Nitto NT05s but no traction -2013 Mustang GT

[JonnyW]

Last summer I wore down my stock Pirellis and needed new tires. Went ahead and ordered a set of new wheels and paired them with NT05s.

Velgen 20" VMB5
Front: 275/35/20
Rear: 305/30/20

I bought really good tires, but they don't really hook that well. I can't hard launch on the street without spinning like crazy. My PSI is set to 32 all the way around.

My question is, is the weak link now focused on the suspension? I'm debating on getting some Whiteline lower control arms and want to know if these will solve my problems. If so, then I'm assuming I would actually see benefit with these tires vs stock tires and LCAs, correct?

 

[Zemedici]

what's the temperature like?

 

[JonnyW]

It was 70/80 degrees a couple days ago, and even then I still spun quite a bit. As much as I did with stock Pirellis in the cold.

 

[Riptide]

If these aren't NT05R then I'm not surprised they spun. 20" wheels just aggravate it.

 

[Zemedici]

If these aren't NT05R then I'm not surprised they spun. 20" wheels just aggravate it.

just noticed that. I've got NT05R on my cobra and I can stab the skinny pedal from 5mph and it just shits and gets. No spinning.

 

[JonnyW]

I thought it was basically just the overall diameter of the tire that played a larger factor in grip, and the sidewall was more for handling/responsiveness. I get there might not be a lot of room for flex, but still.
The NT05s are a good tire, are they not? You can't really corner with NT05Rs. I daily drive in the summer so I need something streetable.

You telling me I should have opted for 19s makes me want to shoot myself in the foot.

 

[Zemedici]

I thought it was basically just the overall diameter of the tire that played a larger factor in grip, and the sidewall was more for handling/responsiveness. I get there might not be a lot of room for flex, but still.
The NT05s are a good tire, are they not? You can't really corner with NT05Rs. I daily drive in the summer so I need something streetable.

You telling me I should have opted for 19s makes me want to shoot myself in the foot.

i daily drive my cobra with the Rs on them.

 

[JonnyW]

How many miles do you get out of the set? Either way, I shouldn't be spinning the way I am.

 

[Zemedici]

its because you're basically on a street tire, like stock pirellis. You need a street radial.

Eh, i'm aiming for 15-20k.

 

[JonnyW]

I thought NT05s were a street radial and the NT05Rs were a drag radial?

 

[Zemedici]

no. nt05 is a performance summer street tire.

Nt05R is a 'dot compliant drag radial', meaning its a drag radial that can be legally used on the street - aka a street radial.


http://www.nittotire.com/race-tires/nt05r-dot-compliant-competition-drag-radial-tire/

 

[kona 199]

i run the nitto nt555r .it says extreme drag radial on side wall .275/60/15 and they dead hook even on the street.

 

[Troponin]

I have the 555Rs in 305/35 –20s and, unless it is cold outside or the tires are not remotely warmed up, I get decent traction at 500whp. If you don't have the R and you have anything over 400 wheel horsepower, they will spin. I think my factory tires stopped spinning, when my engine was stock, once the temperature had about 90° outside or above

 

[Zandura99]

yeah its tough to find a street tire (Non-drag radial) that will launch well. I get better traction when I went to my 285 Pirelli than the stock 245... but that is not saying much. learn to slip the clutch a bit to get a decent launch, and if its that cool (60-70) you will need to warm the tires up a bit. If they are cold that is the bottom of any good summer tires temp range and they are going to spin easily. They do need a bit of heat in them (not a big smokey burnout... but some heat).

Drag radials are all good, but some of us want to turn hard and grip well laterally... so its hard to go away from a good summer performance tire to a drag radial because they just are not for aggressive driving in the turns. You will have to temper your expectations if you expect to carve up some corners as well.

 

[Torchy]

No offense but you didn't buy the "R" so not surprised at all that you spin every where.

 

[Rct851]

I have 305/35/19 nt05R's and I really wouldn't be happy with any less traction than what these gives me and I'm only at 410'ish rwhp

 

[el jefe 302]

Last summer I wore down my stock Pirellis and needed new tires. Went ahead and ordered a set of new wheels and paired them with NT05s.

Velgen 20" VMB5
Front: 275/35/20
Rear: 305/30/20

I bought really good tires, but they don't really hook that well. I can't hard launch on the street without spinning like crazy. My PSI is set to 32 all the way around.

My question is, is the weak link now focused on the suspension? I'm debating on getting some Whiteline lower control arms and want to know if these will solve my problems. If so, then I'm assuming I would actually see benefit with these tires vs stock tires and LCAs, correct?

First off what are your mods?

 

[Dizzyscure1]

I currently have 20" NT05R's and i can pretty much get them to hook on my JPC Turbo at a 50mph hit with the correct PSI setting in the tires and a proper ramp rate on my controller.

~32 PSI is too high, Try 20lbs HOT and see how that works on the NT05's if that works cool if not then you may need to try some other PSI settings and if it still fails u will need to buy some Drag Radials,

Nitto NT555R
Nitto NT05R

 

[JonnyW]

I currently have 20" NT05R's and i can pretty much get them to hook on my JPC Turbo at a 50mph hit with the correct PSI setting in the tires and a proper ramp rate on my controller.

~32 PSI is too high, Try 20lbs HOT and see how that works on the NT05's if that works cool if not then you may need to try some other PSI settings and if it still fails u will need to buy some Drag Radials,

Nitto NT555R
Nitto NT05R

My only problem with 20 PSI is the driveability. Wouldn't I lose lateral grip? Aside from that, my tire sensors trigger the flat tire icon -_- and thats pretty annoying to look at 24/7. I'll give it a try and see how it does. Its 50°F right now. I'd pick up some NT05Rs but the 20s only offer a 315/35/20 and that would bring my overall diameter up quite a bit. I'd probably be looking at 3.90s to be closer to a 3.73 in terms of a conversion. Otherwise 4.10s are an option and would offer some more aggresive gearing. My redline is at 7600. Thoughts on this?

I'm really tempted to scrap my 20s and grab a nice set of 19s where I can throw on 305/35/19 NT05Rs in the rear. With 20s I'd be at 3.50 vs 19s at 3.68 in the current gearing conversion.

I will be Procharging in the future. Current mods are Steeda CAI, Boss 302 manifold, Kooks catback, and 93 V2 BAMA race tune. I'm ordering some Kooks 1 7/8 and offroad H pipe next week.

 

[Riptide]

I dunno man. Everyone wants the tire that will do it all.

In a RWD car you're going to have to make some concessions. If you want awesome performance on a skid pad a drag radial won't do it. But a tire that gives you good results there isn't going to be as good in a straight line.