NT01 WTF

[JRL1LE]

I've been running the OEM Goodyear F1G2 on my 2015 1LEe for track days.
I switched to Nt01 Nittos and lap times were 2-3 seconds slower on 2 different tracks. I thought these would be faster than the OEM Goodyears.
FYI, I have tracked Camaros and Vettes for 15 years, I have tried Hoosier/Hankook/BFG R comps with lots of success.
Maybe these tires will get better with more wear but they don't have the grip, I can carry more speed in some sections of the track on the Goodyears and they just howl driving down the road. Maybe a got a bad set of tires

Thanks for any feedback for those of you who have tracked NT01's.

[L99CAMA2011]

Originally Posted by JRL1LE

I've been running the OEM Goodyear F1G2 on my 2015 1LEe for track days.
I switched to Nt01 Nittos and lap times were 2-3 seconds slower on 2 different tracks. I thought these would be faster than the OEM Goodyears.
FYI, I have tracked Camaros and Vettes for 15 years, I have tried Hoosier/Hankook/BFG R comps with lots of success.
Maybe these tires will get better with more wear but they don't have the grip, I can carry more speed in some sections of the track on the Goodyears and they just howl driving down the road. Maybe a got a bad set of tires

Thanks for any feedback for those of you who have tracked NT01's.

Haven't tracked mine but I can tell you that my 305-30-19 is one of the most grippy tires I ever had on. What's your tire pressure.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by L99CAMA2011

Haven't tracked mine but I can tell you that my 305-30-19 is one of the most grippy tires I ever had on. What's your tire pressure.

I tried 33-35 hot up to 38-41 hot.

[Og Neon]

Did you heat cycle them correctly the first time?
Also yes, the Nt01s howl just driving down the road. I have a set from my last car and every time I drove on them I thought my transfer case was whining but it went away when I switched tires. Lastly, the Nt01s like to be hot, so try more time at the lower tire pressure and get them hot and hopefully the grip will come alive.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by Og Neon

Did you heat cycle them correctly the first time?
Also yes, the Nt01s howl just driving down the road. I have a set from my last car and every time I drove on them I thought my transfer case was whining but it went away when I switched tires. Lastly, the Nt01s like to be hot, so try more time at the lower tire pressure and get them hot and hopefully the grip will come alive.

Thanks Og for your help.

I did not heat cycle them. I tried lower pressures, they got hot and greasy and were sliding around a lot by lap 4-5, warm day temps in the mid 80's. I just can't believe they are that much slower then the goodyears. Other drivers at the track who have ran this tire couldn't figure it out either.

[Og Neon]

Was that your first use of them then? I know with R-comps you need to get them hot for their first cycle then put them away immediately for 24hrs. This causes the molecules to reform and some other magic happens then they become like glue. I am thinking if that was your first use, it was probably that, but that first cycle is very important in order to get the tire to perform correctly. I use just pay the $15 a tire at Tire Rack for them to do that. After that I have no issues.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by Og Neon

Was that your first use of them then? I know with R-comps you need to get them hot for their first cycle then put them away immediately for 24hrs. This causes the molecules to reform and some other magic happens then they become like glue. I am thinking if that was your first use, it was probably that, but that first cycle is very important in order to get the tire to perform correctly. I use just pay the $15 a tire at Tire Rack for them to do that. After that I have no issues.

I used to always heat cycle tires but haven't lately, but maybe should have with these. The first session was my fastest time, the other sessions were all slower by 1.5-2 seconds
I guess there is not much I can do now to help improve their grip, hopefully they'll get better when the grooves are worn down.

[L99CAMA2011]

Originally Posted by JRL1LE

I tried 33-35 hot up to 38-41 hot.

How often did you run at 38-41 hot. This is a 35 psi limit tire in my book.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by L99CAMA2011

How often did you run at 38-41 hot. This is a 35 psi limit tire in my book.

I ran mostly 33-35 hot, tried 38-40 and actually dropped .5 seconds. Any lower than 33-35 hot was right on the edges of the shoulders.

[CRF8]

35 in the book is cold


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[BaylorCamaro]

When I had my Camaro I ran NT01's and thought they were like glue compared to Pilot Super Sports, Eagle F1's and Yokohama ADVAN AD08R's. I would run them at 35-36 PSI HOT, usually 27-28 COLD.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by BaylorCamaro

When I had my Camaro I ran NT01's and thought they were like glue compared to Pilot Super Sports, Eagle F1's and Yokohama ADVAN AD08R's. I would run them at 35-36 PSI HOT, usually 27-28 COLD.

That's exactly where I started most laps at 27/28 cold. I could feel the lack of grip compared to the OEM goodyears, 2-3 seconds slower.
Doesn't make sense. I tried higher pressures to see if I could improve the grip, didn't make much difference in times, but did feel less tread squirm.
Maybe a bad set of tires, but I've never seen that before, only tread splicing or other issues, not lack of grip.

[X25]

Your results are very confusing for sure. I went to track with G:2s, and made a respectable 1:58.2 with them at ORP, a very technical track here. Later, I did 1:57.1 with Hankook RS-3s at the same track. NT01s are significantly better than RS-3s on other cars, so I'd think it would do at least 2 seconds better than G:2s on the same size, in contrast to your experience. One caveat for my remarks: I am still yet to try NT01s on my 1LE (but I've used them on other cars with great success).

I'm obviously not questioning your results, but trying to understand what might have gone wrong.

1. NT01s just don't work on this car?: Doubtful, and others already reported good results.
2. Bad set: I presume your tires are new; did you check their build dates?
3. Other mods / engine: Did you see any drop in trap speeds by the end of straightways at the track? That might indicate a power loss (mechanical or due to environmental changes). Did you touch suspension?
4. Size: Are these at OEM sizes?
5. Heat cycle: Could you have heat-cycled them out? I remember one member was reporting very poor life with NT01s, I believe Avalanche? He said they quickly turned into rocks for him.

[JRL1LE]

Originally Posted by X25

Your results are very confusing for sure. I went to track with G:2s, and made a respectable 1:58.2 with them at ORP, a very technical track here. Later, I did 1:57.1 with Hankook RS-3s at the same track. NT01s are significantly better than RS-3s on other cars, so I'd think it would do at least 2 seconds better than G:2s on the same size, in contrast to your experience. One caveat for my remarks: I am still yet to try NT01s on my 1LE (but I've used them on other cars with great success).

I'm obviously not questioning your results, but trying to understand what might have gone wrong.

1. NT01s just don't work on this car?: Doubtful, and others already reported good results.
2. Bad set: I presume your tires are new; did you check their build dates?
3. Other mods / engine: Did you see any drop in trap speeds by the end of straightways at the track? That might indicate a power loss (mechanical or due to environmental changes). Did you touch suspension?
4. Size: Are these at OEM sizes?
5. Heat cycle: Could you have heat-cycled them out? I remember one member was reporting very poor life with NT01s, I believe Avalanche? He said they quickly turned into rocks for him.

2. Tires are brand new, build date 40th week 2015
3. Everything the same except these tires, no mechanical or power issues.
4. They are OEM sizes: 285/30/20
5. I did not do an initial heat cvcle, I ran 7 sessions on them last weekend.

Everything I've read/researched also showed that they should be faster than F1's and Rs3's and comparable with RE71R's.
I called Nitto, of course they said they've never seen this problem before.

Thanks for your input