I was recently selected to participate in a consumer test sponsored by Nitto for their new NT555 G2 tire. This thread will serve as my long term review thread as I put the tires through various testing both on the street and at the track.

The tires are 320 tread wear rated, in line with the Sumi HTR ZIIIs that I used as track tires for a season. I'll run them at a couple track outings this year to assess performance and durability. Obviously these are not a purely track focused tire and as such I'll collect lap times as data points but focus on real world performance based on the likely consumer base

Anyways, much more to come shortly. And huge thanks up front to Nitto for offering this opportunity and puling me in as a tester!

 

Initial impressions:

Sidewall seems a touch softer than the OEM Pirelli's, and definitely softer than the R888's and BFG R1's that I've been used to, but that's expected. They are a higher treadwear tire and also the highest sidewall tire that I've run to date, being a 265/40/19 vs 255/40/19 or 275/35/18. That said, the ride is excellent. The tires seem grippy (2nd gear WOT roll to redline resulted in zero tire spin and nice straight tracking), and cornering on my local esses. Road noise is minimal, seemingly less than the OEM tires and far less than the R888's and BFG's that I've driven for limited amounts on the street. The ride over rough roads is very good in terms of comfort and tracking - this complements my note regarding slightly softer sidewall, which lends itself to a compliant ride on the street.

The tires fill the wheel wells nicely on my SR springs, and have a great stance being slightly wider than OEM. Pictures are below from initial installation on my car.

Upcoming testing:
Street driving between now and May 12th
May 13th and 14th - track day at Limerock Park in CT. I'll likely run the Nitto's for one session on Friday and one session on Saturday. I'll also have my R888's there as well as the BFG R1's. I have a lot of data from running LRP with my Sumitomo HTR Z III's, which are comparable in terms of treadwear, so that will be the best apples to apples comparison with data. I'd like to run 1.04's at LRP with the Nitto's. I ran low 1.02's there with the R888's and 1.01.2 with the BFG R1's in the past. Videos, pictures, and data will be provided following that event

In the meantime, I'll add to this thread as I put miles on the tires on the street as well.

 

Interesting that you seem to get good grip, I've been less than impressed thus far. Not bad, but not great. My V6 can break them lose pretty easily. I still need to try raising pressure a few pounds, and perhaps they really prefer hot weather as its been VERY cool here lately.

Shop set them to 40 and they were pretty greasy feeling. I dropped them to 32 and it's better but not by much. Again, could be temps... Only barely into the 60s during the day. Still want to try 35 pounds and see where it puts me. Feel like the sidewalls aren't holding as well at such a low pressurr and can feel the roll. Almost none at 40 pounds.

 

Most summer tires suck when used in cooler temps. Do the 265's have the larger blocks? The tread picture looks pretty agressive. I was considering the 275 40 19 on my Brembo wheels but 265's might be a better fit. I don't track my car but like it to handle well here in the Mountains. Thanks for the info so far.

 

You need heat in them for grip. Unless the tire is like 80F or more it'll be like hard plastic. Warm them up then let me know what you think!

 

Yup nice big blocks. I haven't pushed the tires yet but I should get to next weekend

 

I guess we'll see in a month... My g-force 2 tires were a LOT better in this sort of weather.

 

Where can you get these, and for how much? Couldn't find them on tire rack, bell or discount tire sites.

I like this size for street use on 19x9 brembo wheels.

 

Got mine from a local tire shop. About $950 after tax. A little less I think but I don't remember exactly how much.

 

Thanks Joey, which shop if you don't mind me asking?


Derek,
Unrelated question. That arrow on the bottom of your driver side door... is it to indicate the jack point to lift one side of the car?

 

AA muffler/tire in Brighton. I usually buy my tires there, and occasionally have them do exhaust work as well when I don't feel like it or its a real PITA job. Pretty good crew and their prices are generally decent. I've also had them do oil changes when I have been super busy (which isn't often).

 

Cool, thanks. I will look around closer to Plymouth/Canton area. With 275 S closed for the summer it's been a circus trying to get north of Ford Road.

 

For sure. A coworker with a usual 30 minute drive home is saying it's closer to 1.5 hours with that cluster...

 

Yup, that point will lift front and rear wheels evenly. And I marked the Jack so I know how far to slide under the car. Makes it easy at track days for quick rotation or bleed or whatever

 

Is this the same model as the new drag radials version too? I'll need to upgrade mine soon. I have the NT555 up front then the NT555R out rear.

 

Wow, the sidewalls do look pretty big! And I don't think I've ever heard anyone say anything good about Nittos. All I ever hear is people complaining about them

 

Really? I know LOTS of guys who run NT01's and love them. Excellent grip, excellent wear. Only marginally slower than a full slick

I'm quite happy so far with street performance.

 

You may be thinking the Invos. Their newer stuff is pretty good. I'd love to get a set of NT01s

 

Also take into consideration that 18" and 19" tires as a rule have more sidewall over a 20" tire to begin with due to the smaller wheel diameter..

Just saying lol.

 

Yeah of course. I was stating that it's the tallest sidewall I've had on my car to date so I'd expect a marginally more flexy tire in cornering.

Wer traction tested a it yesterday... Good traction compared with the R888's and similar to pirellis. Significantly better than the sumi's I had 2 years ago!

Should finally have data and lap time info next weekend!