With the increasing popularity of track days, autocross, drifting and other forms of weekend motorsport, good tires continue to be crucial to your enjoyment-not only from a competitive advantage but for safety as well. And we're seeing a rise not only in the number of tires available but also the quality of these products.
The latest to arrive is Nitto's NT01. It's a DOT-approved race tire that allows you to drive to the track or enter events where only street-legal rubber is permitted.
Like most R-Compound tires, its UTQG tread wear rating is a low 100 score but this means it should be super-sticky. It competes against tires like the Toyo RA-1, Yokohama 048, Kumho V700 and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, among others.
Take a look at the tread pattern and you'll see acres of fresh rubber able to grip the track but very few drainage grooves. That's because tires like these are optimized for dry track use and aren't recommended for regular road use or wet conditions. Unless you live in the driest deserts, we wouldn't recommend these tires for your daily driver.
As well as the wide tread pattern, the NT01 has a stiffer bead filler to give consistent, stable cornering. All are W-rated for speeds up to 168mph, so they should be sufficient for most cars on the road. They're also built with rayon and steel to make them stronger, faster, tastier, blah, blah. You know the routine.
The tire sizes are a little small for the Euro market with nothing bigger than an 18" diameter, but very few track cars would actually race on 19s, so it shouldn't matter. There are 14, 15 and 16" sizes, as well as a number of 17 and 18s which are said to meet the majority of popular sizes.
We were invited to try them for ourselves using either a Mini for autocross or a Mustang on part of California Speedway's road course.
The Mini is always entertaining and you feel totally connected to the front wheels, which always turned where you wanted them. Turn-in was crisp and mid-corner grip was impressive. You could really hold a tight line and avoid some of the unwanted understeer the Mini usually exhibits.
More impressive somehow was the Mustang. I'd never driven one before and it felt very big after the Mini. Yet the tires seemed to cope equally well with this giant, allowing fast, consistent laps. We were again impressed at the tire's precision and level of grip. It was genuinely stable and despite completing plenty of laps the rubber appeared to remain consistent, not deteriorating over time.
For more details about the new NT01 visit www.nittotire.com, which will also help you locate a dealer.
Although we won't be reviewing R-Compounds, check out next month's eurotuner for our annual high performance tire test where we'll put the best rubber to the ultimate test and give you our recommendations for 2005.