Nliiitend1
Member
I recently got a set of 235/40R18 Nitto NT-05s from an ebay vendor for a very good price.
These things are pretty wicked-looking, and the rubber seems VERY sticky. There's not a lot of tread depth (only 7/32") when they're new, but I've seen a couple of reviews that talk about how they don't seem to wear down as quickly as most of the other tires in this category (most of the other tires in this category have 10/32" tread depth when new). I read a back-to-back test review where the Nittos lost substantially less tread depth than the Star Specs they were tested with under identical conditions, so I'm hoping that's the case.
My last set of tires (235/40R18 Kumho XS, which have 10/32" tread depth when new) lasted me about 9-10K miles (mostly city) and two autocross events (which is similar to the life I got out of the OEM Bridgestones). I'm hoping to get similar treadlife out of these.
BTW, all said and done, these things cost me less than $600 shipped.
Here are some crappy cell phone pics:
I got them mounted and Road Force balanced this past weekend, and so far I'm loving them. The biggest differences I've noticed so far between these and the Kumho XSs that I replaced are the sidewall stiffness and the noise level. Of course, the seemingly more compliant sidewalls of the Nittos have translated into a nicer ride, and I've noticed also that the steering effort is much less with the Nittos than with the Kumhos. Propensity for wheelhop seems to have decreased quite a bit as well.
So far I've really only used them for my commute, but there's an autocross this Sunday so I'll get a chance to test out their limits a bit better soon. Even if these Nittos give a little up in the dry grip/feedback departments to the Kumhos (which quite honestly, they don't seem to do - as of yet), for a daily driver on 40 series tires they make the car much more enjoyable to drive (and they're cheaper to boot). I think those Kumhos had the stiffest sidewalls of anything short of an R-compound tire that I've ever experienced, and sometimes I wished that they weren't quite so "punishing" to drive on.
Also, I don't think I've ever had a tire that made more noise than those Kumhos did at the end of their life.
I'll update this thread as I get some more miles and events put on them.
These things are pretty wicked-looking, and the rubber seems VERY sticky. There's not a lot of tread depth (only 7/32") when they're new, but I've seen a couple of reviews that talk about how they don't seem to wear down as quickly as most of the other tires in this category (most of the other tires in this category have 10/32" tread depth when new). I read a back-to-back test review where the Nittos lost substantially less tread depth than the Star Specs they were tested with under identical conditions, so I'm hoping that's the case.
My last set of tires (235/40R18 Kumho XS, which have 10/32" tread depth when new) lasted me about 9-10K miles (mostly city) and two autocross events (which is similar to the life I got out of the OEM Bridgestones). I'm hoping to get similar treadlife out of these.
BTW, all said and done, these things cost me less than $600 shipped.
Here are some crappy cell phone pics:
I got them mounted and Road Force balanced this past weekend, and so far I'm loving them. The biggest differences I've noticed so far between these and the Kumho XSs that I replaced are the sidewall stiffness and the noise level. Of course, the seemingly more compliant sidewalls of the Nittos have translated into a nicer ride, and I've noticed also that the steering effort is much less with the Nittos than with the Kumhos. Propensity for wheelhop seems to have decreased quite a bit as well.
So far I've really only used them for my commute, but there's an autocross this Sunday so I'll get a chance to test out their limits a bit better soon. Even if these Nittos give a little up in the dry grip/feedback departments to the Kumhos (which quite honestly, they don't seem to do - as of yet), for a daily driver on 40 series tires they make the car much more enjoyable to drive (and they're cheaper to boot). I think those Kumhos had the stiffest sidewalls of anything short of an R-compound tire that I've ever experienced, and sometimes I wished that they weren't quite so "punishing" to drive on.
Also, I don't think I've ever had a tire that made more noise than those Kumhos did at the end of their life.
I'll update this thread as I get some more miles and events put on them.
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