Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[VMRWheels]

The high-performance aluminum wheel market has grown rapidly over the past few years, with tire manufacturers following closely to make sure they continue to offer great products to their customers. One brand attracting a lot of buzz lately is Nitto Tire. With its huge impact on enthusiasts recently, we were thrilled to get our hands on a set of their new NT05 tire.

We tested the NT05’s on our very own 2007 BMW 550i, equipped with VMR VB3’s 9.5”/10” stagger, KW Street Comfort Coilovers, factory M-Tech kit, AC Schnitzer front lip and carbon fiber rear diffuser.



The moment we drove the car out of our shop, we noticed a significant difference in a few different categories. There was a slight increase in ride firmness, but not to a point that it took away from the luxury feel of the vehicle. Subsequently, this allowed for notably tighter steering response and turn-in’s. The NT05’s really impressed under heavy cornering through freeway onramps, and sweepers. Every time we pushed the car harder anticipating the tires to break grip, they just held their line delivering the confidence you would expect only from an R-compound. While the NT05s are not R-comps, they are incredibly sticky, gripping and hugging each curve the road has to offer.

Though we haven’t had much rain here in SoCal this past year, we were able to drive through some pouring weather with the NT05’s. Normally, we wouldn’t expect much in terms of wet weather performance from a max performance category tire, but the NT05’s are definitely no slouch in the wet. Through standing water at 60mph, the car still felt very planted and in control. It seems that even with the wider treadblock design, the tires still do an excellent job of evacuating water.



Of course, all out performance like this does have some trade offs. Fortunately in this case, they are all relatively minor as they don’t detract from the overall driving experience of the car. During typical driving conditions, we did notice a bit more noise over rough roads and concrete overpasses. It was a very slight hum that you only notice the first time driving. Afterwards, it tends to blend in with the rest of the cabin noise. It still feels much smoother and quieter that other comparable max performance tires. Treadwear is still to be determined as we log more miles but it seems to be on par with any other max performance tire. Obviously, we’re not expecting to get 30k miles out of these.



Finally, compared to other tires in this class, the NT05 is one of the better priced for the sizes tested (245/35/19 and 275/30/19). Compared to the Pirelli PZero, Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, and Yokohama Advan Sport, the NT05 in our opinion delivers much more bang for your buck.

Overall, we’ve been extremely impressed with this new offering from Nitto. We’ve tested many different tires in the past and so far the Nitto NT05 have surpassed all our expectations. We’re very much looking forward to getting these on a proper track to really push them to the limits. We’ll be sure to chime in again with our thoughts once that happens.

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Glad to hear Nitto are improving alot on the NT555.
I've heard great things about the Invos and you seem to like the NT05's

[E90 Autosport]

very nice write up great job VMR keep up the great work. Ty is the man.

[CV335]

Charles, according to Nitto's own comparison chart, the Invos are better in terms of 1) ride comfort 2) quietness and 3) wet performance. Only for dry performance they favor the NT05's over the Invos. I assume then that for street use there is no discernible difference (dry surface) between the 2 tires, hence the best bang for the bug is obtained with the Invos. My guess is that only at a track you will notice a performance improvement with the NT05's. Would you agree?

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by CV335

Charles, according to Nitto's own comparison chart, the Invos are better in terms of 1) ride comfort 2) quietness and 3) wet performance. Only for dry performance they favor the NT05's over the Invos. I assume then that for street use there is no discernible difference (dry surface) between the 2 tires, hence the best bang for the bug is obtained with the Invos. My guess is that only at a track you will notice a performance improvement with the NT05's. Would you agree?

I do agree. Iv never driven on the tires personally, but Peter has, and he loves them. The NT05's were actually marketed towards the high-performance/track enthusiasts and IMO I think they are doing quite well. Iv seen them on a handful of cars at my track days. Hopefully Peter will take it to the track soon.

-Charles@VMRWheels
www.vmrwheels.com