at the PS2s until I heard of the Vreds and did some research, they seemed to be better. Guess I'll keep looking around for good prices on some PS2s. Can you give me some sort of example of how the Vreds let you down, in terms of dry grip? I have BFG G-force KDWs on my 328, have you tried those on your M3? I've got all winter to make up my mind haha, so I'm trying to research as many different choices as possible... but I don't like the G forces that much so far. I really appreciate the help.

Originally Posted by sick.boy1986

They're that bad? Hmm I was looking at the PS2s until I heard of the Vreds and did some research, they seemed to be better. Guess I'll keep looking around for good prices on some PS2s. Can you give me some sort of example of how the Vreds let you down, in terms of dry grip? I have BFG G-force KDWs on my 328, have you tried those on your M3? I've got all winter to make up my mind haha, so I'm trying to research as many different choices as possible... but I don't like the G forces that much so far. I really appreciate the help.

When I ran the PS2s I never found myself reaching the limits in my daily driving (which is admittedly pretty hard). With the Vreds I frequently found myself at the limit.

... and the NT05s i have to be trying hard to hit the limit to get them to give out on the street

Obioban,

So you would highly recommend the NT05's for daily use? On my M3 I'm using PS2's right now on OEM 18's but am planning to put on VMR CSL reps on 19's for next season. All I need to do is put on new shoes and I'm set.

Great job on the writeup/review and pics

By the way your car is sick

Originally Posted by Obioban

When I ran the PS2s I never found myself reaching the limits in my daily driving (which is admittedly pretty hard). With the Vreds I frequently found myself at the limit.

... and the NT05s i have to be trying hard to hit the limit to get them to give out on the street

Pretty Hard? I've have the vreds out on the track, and ONLY THEN did I come close to the limit, and they SCREAM well before they let go. You should never come ANYWHERE near the limit of these tires on the street, keep pushing it that hard and you're going to end up with some serious unwanted exterior mods. Sorry, I don't mean to flame, sorry, its really not my style, just don't want to see another "RIP M3" post. VREDS are good bang for the buck for daily use, and they preform well at the track (as long as you don't mind some chunking). I think I'm going to try a set of these NT05's once the Vred's are gone.