If you’ve wanted an R-compound tire on the street, but were afraid of the highway use warnings, the new NT05 is the tire for you.

I knew about this tire over a year ago, but I was sworn to secrecy not to tell. Over the last twelve months, I must’ve had just as many conversations with Nitto tire engineers and PR people, giving them opinions on tread designs, sidewall graphics, and size recommendations. Now that the secret of the Nitto NT05 is finally out, I can start gushing about how it’s the answer to all your insane street car requirements. While I have no problem running the track-use—only NT01 R-compound tire on both my ’76 Camaro and my ’68 Chevelle (I’ve also got huge NT-555R Extreme drag radials at all four corners of my ’75 Laguna), I realize that some folks might not be as crazy as me.

Nevertheless, people still demand the smash-mouth grip of an R-compound without the R-compound designation—especially with serious suspensions, big brakes, and stump-pulling power plants. The Nitto NT05 is exactly that tire. Optimized for ultimate dry weather performance, the NT05 has a beefy, uninterrupted center contact patch for huge grip. Large reinforced tread blocks on the outer edge (they’re beveled for extreme g-loading) allow water to be channeled away, while providing best-in-class hook, on the highway, and on the track.

Let me tell you, this rubber is super grippy to the touch. I simply can’t tell the difference between the rubber on the NT05 and the NT01. If you’re squeamish about treadwear ratings, and prefer to change your tires when the sidewalls crack from dry rot, this ain’t your tire. If you demand max grip and you’re tired of your existing baloneys letting you down after spending thousands on suspension parts, brakes, and lightweight wheels, your train has arrived. Tires are like insurance—when you hammer the brake pedal to avoid the accident ahead of you on the highway, you’re hardly going to care that you need to replace them every three years instead of every five. You need grip, and you need it now. Take a look at the sizes below to see if they have shoes in your size:

Available 1st Quarter 2009
235/40ZR17 90W
255/40ZR17 98W XL
275/40ZR17 98W
315/35ZR17 102W
235/40ZR18 95W XL
245/40ZR18 97W XL
265/35ZR18 97W XL
275/35ZR18 99W XL
275/40ZR18 99W
285/35ZR18 101W XL
295/35ZR18 99W
225/40ZR19 93W XL
235/35ZR19 91W XL
245/35ZR19 93W XL
275/30ZR19 96W XL
275/35ZR19 100W XL
335/30ZR19 103W
275/40ZR20 106W XL
315/35ZR20 110W XL

Available 2nd Quarter 2009
245/40ZR19 98W XL
255/35ZR20 97W XL
255/45ZR20 101W
275/35ZR20 102W XL

For more information about the Nitto NT05, or any other Nitto tire, call 800-581-2983 or log on to www.nittotire.com